Health Sciences – Public Health specialization

General information

The Bachelor of Health Sciences (Honours) program has been designed to meet the needs of undergraduates aspiring to enter a variety of health-related careers or wishing to pursue postgraduate and professional studies.

The Bachelor of Health Sciences (Honours) is a multi-focused undergraduate degree that enables students to explore diverse aspects of healthcare delivery, health research and promoting human wellness while pursuing studies that build on their particular interests.

This degree is designed to deliver a broad-based curriculum for students to discover exciting areas of impact on human health. The program has a strong interdisciplinary focus weaving together physiological, sociological, and epidemiological perspectives on major health issues.

Successful first year students will progress within the specializations: Human Health Science Specialization or Public Health Specialization. Each option offers upper-year electives that extend knowledge in core areas while also promoting critical thinking skills related to healthcare and major health issues in Canada.

Graduates are positioned to formulate questions related to human health, address technical and theoretical problems, and excel at analytical thinking.

Public Health specialization

Public health is a discipline that examines health from communities or the neighbourhood level up to national and global perspectives as well. The Public Health specialization focuses on maintaining and improving health from the perspective of disease prevention and health promotion across the lifespan. It will provide students with knowledge surrounding the health status of populations, environmental factors, inequities in health care delivery, social determinants of health and illness, strategies for health promotion and prevention, injury management and prevention, and health care delivery and services. Career opportunities in Public Health include health promotion program co-ordinator, policy analyst, injury prevention specialist, occupational health and safety, environmental health, disaster and emergency preparedness specialists, infection control specialists, rehabilitation, public and non-profit sector administration, public health inspector, epidemiologist and/or policy development.

Students may apply to the Public Health specialization at the end of their first year of studies.

Although reasonable efforts will be made to adhere to the following program map, course requirements and term offerings may change. For the most up-to-date list of course offerings, please visit the faculty website at healthsciences.ontariotechu.ca.

Admission requirements

Admission is competitive. The specific average or standing required for admission varies from year to year. Students are selected by taking into consideration a wide range of criteria including school marks, distribution of subjects taken, and performance in subjects relevant to the academic program. Possession of the minimum requirements does not guarantee acceptance. Preference will be given to applicants with the best qualifications.

Current Ontario secondary school students must complete the Ontario Secondary School Diploma (OSSD) with six 4U or 4M credits including English (ENG4U) with a minimum grade of 60 per cent, Biology (SBI4U), and one of Advanced Functions (MHF4U) or Calculus and Vectors (MCV4U) or Mathematics of Data Management (MDM4U). All other applicants should refer to admissions  for the requirements for their specific category of admission.

Program details and degree requirements

To be eligible for a Bachelor of Health Sciences (Honours) degree, students must successfully complete 120 credit hours. Degree and program requirements are subject to change without notice. Program requirements are outlined below. Students wishing to make changes to their program of study should consult their academic advisor.

Further information on courses and course sequencing can be found on the Faculty of Health Science’s website.

Bachelor of Health Sciences requirements (Human Health Science and Public Health specializations) [69 credit hours]

• BIOL 1010U – Biology I: Molecular and Cellular Systems
• BIOL 1020U – Biology II: Diversity of Life and Principles of Ecology
• HLSC 1200U – Human Anatomy & Physiology I
• HLSC 1201U – Human Anatomy & Physiology II
• HLSC 1701U – Information Literacy and Written Communication for the Health Sciences
• HLSC 1810U – Health Promotion and Healthy Active Living
• HLSC 1811U – Social Determinants of Health
• HLSC 2030U – Interpersonal and Inter-professional Communication
• HLSC 2130U – Public Health Microbiology
• HLSC 2462U – Altered Physiology: Mechanisms of Disease I
• HLSC 2463U – Altered Physiology: Mechanisms of Disease II
• HLSC 2802U – Introduction to the Canadian Healthcare System
• HLSC 3473U – Prevention and Rehabilitation of Complex Chronic Conditions
• HLSC 3710U – Ethics
• HLSC 3800U – Introduction to Statistics for Health Sciences
• HLSC 3820U – Public Health I
• HLSC 3910U – Research Methods for Health Care Professionals: Theory and Application
• HLSC 4805U – Non-communicable Diseases: Current Issues and Emerging Trends
• HLSC 4807U – Perspectives in Aging
• HLSC 4808U – Exploring Mental Health and Developmental Disabilities
• HLSC 4996U – Research Applications I *
• HLSC 4997U – Research Applications II *
• HLSC 4998U – Research Practicum I *
• HLSC 4999U – Research Practicum II *
• PSYC 1000U – Introductory Psychology

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  *Students take either HLSC 4996U  and HLSC 4997U , or HLSC 4998U  and HLSC 4999U  

Courses required for Public Health specialization [51 credit hours]

• HLSC 2201U – Introduction to Health Information Management
• HLSC 2601U – Introduction to Health Services Management
• HLSC 2825U – Nutrition and Health
• HLSC 3631U – Health Policy and Process
• HLSC 3805U – Introduction to Epidemiology
• HLSC 3821U – Public Health II
• HLSC 4621U – Program Planning, Implementation and Evaluation in Public Health
• HLSC 4803U – Global Health
• HLSC 4851U – Critical Perspectives on Health, Illness, and Healthcare
• Six open electives
• Two Health Science electives (HLSC 3000/4000 level)