Course Requirements
Course Requirements for the BA in Health Sciences
The Bachelor of Arts in Health Sciences requires a minimum 120 total credit hours, which includes at least 45 credits of upper division credit. An Honors designation is also possible.
Note: Please be aware of the Writing/Quantitative/Breadth (WQB) requirements when choosing electives.
Lower Division Degree Requirements
All of:
• HSCI 100-3 Human Biology
• HSCI 130-3 Foundations of Health Sciences
And one of:
• SA 101-4 Introduction to Anthropology
• SA 150-4 Introduction to Sociology
And at least one of:
• HSCI 120-3 Introduction to Human Sexuality and Sexual Behavior
• HSCI 140-3 Complementary and Alternative Medicine
• HSCI 150-3 Current Topics in Human Sexuality
• HSCI 160-3 Global Perspectives on Health
• HSCI 170-3 Working for Health
• HSCI 180-3 Drugs and Society
• HSCI 199-3 Special Topics in Health Sciences
And one of:
• STAT 201-3 Statistics for the Life Sciences
• STAT 203-3 Introduction to Statistics for the Social Sciences
And at least four of:
• HSCI 211-3 Perspectives on Cancer, Cardiovascular and Metabolic Diseases
• HSCI 212-3 Perspectives on Infectious and Immunological Diseases
• HSCI 214-3 Perspectives on Mental Health and Illness
• HSCI 215-3 Perspectives on Disability and Injury
• HSCI 216-3 Ecological Determinants of Human Growth, Development and Health
Upper Division Degree Requirements
Students complete all of
HSCI 304-3 Perspectives on Environmental Health
HSCI 305-3 The Canadian Health System
HSCI 307-3 Research Methods in Health Sciences
HSCI 312-3 Health Promotion: Individuals and Communities
HSCI 330-3 Exploratory Strategies in Epidemiology
HSCI 340-3 Social Determinants of Health
STAT 302-3 Analysis of Experimental and Observational Data
and one of
HSCI 319W-3 Applied Health Ethics
PHIL 319W-3 Applied Health Ethics
HSCI 327-3 Global Health Ethics
and one of
HSCI 481-3 Senior Seminar in Social Health Science
HSCI 482-3 Senior Seminar in Infectious Disease
HSCI 483-3 Senior Seminar in Environmental Health
HSCI 484-3 Senior Seminar in Population Health Research
HSCI 485-3 Senior Seminar in Mental Health and Addictions
HSCI 486-3 Senior Seminar in Global Health
plus a minimum of six additional upper division courses related to the major, including at least 12 HSCI units.
Honors Program
A minimum CGPA of 3.00 on all relevant measures (CGPA, upper division grade point average, Health Sciences major grade point average) is required for entry and must be maintained for graduation with honors.
Students who obtain both a program and graduation GPA of 3.5 are eligible for the designation first class.
Entry into the program requires sponsorship by a mentor from among Health Sciences faculty and approval of the Undergraduate Studies Committee. Students must complete at least 132 units and meet all the requirements for the major. Also required are 9 to 12 course credit hours for a research-based honors thesis carried out under the direction of a faculty Supervisor, as follows:
Both of:
- HSCI 490-3 Research Proposal
- HSCI 492-3 Honours Research Thesis
and one of
- HSCI 491-3 Independent Research
- HSCI 493-6 Extended Independent Research
Minor in Health Sciences
To obtain a Minor in Health Sciences, students must complete at least four of HSCI 211, 212, 214, 215 and 216, plus at least 15 upper division HSCI credits.
It is the responsibility of students to inform themselves of required prerequisites for possible choices and to make sure they plan for those prerequisites when planning their electives. If a student wishes a particular course not already listed to be considered in fulfillment of this requirement, s/he should bring a detailed course description to the attention of an advisor (fhs-advising@sfu.ca) for approval.
