Certificate in Allied & Professional Health Sciences

For More Information Contact: Trishia Vasquez at trishia.vasquez@ucdenver.edu
 
The health field offers job opportunities and rewarding careers. It is one of the fastest growing industries in the US and the Bureau of Labor Statistics has projected increasing demand and labor shortages for at least the next ten years. The CU Denver Certificate in Allied & Professional Health Sciences was developed as an opportunity for the many students who already have a bachelor’s degree and want to shift their career into this large and fast growing industry to improve employment opportunities and potential earnings.  Enrollment in this Certificate Program allows eligible students to apply for federal financial aid. Specific requirements may exist pertaining to financial aid.

Program Delivery

This is an on-campus program.

Applying to CU Denver to Join This Certificate Program

Click here to access the Undergraduate Degree-Seeking application to apply to the Post Bac Certificate in Allied and Professional Health Sciences. After indicating that the student has or will have completed a bachelor's degree, the applicant should be directed to a screen that allows selection into the Allied and Professional Health Sciences Certificate. After admission, students should meet with the Program Director of the Certificate (NC 3002) to work collaboratively to develop a course plan that best meets their academic and career goals.

Certificate in Allied & Professional Health Sciences Requirements

  1. Students must complete 32 credit hours with a minimum of 15 credit hours at CU Denver from the time they start the program from approved courses.
  2. Students must complete a minimum of 12 upper-division (3000-level and above) credit hours. 
  3. Students must complete all courses with a minimum grade of C (2.0) or better.
  4. The 15 credit hours of coursework listed below, and within the Catalog information, must be completed at CU Denver.  Other coursework (up to 17 credit hours) used as pre-requisites or other courses applicable to the certificate program, may be taken at CU Denver or transferred from another university after evaluation and approval.

Certificate in Allied & Professional Health Sciences Program Restrictions, Allowances and Recommendations

  1. A prerequisite for any course must be transferred or completed at CU Denver before enrolling in that course.
  2. Graduate level courses can substitute for their undergraduate counterparts with approval.
  3. Specific requirements may exist pertaining to financial aid.
  4. Students must already have earned a Bachelor’s degree to enroll for the certificate.
  5. Students currently enrolled in Bachelor's, Master's or Doctoral degree programs are not eligible for the certificate.

Students should work with a Health Careers Advisor to determine the best choices for their goals.

Complete a minimum of 15 credits from the following list:

  • BIOL 3124 Introduction to Molecular Biology
  • BIOL 3225 Human Physiology
  • BIOL 3244 Human Anatomy
  • BIOL 3521 Vertebrate Biology
  • BIOL 3525 Parasitology
  • BIOL 3611 Cell Biology
  • BIOL 3612 Cell Biology Lab
  • BIOL 3621 Introduction to Immunology
  • BIOL 3654 General Microbiology
  • BIOL 3763 Introductory Biostatistics
  • BIOL 3804 Development Biology
  • BIOL 3832 General Genetics
  • BIOL 3939 Internship
  • BIOL 4051 Advanced Topics in Microbiology: Virology
  • BIOL 4064 Cell Biology of Disease
  • BIOL 4125 Molecular Biology Lab
  • BIOL 4126 Molecular Genetics
  • BIOL 4134 Human Genetics
  • BIOL 4144 Medical Microbiology
  • BIOL 4165 Neurobiology
  • BIOL 4464 Exercise Physiology
  • BIOL 4475 Mechanisms of Human Pathology
  • BIOL 4550 Cell Signaling
  • BIOL 4622 Advanced topics in Immunology
  • BIOL 4644 Advanced Anatomy
  • BIOL 4634 Biology of Cancer
  • BIOL 4674 Endocrinology
  • CHEM 2300 Nutritional Chemistry
  • CHEM 3810 Biochemistry
  • CHEM 4810 General Biochemistry I
  • CHEM 4820 General Biochemistry II
  • COMM 2500 Intro to Health Communication
  • HEHM 3100 Intro to Health Humanities
  • HIST 4348 Mind and Malady: A History of Mental Illness
  • HIST 4345 Gender, Science & Medicine
  • LATN 3000 Medical Terminology
  • PHIL 4242 Bioethics
  • PBHL 1001 Race, Class, Gender & Health
  • PBHL 2001 Intro to Public Health
  • PBHL 3001 Intro to Epidemiology
  • PBHL 3031 Health, Human Biology & Behavior
  • PSYC 2205 Lifespan Developmental Psychology for Health Majors
  • PSYC 3305 Abnormal Psychology
  • PSYC 3205 Human Development I: Child Psychology
  • PSYC 3215 Human Development II: Adolescence and Adulthood
  • PSYC 3262 Health Psychology
  • PSYC 3265 Drugs, Brain and Behavior
  • PSYC 3810 Neuropsychology
  • SOCY 4110 Sociology of Health Care
  • SOCY 3440 Medical Sociology

Allied and Professional Health Sciences Post Baccalaureate Certificate Assessment Plan

College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, University of Colorado Denver

Educational Purpose:

As mentioned above, this certificate will allow students to improve their position among many highly qualified applicants to health professions programs and for health science related jobs. The certificate provides a broad foundation in STEM (Biology, Chemistry and Physics) and advanced health-oriented coursework that is essential for both graduate and professional programs and the needs of the health industry. Students who have already completed an undergraduate degree but need additional undergraduate pre-requisite courses to apply to health professions programs (including medicine, pharmacy, dentistry, nursing, lab technicians, health research jobs and more) or to apply for health professions jobs (including lab technicians, medical writers, medical technicians) can benefit from the CU Denver Post Baccalaureate Allied and Professional Health Sciences Certificate. Furthermore, this certificate program offers high quality, rigorous preparatory classes, a curriculum plan tailored to their career needs and exceptional health careers advising including assistance with letters of evaluation, seminars on application processes, and assistance finding clinical, research, and community service experiences to enhance applications.

Learning Objectives and Learning Outcomes:

The following program objectives and learning outcomes were identified in the summer of 2020 for the Allied and Professional Health Sciences Post Baccalaureate Certificate. By the end of the Allied and Professional Health Sciences Post Baccalaureate Certificate students should be able to:

Objectives:

  1. Evaluate their educational and experiential qualifications for the health profession program or an allied health position of their choice, through attaining and demonstrating aptitude in the core competencies required for admission to a professional educational program or hiring into an allied health profession.
  2. Appreciate the many different components that go into a complete professional program application, and learn what these pieces are, why programs and employers ask for them, and what each part indicates about their qualifications as an applicant.
  3. Understand and articulate the role of health professionals and the structure of the healthcare system.

Learning Outcomes:

  1. Students will be able to evaluate whether they meet the 15 core competencies, including thinking and reasoning, science (living systems and human behavior competencies), and pre-professional competencies, and give examples of those that they meet and explain steps to acquire competencies they have not yet met.
  2. Students will be able to analyze and evaluate the core competencies and integrate those they want to develop a greater aptitude in into an academic plan that includes future coursework and extra-curricular experiences.
  3. Students will be able to analyze social, cultural, economic, and organizational aspects of the US healthcare system.
  4. Students will be able to apply academic knowledge, critical thinking skills, and experiences gained to prepare for professional opportunities, applications, and interviews.

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