Online Master's in Health Science Programs
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As the demand for quality healthcare professionals continues to rise, a number of universities now offer special courses and degrees that focus on delivering instruction in health services. An online master of science in health science (MSHS) can be a lucrative option for healthcare professionals who wish to acquire specialized skills and pursue leadership roles in the field.
These programs focus on healthcare strategy, data-based decision-making, research, and evaluation. Students learn how to analyze data, influence healthcare policies, and ensure patient safety. Many of these degrees provide specializations in areas such as nutrition, clinical laboratory science, rehabilitative science, and sport performance. Along with a specialization, each program includes a set of core health science courses such as healthcare leadership, ethical and legal issues in healthcare, clinical chemistry, and health policy.
This advanced degree can prepare students for a successful career in public or private healthcare organizations. Graduates can take on management-level positions in a laboratory, teach at universities, or conduct research. Many MSHS-holders have gone into roles such as clinical director, healthcare administrator, and healthcare quality analyst, among many others.
This guide features eight accredited online MSHS degrees, as well as profiles of three exceptional faculty members from these programs.
Featured Online Master of Health Sciences Programs
The online master of science in health science (MSHS) degree from George Washington focuses on healthcare quality. It was designed to prepare students for research and management positions in healthcare organizations. On successful completion of the program, graduates can evaluate and develop quality healthcare initiatives, measure and analyze data, and conduct research for better decision-making. The program is designed for working professionals who wish to cover a rigorous curriculum from a distance.
Notably, the MSHS course was created in partnership with the National Committee for Quality Assurance, and it includes core health science topics such as building a quality culture, quality improvement science in healthcare, and patient safety systems. Students also get an overview of health information, quality and outcomes, topics in healthcare leadership, and the healthcare enterprise. Through these specialized courses, students review issues surrounding healthcare, processes of quality improvement, and patient safety initiatives.
The practical skills acquired in the course can open up several doors for graduates in public and private healthcare. They can work in clinical research, data management, and analysis. Graduates have gone into roles such as clinical director, healthcare quality analyst, quality assurance consultant, and healthcare administration manager.
- Location: Washington DC
- Expected Time to Completion: Two years
- Estimated Tuition: $895 per credit-hour
- Accreditation: Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools
Bellarmine offers a completely online masters of health science degree. It consists of a core curriculum in health science along with a specialization in either health promotion and social change or healthcare leadership.
Applicants must have a minimum GPA of 3.0. The 30-semester-credit program teaches students how to use findings from science and humanities to improve healthcare, develop leadership and decision making skills, and evidence-based methods. The core courses include health policy, current trends and issues in health, bioethics, and communication and technology in health. If students opt for the healthcare leadership track, they get a chance to explore healthcare systems organization and administration, patient safety, and issues in healthcare leadership. This subfield preps students for management-level roles in healthcare.
On the other hand, health promotion and social change includes instruction in health behavior theory, community wellness, program evaluation and statistics, and designing and planning health promotion programs. Students completing the program learn how to analyze environmental effects on health, quality of life across the world, and social changes. At the end of the program, they may be well-versed in promoting a healthy lifestyle and policy-making.
- Location: Louisville, Kentucky
- Expected Time to Completion: Two years
- Estimated Tuition: $760 per credit-hour
- Accreditation: Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges
This professional degree from Cleveland State University prepares students for roles in clinical, educational, and administrative healthcare. The program is well-suited for working professionals or those who have a bachelor’s degree in healthcare and wish to advance.
Comprising 36 credits, the program includes five core courses, three electives, three health science-focused courses, and one capstone research project. Students gain an understanding of leadership in health sciences, evolving technologies in healthcare, occupational/physical therapy in schools, environmental health, human anatomy, and pathology.
The MSHS degree can also be combined with Cleveland University’s myriad graduate certificate programs, including the advanced study in bioethics, healthcare administration, culture, communication and healthcare, and gerontological studies. These courses can equip students with specialized knowledge and skills.
- Location: Cleveland, Ohio
- Expected Time to Completion: 24 months
- Estimated Tuition: $556.40 per credit-hour
- Accreditation: Higher Learning Commission
Florida Gulf Coast University’s online MSHS program is for students who wish to take up advanced professional roles in healthcare. The 36-credit program requires a minimum GPA of 3.0.
Students learn how to teach and train students, healthcare consumers, and clients, as well as how to develop a curriculum, plan lessons, and design assignments. Overall, this curriculum trains students to become clinical educators of health professionals at universities, community colleges, diagnostic corporations, and technical schools.
The health science-focused courses in the program include the legal and ethical aspects of healthcare, research in health professions, health policy and economic issues, and human resource management for healthcare managers. Upon completion of the MSHS program, students may be well-equipped to analyze healthcare problems, evaluate legal issues, interpret data, and formulate solutions.
- Location: Fort Myers, Florida
- Expected Time to Completion: 24 months
- Estimated Tuition: $1300.66 per credit-hour
- Accreditation: Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges
The online MS in health sciences program by Georgia State University offers a specialization in nutrition. The curriculum aims to enable students to research problems, evaluate results, and take up professional roles in the field.
The health sciences core includes courses such as trends affecting health policies, practices, and laws; leadership and ethics in healthcare; and research methods for health and human science professions. The nutrition coursework provides an overview of research methods and issues in the field of nutrition, including nutritional intervention, nutritional genomics, and advanced topics in nutrition.
There are also elective courses that students can choose after consulting the graduate program director. They can opt to do a thesis or pursue one of three non-thesis options (e.g., a master’s project; capstone coursework including additional courses in pediatrics, public health, and sports; or a comprehensive exam).
- Location: Atlanta, Georgia
- Expected Time to Completion: 36 credit-hours
- Estimated Tuition: $1,251 per credit-hour
- Accreditation: Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges
The UT Rio Grande Valley MSHS program is an online degree with a specialization in clinical laboratory services. This program is tailormade for certified medical laboratory scientists and medical technologists looking to move up in their career.
While the program is focused on laboratory medicine, it also includes lessons on management and leadership that can boost a lab technician to a middle management position in hospitals or laboratories. Graduates may pursue consulting positions in private labs or physicians’ offices, or teach in medical laboratory science programs at universities.
The program explores fundamental concepts such as healthcare policy, organization and financing, and legal and ethical issues in healthcare, as well as professional proposal writing. Students gain an insight into the working of healthcare organizations. The clinical laboratory sciences track includes topics such as the pathophysiology of disease, advanced practice in clinical chemistry, and advanced clinical practice in hematology. The program also includes laboratory techniques and research methods.
Overall, this MSHS can equip students with the necessary skills and knowledge to succeed in a career in diagnostics, pathology, research, or medical lab technology.
- Location: Rio Grande, Texas
- Expected Time to Completion: One year
- Estimated Tuition: $444.44 per credit-hour
- Accreditation: Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges
The Rocky Mountain University of Health Professions online master of science in health science program is meant for health professionals such as personal trainers, certified athletic trainers, physical educators, and strength coaches. The program offers a specialization in two tracks: sport performance and rehabilitative science. Individuals with professional experience in sport performance, healthcare, or occupational performance are given a preference in admissions.
The degree comprises 33 credits, including three thesis credit-hours. Students opting for the sport performance track are trained in exercise science, focusing on strength and conditioning. The rehabilitative science track explores research methods for evidence-based practice, injury prevention and recognition, and applications of strength and conditioning. This track helps students understand sports nutrition, exercise physiology, and management. Those interested in a career in athletic training or physical therapy should pursue this track.
At the end of the degree, students may have the necessary knowledge and skills to design preventative sports injury programs and manage musculoskeletal injuries, among other abilities.
- Location: Provo, Utah
- Expected Time to Completion: 20-24 months
- Estimated Tuition: $881 per credit-hour
- Accreditation: Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities
The Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences offers an online, part-time MS in academic health science program. It is designed for healthcare professionals who wish to pursue or advance their career as a health educator. Notably, the program is taught by health professionals with impressive backgrounds.
The program consists of courses in academic health sciences; adult learning theory and clinical teaching; educational leadership; and healthcare research methods. Upon successful completion of the program, students may be well-equipped to translate theoretical concepts, promote excellence in teaching, and form a strong link between education, research, and practice.
Students graduating from the program tend to pursue leadership roles in training programs related to public health, medicine, and nursing. They can serve as training directors, faculty members, department chairs, curriculum coordinators, or continuing education professionals.
- Location: Boston, Massachusetts
- Expected Time to Completion: 24 months
- Estimated Tuition: $930 per credit-hour
- Accreditation: New England Association of Schools and Colleges, Inc.
Professors to Know in Master of Health Sciences Programs
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Michelle Angeletti, PhD - Florida Gulf Coast University
Dr. Michelle Angeletti is an associate professor of health sciences at the Florida Gulf Coast University. Her specialities include healthcare policy, lactation management, and health services administration. She’s a founding board member of the Western Florida Chapter of the American College of Healthcare Executives and has taught various undergraduate and graduate courses in health sciences. Notably, several national and state conferences have featured her as a speaker and her articles have appeared in prestigious journals such as the Journal of Emergency Management, the Journal of Health and Human Services Administration, and the International Journal of Human Lactation. Dr. Angeletti earned her PhD in public administration from Florida Atlantic University, her master’s in social work from Barry University, and her bachelor’s degree from Newcomb College of Tulane University.
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Rafaela G. Feresin, PhD - Georgia State University
Dr. Rafaela Feresin holds a PhD and MS in nutrition and food science from Florida University, and has completed her BS in nutrition from the Federal University of Goias. Currently, she serves as an assistant professor of nutrition at the Georgia State University. Her research focuses on the role of functional foods, bioactive compounds, and dietary interventions in improving chronic diseases. Influential publications such as Free Radical Biology and Medicine have featured her articles. She is also a member of the American Society for Nutrition, the American Heart Association, and the American Society for Bone and Mineral Research.
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Kenneth Harwood, PhD - George Washington University
Dr. Kenneth Harwood is the director of the healthcare quality program at the George Washington University. In his long and illustrious career, he has held various academic positions at New York University, Columbia University, and SUNY. He served as the vice president of the Practice and Education for the American Physical Therapy Association. His research focuses on ergonomics, low back pain care, and healthcare policy, and he has written at length about these topics, nationally and internationally. Dr. Harwood has received several honors including the 2010 Advocacy Award for Improved Caregiver Safety and the Distinguished Alumnus Award from SUNY.