Health Sciences BSc (Hons)

Course overview

This course provides a broad understanding of the physiology of the body’s major systems as well as human health and disease. You study the cause, diagnosis and treatment of human disease from a multidisciplinary and evidence-based perspective, which will help you with a career in a variety of healthcare and life science settings.

You can complete an optional work placement year as part of this degree course at no extra cost.

By studying three core discipline-based themes, human anatomy and physiology, human biology and disease, and healthcare systems and technologies, you explore how humans change over the lifespan, adapt to external stressors, and how lifestyle can have an impact on health.. You research and identify potential therapeutic and clinical strategies to reduce the effect of these risk factors on disease states.

Alongside this, you develop skills for employability including good laboratory practice, control of substances hazardous to health (COSHH) assessments, health and safety policies, Human Tissues Act, quality assurance and patient care. You also develop transferrable skills including verbal and poster presentations, written reports, independent research and teamworking skills. This degree also prepares you for postgraduate study including research degrees and taught masters programmes (MSc) including public health, dietetics, physiotherapy, diagnostic radiography, radiotherapy, occupational therapy and nursing detailed here.

If you are interested in applying for a course in Nursing, Midwifery & Health Professions leading to professional registration, then our CertHE Health Sciences and CertHE Health Sciences (with Foundation Year) courses will help you develop your knowledge and skills in a range of subjects that will help your application.

You study at Teesside University’s Middlesbrough campus, but during your degree you have the opportunity to gain valuable experience at the new National Horizons Centre at the University’s Darlington campus which is home to a range of state-of-the-art facilities. This £22m purpose-built biosciences research, education and training facility is a focal point for the growing regional biosciences community.

Career opportunities

The BSc (Hons) Health Sciences degree provides a broad base of scientific knowledge and skills applicable to many occupations and potential career opportunities. Graduate jobs include roles related to scientific and medical research, clinical science and analytical laboratory work. Potential employers include health service organizations, government, local authorities, industry, and charitable and international organizations. The time spent on developing essential interpersonal and valuable transferable skills throughout the degree through a diverse range of activities (group work, presentation, interview, critical thinking, problem solving, communication enhancing, analysis and statistics) make you further employable to a range of career opportunities and occupations including:

• Public Health, health promotion and surveillance
  
• Corporate social responsibility
  
• Industrial and graduate training programmes in health
  
• Non-governmental organizations
  
• Health service management and administration
  
• Graduate entry to further health and clinical education programmes
  
• Biomedical, Pharmaceutical or health sciences research
  
• Community engagement and transformation in health
  
• Pharmaceutical, Microbiological and Biotechnological Laboratory Assistants
  
• Product Development Technologist