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Program and Courses

The Bachelor of Health Sciences is an ideal degree for students whose passion for science is matched only by their desire to learn about it in new and progressive ways. The curriculum will teach you how the human body functions in health and disease, how it defends itself against microbes and pathogens, and how medications are used to combat infection and disease.

As a student, you’ll also examine the societal context of health and healthcare through history, ethics, law and policy through a global lens, something often overlooked in other undergraduate health programs. Research methods are another core component of the BHSc program and are complemented through labs (virtual or in-person), simulations, and living labs in which you’ll develop and interpret your own data. Flexibility is embedded into the program and you’ll develop your own customized learning plan from a series of innovative health science and elective courses.

Course highlights

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Program at a glance

Core Courses: 18 Units Required

ANAT 100/3.0 Anatomy of the Human Body

GLPH 171/3.0 Social and Physical Determinants of Health and Disease

HSCI 190/3.0 Introduction to Statistics for the Health Sciences (NOTE: If a student has previously completed BIOL 243 or STAM 200, they do not need to take HSCI 190 to fulfil the statistics requirement)

IDIS 173/3.0 History and Philosophy of Health and Healthcare (previously BMED 173)

PHAR 100/3.0 Introductory Pharmacology

PHGY 170/3.0 Human Cell Physiology

Option Courses: Choose 6.0 units from the following list

IDIS 199/3.0 The Science of Mental Health, Well-being, and Resiliency

PATH 120/3.0 Understanding Human Disease in the 21st Century

BIOL 102/3.0 Introductory Biology of Cells*

BIOL 103/3.0 Introductory Biology of Organisms*

CHEM 112/6.0 General Chemistry (offered in-person only)*

CHEM 113/3.0 General Chemistry I*

CHEM 114/3.0 General Chemistry II*

ENGL 100/6.0 Introduction to Literary Study*

MATH 121/6.0 or MATH 126/6.0 or (MATH 123/3.0 and/or MATH 124/3.0) Differential and Integral Calculus*

PHYS 115 (3.0) and/or PHYS 116 (3.0) OR PHYS 117/6.0 OR PHYS 118/6.0 Basic Physics*

PSYC 100/6.0 Psychology (or PSYC 101 or PSYC 102 or PSYC 103)*

WRIT 120/3.0 Fundamentals of Effective Writing*

WRIT 125/3.0 Fundamentals of Academic Essay Writing*

Electives: 6.0 Units

Electives can be any online or on-campus course, including any listed option courses. All Arts & Science Online courses are accepted as electives. Additionally, BHSc On-Campus students may choose courses from the Arts & Science Calendar.

Core Courses: 18.0 Units Required

BCHM 270/3.0 Biochemical Basis of Health and Disease

GLPH 271/3.0 Global and Population Health

HSCI 270/3.0 Fundamentals of Health Research Methodology (previously BMED 270)

PHGY 215/3.0 Principles of Mammalian Physiology I

PHGY 216/3.0 Principles of Mammalian Physiology II

of MICR 270/3.0 Infection, Immunity, Inflammation** OR MICR 271/3.0 Introduction to Microbiology**  

**If a student chooses to take both MICR 270 and MICR 271, one will count as core and the other towards the option requirements

Option Courses: Choose 6.0 units from the following list: 

BCHM 218/3.0 Molecular Biology

CHEM 281/3.0 General Organic Chemistry I*

CHEM 282/3.0 General Organic Chemistry II (Offered in-person only)*

CHEM 285/3.0 General Organic Chemistry II*

GLPH 281/3.0 Racism and Health in Canada

HLTH 230/3.0 Fundamentals of Human Nutrition*

IDIS 280/3.0 Interprofessional Approaches in Healthcare

MICR 270/3.0 Infection, Immunity, Inflammation** OR MICR 271/3.0 Introduction to Microbiology**  

**If a student chooses to take both MICR 270 and MICR 271, one will count as core and the other towards the option requirements

MICR 290/3.0 Antibiotic Resistance Lab

PHGY 290/3.0 Investigation of Human Physiological Responses 

Electives: 6.0 Units

Electives can be any online or on-campus course, including any listed option courses. All Arts & Science Online courses are accepted as electives. Additionally, BHSc On-Campus students may choose courses from the Arts & Science Calendar.

Core Courses: 15.0 Units Required

BCHM 370/3.0 Genetics and Genomics (previously BMED 370)

IDIS 373/3.0 Health Ethics, Law, and Policy (previously BMED 373)

PATH 310/3.0 Introduction to Pathology and Molecular Medicine

PHAR 370/3.0 Fundamentals of Pharmacology and Therapeutics (previously PHAR 270)

REPD 372/3.0 Reproduction and Development

Option Courses: Choose 9.0 units from the following list:

ANAT 309/3.0 Functional Histology

ANAT 312/3.0 Functional Neuroanatomy (offered in-person only)

ANAT 380/3.0 Clinically Relevant Human Anatomy 

ANAT 391/3.0 Introduction to Cadaveric Dissection

CANC 380/3.0 Evolutionary Biology of Cancer

GLPH 385/3.0 Biohacking and Gerontechnology

HSCI 383/3.0 Advanced Research Methodologies (previously BMED 383)

LISC 300/3.0 The Process of Discovery in the Biomedical Sciences (offered in-person only)

LISC 387/3.0 Sex Differences in Health and Disease (offered in-person only)

LISC 390/3.0 Integrative Laboratory Studies

LISC 391/3.0 Integrated Life Sciences Laboratory (offered in-person only)

MICR 320/3.0 Microbes in Health and Disease

MICR 386/3.0 Fundamentals of Immunology in Health and Disease (previously BMED 386)

NSCI 323/3.0 Cellular Neuroscience (offered in-person only)

NSCI 324/3.0 Systems Neuroscience (offered in-person only)

NSCI 325/3.0 The Science of Psychadelics (offered in-person only)

PATH 381/3.0 Clinical Biochemistry

PHAR 380/3.0 Drug and Environmental Toxicology

PHGY 350/3.0 Pathophysiology (offered in-person only)

PHGY 355/3.0 Biomedical Respiratory Physiology (offered in-person only)

HSCI 591/3.0 Health Sciences Research: Design and Methods

HSCI 592/3.0 Health Sciences Research: Design and Methods

HSCI 593/3.0 Health Sciences Research: Data Collection and Interpretation

HSCI 594/3.0 Health Sciences Research: Data Collection and Interpretation

HSCI 595/3.0 Health Sciences Research: Data Collection and Interpretation

Electives: 6.0 Units

Electives can be any online or on-campus course, including any listed option courses. All Arts & Science Online courses are accepted as electives. Additionally, BHSc On-Campus students may choose courses from the Arts & Science Calendar.

Core Courses: 6.0 Units Required

GLPH 471/3.0 Advanced Global and Population Health

REPD 473/3.0 Developmental Origins of Health and Disease

Option Courses: Complete a total of 18.0 Units from the following 3 lists.

Minimum 3.0 units from this list:

ANAT 409/3.0 Selected Topics in Histology (offered in-person only)

ANAT 471/3.0 Human Embryology

BCHM 482/3.0 Proteomics and Metabolomics

CANC 440/3.0 Cancer Biology and Therapeutics (offered in-person only)

CRSS 453/3.0 Principles of Cardiorespiratory Sciences I (offered in-person only)

CRSS 454/3.0 Cardiovascular Sciences

CRSS 456/3.0 Molecular and Cellular Basis of Cardiovascular Disease (offered in-person only)

DDHT 459/3.0 Principles of Drug Discovery (offered in-person only)

DDHT 460/3.0 Principles of Drug Development (offered in-person only)

EPID 401/3.0 Biostatistical Data Analysis for Life Science Students

LISC 400/3.0 Neuro-Immune Interactions in Health and Disease (offered in-person only)

LISC 426/3.0 Current Concepts in Sensorimotor Neuroscience (offered in-person only)

MICR 451/3.0 Selected Topics in Viral Pathogenesis (offered in-person only)

MICR 452/3.0 Viral Infection and Immunity (offered in-person only)

MICR 461/3.0 Advanced Immunology (offered in-person only)

MICR 483/3.0 Advanced Topics in Infectious Diseases

NSCI 401/3.0 Introduction to Theoretical Neuroscience (offered in-person only)

NSCI 403/3.0 Introduction to Neuroimaging (offered in-person only)

NSCI 422/3.0 Cellular and Molecular Neurosciences (offered in-person only)

NSCI 429/3.0 Disorders of the Neurosystem (offered in-person only)

NSCI 433/3.0 Cellular Elements of the Nervous System (offered in-person only)

NSCI 444/3.0 Controversies in Neuroscience (offered in-person only)

NSCI 483/3.0 Neurobiology of Learning and Memory

PATH 411/3.0 Applied Data Science in Molecular Medicine

PATH 425/3.0 Current Topics in Human Genetics (offered in-person only)

PATH 430/3.0 Molecular Basis of Disease (offered in-person only)

PHAR 416/3.0 Xenobiotic Disposition and Toxicity (offered in-person only)

PHAR 480/3.0 Drug Discovery and Development

PHGY 424/3.0 Ion Channels of Excitable Cells (offered in-person only)

Minimum 3.0 units from this list:

GLPH 482/3.0 Foundations of Humanitarian Health Emergencies 

GLPH 485/3.0 Global Application of Health Informatics

GLPH 487/3.0 One World, One Health: The Global Link Between Human, Animal, and Environmental Health

GLPH 488/3.0 Global Oncology: Cancer Care, Policy, Research, and Education (offered in-person only)

GLPH 493/3.0 Global Health Practice

HSCI 483/3.0 Applied Qualitative Methods For Health Research

IDIS 473/3.0 Designing Your Life After Queen's

IDIS 480/3.0 Advanced Interprofessional Approaches in Healthcare

IDIS 483/3.0 Applied Health Ethics: Clinical, Organizational, and Research Perspectives

Additional 4th year Options:

HSCI 591/3.0 Health Sciences Research: Design and Methods

HSCI 592/3.0 Health Sciences Research: Design and Methods

HSCI 593/3.0 Health Sciences Research: Data Collection and Interpretation

HSCI 594/3.0 Health Sciences Research: Data Collection and Interpretation

HSCI 595/3.0 Health Sciences Research: Data Collection and Interpretation

HSCI 598/6.0 Advanced Health Sciences Research: Design and Methods

HSCI 599/6.0 Advanced Health Sciences Research: Data Collection and Analysis

Electives: 6.0 Units

Electives can be any online or on-campus course, including any listed option courses. All Arts & Science Online courses are accepted as electives. Additionally, BHSc On-Campus students may choose courses from the Arts & Science Calendar.

Focus your degree

Anatomical and Physiological Basis of Health and Disease

Anatomical and Physiological Basis of Health and Disease

If you have a curiosity for how the human body works, you will find particular interest in this learning track.

Applied Research Methods in Health Sciences

Applied Research Methods in Health Sciences

If you have a curiosity for the way in which health-related research is conducted, with the inclination for advancing critical-reasoning skills, you will find particular interest in this learning track.

Pharmacology, Toxicology, and Therapeutics

Pharmacology, Toxicology, and Therapeutics

If you have a curiosity for the beneficial and/or detrimental effects of drugs and environmental chemicals, you will find particular interest in this learning track.

Global and Population Health

Global and Population Health

If you have a curiosity for health of an entire population, as well as the ways in which health in populations are appropriately measured, you will find particular interest in this learning track.

Infection, Immunity, and Inflammation

Infection, Immunity, and Inflammation

If you are interested in the influence of microbes in health and disease and how our immune system responds to environmental stimuli, this learning track will be of interest to you.

Molecular Basis of Biology

Molecular Basis of Biology

If you have a curiosity for the fundamental processes of life and human disease at the molecular and cellular level, you will find particular interest in this learning track.

"In one term [in BMED 373], there was a lot of interest in the opioid crisis and that's become integrated as one of our discussion forum assignments."

Dr. Cheryl Cline
Professor, BMED 173 & BMED 373

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