Urban Health, Graduate Certificate

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Qualified students admitted to the CSU Partnerships for Urban Health program may have the the option to complete the partnership academic requirements at the graduate level by completing the Master of Sciences in Health Sciences–Urban Health Track. This track fully integrates a graduate Urban Health Certificate into the Master of Health Sciences curriculum. To qualify, a student must have been admitted to the CSU Partnerships for Urban Health as a postbaccalaureate student and must have already completed most of their undergraduate medical school prerequisites with a competitive GPA (typically > 3.5). Interested students should seek advice from the partnership advisor and will need to formally seek admission to the MSHS program.
The Graduate Urban Health Certificate requires completion of 16 to 19 credits of graduate work (8 credits in urban health courses and 8-11 credits in clinical science courses). In addition to the Graduate Urban Health Certificate itself, partnership students are required to complete undergraduate science and professional development co-requisites as noted below.
Urban Health Curriculum: Completion of an 8-credit, 4-course urban health sequence, which includes a capstone community-based participatory research project developed and implemented in Urban Health III and IV
- HSC 534 - Urban Health I (1 credit) (1st year Fall)
- HSC 561 - Urban Health II (1 credit) (1st year Spring)
- HSC 563 - Urban Health III (3 credits) (2nd year Fall)
- HSC 565 - Urban Health IV (3 credits) (2nd year Spring)
Required Clinical Science Courses:
- HSC 520 - Physiology for the Clinical Sciences (4 credits) (2nd year)
- HSC 575 - Human Gross Anatomy (3 credits) (2nd year) AND
- HSC 557 (3 credit dissection lab) OR HSC 585 (1 credit observational lab) (2nd year) (decision about taking the 3-credit vs 1-credit lab will be made in consultation with program advisors based on student schedules and balanced with the demands of other needed courses)
Optional Clinical Science Course
- HSC 550 - Physiology Lab (1 credit)
BCPM every semester: Students must take at least one biology, chemistry, physics, or math course each semester during the program. For most students this will be fulfilled by prerequisite science courses in the first year and the clinical science courses in the second year.
Professional Development: Participation in a series of 1-credit Professional Development undergraduate co-requisite courses that focus on critical analysis and reasoning skills and standardized testing exam preparedness. The first three courses are required of all students; the final course is only required for students who have not met MCAT guidelines for entry into medical school (typically 500, but may vary based on the medical schools to which the student is applying).
- HSC 427 Professional Development I (1 credit) (1st year Fall)
- HSC 429 Professional Development II (1 credit) (1st year Spring)
- HSC 431 Professional Development III (1 credit) (1st year Summer)
- HSC 433 Professional Development IV (1 credit, only required if MCAT score is not satisfactory, may be repeated)
Students need to maintain a program GPA of 3.0 or better in certificate, degree and prerequisite courses to remain enrolled in the program. In addition, they need to exhibit the professional behaviors expected of future physicians. However, because competitive GPAs for medical school are considerably higher than this 3.0 minimum, program advisors may counsel students out of the program if academic performance isn’t consistent with eventual admission to medical school.

Certificate Requirements

Required Courses (16-18 Credits)

Optional Course (1 Credit)

HSC 550 - Physiology Lab