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Designed specifically for students interested in applying to professional healthcare schools—including medical school, dentistry school, physician’s assistant school, physical therapy school, occupational therapy school, chiropractic school, optometry school, and other allied healthcare graduate schools—Taylor’s Human Physiology & Preventive Medicine major builds a basic foundation in human anatomy, physiology, cellular biology, and chemistry and provides plenty of hands-on patient-care opportunities. You will also establish a background in human nutrition, health psychology, public health, and exercise as medicine.
Human Physiology and Preventive Medicine majors are immersed in an interdisciplinary program that will equip them with the knowledge, skills, and abilities to implement preventive medicine in their future career and be accepted into well-known graduate healthcare programs. This will give them the competitive edge to succeed in the professional healthcare school of their choice, and the clinical and professional experiences to begin exploring what a career in health care might look like for them.
According to the Center for Disease Control, seven out of the ten leading causes of death are chronic diseases—preventable diseases developed by poor lifestyle choices—which account for 81% of hospital admissions, 91% of all prescriptions filled, and 76% of all physician visits leading to approximately 86% of all health care costs.
To combat chronic disease, Taylor’s Human Physiology & Preventive Medicine major teaches students to approach medicine through “traditional” means and lifestyle modification. With current estimates suggesting that 80% of cardiovascular disease and diabetes and 40% of cancers could be prevented by a holistic understanding of health, the preventive medicine component of this program seeks to prepare undergraduates for their future as medical practitioners after professional or graduate school.
Our Human Physiology and Preventive Medicine majors have the opportunity to serve in several on-campus healthcare programs and off-campus practicum and internship opportunities. Each of these programs allow our students to receive direct experience in real patient care, while being supervised by committed and passionate faculty and healthcare experts.
The advanced physiology courses in this major will give you in-depth opportunities to study specific, inter-related physiological systems and how they are affected by a variety of chronic human diseases and conditions. We also will examine current treatment options and preventative approaches. In this major, you will take advanced physiology classes, such as:
* The small amount of course hours in this major intentionally provides flexibility for Human Physiology and Preventive Medicine majors to take specific pre-requisites courses required for the health professional program of their choice while also participating in clinical experiences, undergraduate research opportunities, and international experiences.
If you prefer to follow a more traditional path to professional school in medicine and healthcare (i.e. biology, chemistry or psychology) or hope to use medical studies to direct your major toward a health-related career (social work, music therapy, missions), you may wish to add a minor in preventive medicine. Students who complete the Preventive Medicine minor will establish a basic understanding of traditional and lifestyle preventive medicine and gain valuable experience in a local diabetes and chronic disease prevention program.
Students interested in course descriptions and academic policies can check out our Undergraduate Catalog here.
Dr. Erik Hayes, Professor of Kinesiology
765-998-4898
erhayes@taylor.edu
Dr. Brian Dewar, Associate Professor of Biology
765-998-4918
brdewar@taylor.edu