The programs within the Department of Biomedical Sciences are designed to provide the students with knowledge and skills of the rapidly expanding fields of basic science, medicine and research. The integration of courses from these areas with a broad range of courses taken from other disciplines such as liberal arts and business provides the student with the maximum educational background and the critical thinking skills required to succeed in the increasingly demanding field of biomedical sciences.

The department offers three programs leading to the bachelor of science degree. These include microbiology/molecular biology, biomedical sciences and an entry-level master’s physician assistant program. Because of the expansion of medical information and techniques, the department also offers several graduate degree programs including physician and pathologists’ assistant, medical laboratory science with specialties in biomedical sciences, microbiology and laboratory management, and molecular and cell biology. The focus of each of these programs is to educate students for the critical thinking necessary to function successfully in the arena of the medical profession which has become highly diversified, encompassing multitudes of related and yet distinct differences.

The Department of Biomedical Sciences integrates and coordinates the activities of related biomedical sciences programs that may be conveniently grouped under the generic title “biomedical sciences.” The inclusion of these programs, which have many elements in common, under the direction of a single administrative unit, encourages the mixing of ideas and disciplines. It allows both the lateral and the upward mobility of students enrolled in closely related curricula and permits the faculty to cut across traditional disciplinary boundaries.

The rapid expansion of basic medical information, methodology and technology in recent years has increased the demand for specially trained personnel to perform in the clinical and research laboratories of hospitals, medical schools and government health facilities, and in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries. The health care system has a need for development of interdisciplinary skills to keep pace with sophisticated scientific developments and their applications in the biomedical sciences.