Exploration of Allied Health Professions

Catalog description

This course is an integrative, interdomain (GHW, GH) course for students pursuing health-related professions, considering health science/allied health fields, or interested in appreciating healthcare in its broader and historical context. It provides a comprehensive understanding of five allied health professions (occupational therapy, physical therapy, radiological sciences, medical laboratory technology, and biomedical engineering technology), emphasizing their critical role in healthcare, the diversity of related career options, and the skills required to excel in these fields. Through a combination of lectures, discussions, case studies, and evidenced based research students will gain insight into national and international influences, current practices, and health promotion in allied health. For the humanities (GH) portion of this course, students will gain an understanding of these professions in a historical context. It examines the historical background of the allied health professions using primary and secondary sources and learning basic techniques of the humanities. Students will learn about the origins, expansion, and current trends of these allied health professions from the 19th century through the present and how these events developed and transformed healthcare. Students will examine such questions as continuity and change; how and why change occurs; and the roles played by technology.