Curriculum: BSHS in Molecular Diagnostic Sciences

BSHS in Molecular Diagnostic Sciences

Students must earn a total of 120 college credit hours to receive the BSHS degree. They may transfer in up to 60 college credit hours from another institution, which are applied toward the general education and advanced standing requirements. They then must earn at least 60 college credit hours at GW to meet the academic residency requirement, of which 48 credit hours are required courses for the major.*

* Students may be considered for review with a minimum of 45 transfer credits but will be required to complete any missing general education credit hours in addition to completion of the 60 programmatic hours. Transfer credit hours will be evaluated prior to admission.

* Elective Coursework - Students can choose MLS or HSCI coursework under the guidance and approval of the program director. Electives will be chosen based on student's background, educational gaps, and student interests/career goals.

Fully Online (Credit Hours: 60)

General Education Courses

HSCI 1106 Introduction to Biotechnology for Health Sciences (Credit Hours: 3)

Concepts in biotechnology with special emphasis on issues and advances in medicine and health care. Restricted to Students in SMHS.

MLS 3000 Clinical Laboratory Mathematics (Credit Hours: 3)

Basic mathematical techniques used in the clinical laboratory, including exponential and logarithms, measurement systems, solutions and concentrations, proportionality, graphing, statistics and quality control, and method evaluation; practical applications of data analysis. An equivalent college-level mathematics course or permission of the program director may be substituted for the prerequisite. Restricted to students in the medical laboratory science program.

MLS 3001W Professional Ethics for Medical Laboratory Scientists (Credit Hours: 3)

Ethical and professional conduct of and dilemmas encountered by medical laboratory professionals. Restricted to students in the medical laboratory science programs. Includes a significant engagement in writing as a form of critical inquiry and scholarly expression to satisfy the WID requirement.

HSCI 3106: Pathophysiology (Credit Hours: 3)

n/a

HSCI 3117 Principles of Biostatistics for Health Sciences (Credit Hours: 3)

Biostatistics for health science professionals. Concepts and methods, including confidence intervals, ANOVA, multiple and logistic regression, and non-parametric analyses. Scientific literature is used to provide a comprehensive context in which analytical evidence is employed to support practices in the health sciences. Prerequisites: HSCI 2117 or permission of the instructor.

HSCI 4106 Introduction to Epidemiology for Health Sciences (Credit Hours: 3)

An introduction to epidemiological methods and their applications in the prevention and control of illness, community and clinical interventions, and health services.

MLS or HSCI WID (Credit Hours: 3)

n/a

Molecular Major Didactic Courses

MLS 4141 Immunology and Serology (Credit Hours: 3)

Principles of the immune system’s components, functions, interactions with microorganisms, and the clinical applications of immunologic assays to human health and disease.

MLS 4151 Molecular Diagnostics (Credit Hours: 3)

Introduction to the molecular techniques used to diagnose human disease; technology, theory, and methodology of specific molecular protocols that can be used within a clinical laboratory setting to aid in disease diagnostics including those of genetic, oncogenic, and infections origin. Proctor fee.

MLS 4158 Laboratory Management and Operations (Credit Hours: 3)

Introduction to critical concepts of lab management, including leadership theory, management principles, human resource management, financial management, quality management, and laboratory operations.

MLS 4170 Introduction to Molecular Biology (Credit Hours: 3)

Foundational course in molecular biology; DNA replication, DNA repair, transcription, translation and gene regulation.

MLS 4172 Molecular Diagnostics Capstone (Credit Hours: 3)

Culmination course for the BSHS in molecular diagnostic sciences program. Provides an overview of molecular diagnostics using a case-based approach. Students must have earned a minimum grade of C in all prerequisite courses in order to enroll in this course. Program director approval may be substituted for prerequisite courses. Proctor fee.

MLS 4217 Molecular Techniques (Credit Hours: 3)

Theory and processes of current molecular techniques used to diagnose human disease.

MLS 4218 Human Genetics (Credit Hours: 3)

An introduction to the theory of and laboratory techniques in molecular biology with an emphasis on molecular and serological techniques, including DNA extraction and quantitation, restriction enzyme digestion, polymerase chain reaction, agarose gel electrophoresis, flow cytometry, and ELISA Restricted to students in the medical laboratory science program.

MLS 4219 Molecular Biology (Credit Hours: 3)

n/a

MLS 4242 Applications of Molecular Testing (Credit Hours: 3)

Application of molecular testing to diagnose various human diseases and disorders.

Practicum Course

MLS 4266 Molecular Diagnostics Practicum (Credit Hours: 6)

Application of molecular techniques in a clinical setting to facilitate the diagnosis of human diseases. Students must have earned a minimum grade of C in all prerequisite courses. Instructor permission may be substituted for prerequisites. Prerequisites: MLS 4170, MLS 4171, MLS 4217 and MLS 4242.

Elective Courses

MLS or HSCI Courses (Credit Hours: 9)

Hybrid (Credit Hours: 60)