COURSE CURRICULUM

The Bachelor of Science (BS) in Health Management at Wichita State University requires a minimum of 120 credit hours and is designed to prepare students for leadership, management, and administrative roles within healthcare organizations. Students benefit from guidance provided by both a college advisor and a faculty advisor who support academic planning, career development, and successful completion of the degree. The program is available in either an on-campus or fully online format, offering flexibility for traditional students and working professionals. In addition to completing university General Education requirements and the standards of the College of Health Professions, students must maintain a cumulative GPA of at least 2.0, with no program course grade below 1.7 per credit hour. The curriculum includes 45 credit hours of required health management coursework covering aging studies, public health, healthcare administration, epidemiology, healthcare policy and ethics, healthcare informatics, health communication, organizational leadership, healthcare finance, quality improvement, analytics, healthcare economics, community health methods, and healthcare management. Students also complete graduate-level courses in effective healthcare management and human resource management, strengthening their leadership and administrative skills. An additional nine credit hours of interdisciplinary electives allow students to customize their studies with topics such as nutrition, psychology of aging, healthcare coordination, senior living operations, rural healthcare leadership, accounting, economics, management, marketing, medical terminology, and bioethics. The program culminates with a professional practice sequence that includes Practicum Preparation, Healthcare Professionalism, and a supervised Practicum experience. Students enrolling in the practicum are required to carry professional and general liability insurance, which is included in university fees. Open electives are used to reach the 120-credit-hour graduation requirement. Through a combination of healthcare administration, leadership training, policy analysis, finance, quality improvement, and practical field experience, the program prepares graduates for careers as healthcare administrators, clinic managers, healthcare recruiters, patient access supervisors, nursing home administrators, healthcare operations specialists, and community health leaders. The degree also provides excellent preparation for graduate study in health administration, public health, aging studies, and related healthcare disciplines.