Bachelor of Health Science

Choose your path with a diverse range of majors to make a real difference in the future of healthcare

Health Science provides an understanding of the human body, interactions with our environment, and the science underpinning being a health practitioner. In this degree, you'll explore health issues, using a combination of disciplines to understand how different areas of human biology and environmental factors relate to health and disease.

Innovative education

We've invested in world-class research, cutting-edge learning facilities and some of Australia's most highly awarded academics. When you choose to study health science at Griffith, you're joining a forward-thinking, future-ready university that shares your passion for making a difference that matters. 

Learn in state-of-the-art facilities, with simulated teaching environments and virtual reality technology, and build your skills as part of a multidisciplinary team through our interprofessional approach. You'll learn alongside students from the full range of clinical areas, giving you the skills and knowledge you need to thrive in the kind of multidisciplinary teams you may work in after you graduate.

Industry experience

As a Health Science student, you'll have the opportunity to gain hands-on experience in clinical and laboratory placements and collaborate with leading healthcare and research institutions. With close links to leading hospitals and clinics, Griffith Health offers more than 2,000 placement opportunities. 

Flexible degree, many options, many career paths

In your first year of the Bachelor of Health Science, you will develop your understanding of the structure and function of humans, from cellular scale to body systems to populations, and develop skills in communicating in science. You'll receive a firm grounding in chemistry, cell biology, anatomy, physiology, genetics, microbiology, and health management, with a wide range of electives in these areas and others such as nutrition, infection, toxicology and climate change.

In your second and third years, you will develop more skills in analysing and evaluating information, and communicating your ideas and recommendations. Your choice of major and electives will allow you to design a program that suits your interests and aims. This degree is an ideal introduction to health and, depending on your choice of major, can provide a direct graduate career path into environmental health, nutrition, or data analysis. 

Focused expertise: specialise to expand your career opportunities

You may choose to focus on a major and develop specialist skills in:

• Communication
• Data Analysis
• Environmental Health Management 
• Environmental Toxicology
• Nutrition and Food Science
• Science of Environmental Health

In the environmental majors you will learn about environmental agents that have the potential to adversely affect the health of any community, such as such as climate change, pollution, and water and food safety. By studying local and international examples, you will learn how to address the factors that impact our environment and human health, while understanding the rationale and practice of risk assessment. The Bachelor of Health Science is one of only five accredited undergraduate Environmental Health programs in Australia.

In the data analysis major, you will build on the strong health science base built in foundation year and in core courses, and gain knowledge and skills expected to be key to health innovation, including data management, and analysis and presentation, identifying trends in health data to inform new strategies to improve health.

In the communication major, you will gain specific expertise in strategic communication to develop and deliver health information and campaigns. You will explore ethical communication, health and science communication, and crisis and disaster management communication. You will gain a sophisticated understanding of the contemporary media landscape (including legacy, online and social media) and its essential role in 21st century public health practice. The skills developed in this major build upon the strong foundational health knowledge, and core courses in second and third year, providing complementary expertise in health, and science communication.

The nutrition and food science major provides formative knowledge and skills in this space, and you'll gain a solid understanding of the importance of nutrition for health, including an introduction to food safety. 

Honours 

The Bachelor of Health Science (Honours) (2101) is available as an additional year of study for high-achieving students.