Master of Science (MS) in Bioscience and Health Policy

The M.S. in Bioscience and Health Policy trains you in science policy by deepening your scientific background and broadening your expertise in business, management, sociology, economics, and policy studies. It emphasizes communication, professional development, policy writing, and study skills to craft specific policy recommendations. With direct access to Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy, you'll collaborate closely with policy scholars, engage with leaders in science and technology policy, and discuss the latest topics in bioscience and health policy. Tailor your studies to your career focus, whether in policy, health care management, bioinformatics, data analytics/science, technology transfer, or preparing for medical school.

The MS in Bioscience and Health Policy program requires 39 credit hours of coursework plus a required 3-credit-hour internship. The internship provides students with valuable professional experience and the opportunity to apply their scientific knowledge to real-world challenges at the intersection of bioscience, healthcare, and public policy.

Most students complete the program in approximately 16 months (three semesters), although the total program length may vary, depending on the duration and timing of the internship.

Cohort Courses

Students must complete the following 9 credit hours

Required Cohort Courses	Credits
NSCI 501 (2 semesters required, 1 credit each)	2
NSCI 511 Science Policy and Ethics	3
NSCI 512 Professional Master’s Project	1
NSCI 514 Professional Master's Internship	3
NSCI 610/ENGI 610 Management for Science and Engineering	3

Required Bioscience Courses

The Bioscience courses give in-depth instruction in specialized areas of Bioscience. Four courses are required to obtain a broad understanding of diverse areas of cutting-edge Bioscience research.

Students must select 4 courses (16 credit hours) from the following

Course	Credits
BIOS 520 Molecular Basis of Diseases	3
BIOS 523 Conservation Biology	3
BIOS 524 Microbial Physiology & Genetics	3
BIOS 525 Plant Molecular Genetics & Development	3
BIOS 534 Evolution	3
BIOS 543 Developmental Neurobiology	3
BIOS 547 Experimental Biology & the Future of Medicine	3
BIOS 549 Advanced Cell & Molecular Neuroscience	3
BIOS 550 Viruses and Infectious Diseases	3
BIOS 558 Fundamentals of Quantitative Environmental Health Risk Assessment	3
BIOS 560 Cancer Biology	3
BIOS 570 Computation with Biological Data	3
BIOS 572 Immunology	3
BIOS 585 Cellular & Molecular Mechanisms of the Neuron	3

Economics, Policy, and Statistics Courses

The analytical competency requirement provides career-enhancing, marketable skills in policy analysis, economics, and statistics. Students will take courses from groups Economics/Finance, Policy, and Statistics/Data Analytics courses indicated below.

Economics and Finance Courses

Select 3 credit hours from the following:

Courses	Credits
ECON 565 Health Economics	3
MGMT 631 Health Insurance in the U.S.: The Essentials	1.5
MGMT 678 Business of Healthcare	1.5
MGMT 690 Health Care Strategy	1.5
MGMT 751 Economics of Health Care Sectors	1.5
MGMT 793 Creating the Data Driven Business	1.5
PH 3910* Introduction to Health Economics	3

MGMT courses depend on the availability and coordination of courses with respective departments and the Jones School of Business.

*PH 3910 is a course offered at the UTHealth School of Public Health and available to Rice students as part of an existing inter-institutional agreement between our two institutions. Once received as approved, transfer credit PH3910 is eligible to be approved to meet the 3 credit hour requirement for Economics and Finance. Students are not permitted to take this inter-institutional course in their last semester at Rice.

Policy Courses

Select 6 credit hours from the following:

Courses	Credits
ANTH 581 Medical Anthropology	3
ANTH 643 Anthropology of Race, Ethnicity, and Health	3
BIOS 670 Current Biosciences & Health Policy Topics	3
HEAL 580 Disparities in Health in America	3
NSCI 530 The Shaping of Health Policy	3
SOPE 506 Applications of Program Evaluation-Health	3
SOCI 524 Population Health Seminar	3

Statistics and Data Analytics

Select 3 credit hours from the following:

	Courses	Credits
	BIOE 552/SSPB 502 Intro Computational Systems Biology:Modeling & Design Principles of Biochem Networks	3
	BIOS 538 Analysis and Visualization of Biological Data	3
	DSCI 535/COMP 549 Applied Machine Learning & Data Science Projects	3
	EEPS 586 Introduction to Data Science & Methods	3
	STAT 553 Biostatistics	3
	STAT 605 R for Data Science	3

Electives

Select 6 credit hours from the below electives

Courses	Credits
ASIA 556 Genomic Governance in Asia	3
BIOS 670 Current Biosciences and Health Policy Topics	3
HEAL 507 Epidemiology	3
HEAL 560 Planning and Evaluation of Health Promotion and Education	3
MGMT 623 Early Development and Entrepreneurship in a Biotech/Medtech Startup	1.5
MGMT 631 Health Insurance in the U.S.: The Essentials	1.5
MGMT 633 Roles of Physicians, Scientists, Engineers & MBA's in Hightech Startup	1.5
MGMT 690 Healthcare Strategy	1.5
MGMT 691 Breakthrough Negotiations in Applied Contexts	1.5
MGMT 712 Process Management and Quality Improvement	1.5
MGMT 721 Business Law	1.5
MGMT 744 Services Operations	1.5
MGMT 778 Customer Experience Management	1.5
MGMT 793 Creating the Data-Driven Business	1.5
MGMT 799 Healthcare Innovation and Entrepreneurship	1.5
NSCI 515 Foundations of Project & Program Management	3
SOPE 506 Applications of Program Evaluation - Health	3

MGMT courses depend on the availability and coordination of courses with respective departments and the Jones School of Business.

* Students can choose up to two electives from UT Graduate School of Biomedical Science (GS), Informatics (HI) and/or Health Science Center (PH)

Required Internship

Three to Six Month Full-Time Internship: Practical experience is offered via a three to six month full-time work immersion. The internship will be under the guidance of a host company, government agency, or non-profit organization. With approval of the advising faculty, a capstone project, independent study, or a research project can be used to fulfill the internship requirement. At the conclusion of the internship (or the conclusion of the capstone project, independent study, or research project), students must present a summary of their project in both oral and written form for the cohort course Professional Master's Project (NSCI 512). Part-time students who already work in their area of study may fulfill the internship requirements by working on an approved project with their current employer.

TOTAL CREDIT HOURS: 39 Credit Hours plus a 3 Credit Hour Required Internship