Degree Requirements

The Bioscience and Health Policy degree program requires a minimum of 39 credit hours, not including the internship, and it can be completed in 3 semesters. The total length of the program is 16 - 22 months depending on the length 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 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 523 Conservation Biology	3
BIOS 524 Microbiology & Biotechnology II	3
BIOS 525 Plant Molecular Genetics & Development	3
BIOS 532 Ecology	3
BIOS 543 Developmental Neurobiology	3
BIOS 547 Experimental Biology & the Future of Medicine	3
BIOS 549 Advanced Cell & Molecular Neuroscience	3
BIOS 520 Molecular Basis of Diseases	3
BIOS 550 Viruses and Infectious Diseases	3
BIOS 560 Cancer Biology	3
BIOS 570 Computation with Biological Data	3
BIOS 572 Immunology	3
BIOS 559 Fundamentals of Cellular & Molecular Neuroscience	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 450 Economic Development	3
MGMT 631 Health Insurance in the U.S.: The Essentials	1.5
MGMT 678 U.S. Health Care Management	1.5
MGMT 690 Health Care Strategy	1.5
MGMT 693 Create the Data-Driven Business	1.5
MGMT 751 Economics of Health Care Sectors	1.5
PH 3910* Introduction to Health Economics	3
STAT 535 Data Science Projects	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
HEAL 580 Disparities in Health in America	3
MGMT 631 Health Insurance In the U.S.: The Essentials	1.5
MGMT 690 Healthcare Strategy	1.5
MGMT 691 Breakthrough Negotiations in Health Care Context	1.5
MGMT 694 Interpersonal Communication in Healthcare	1.5
NSCI 530 The Shaping of Health Policy	3
SOPA 540 Intro to Pandemic Response	3
SOCI 524 Population Health Seminar	3

Statistics and Data Analytics

Select 3 credit hours from the following:

Courses	Credits
BIOE Intro Systems Biology Modeling	3
ESCI 654 Geographic Information Science	3
STAT 535 Data Science Projects	3
STAT 553 Biostatistics	3
STAT 605 R for Data Science	3

Electives

Select 6 credit hours from the below electives

Courses	Credits
ENGI 515 Leading Teams and Innovation	3
ENGI 529 Ethics and Engineering Leadership	3
ENGI 542 Communication for Engineers/Scientists	3
ENGI 614 Leadership How to Innovate	2
HEAL 507 Epidemiology	3
HEAL 560 Planning and Evaluation of Health Promotion and Education	3
MGMT 623 Commercialization in Pharma/Biotech	1.5
MGMT 633 Life Science Entrepreneurship	1.5
MGMT 712 Process Management and Quality Improvement	1.5
MGMT 721 Busines 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
PHIL 536 Topics in Medical Ethics	3
GS 120254* Cell and Systems Physiology	3
GS 120043* Principles of Pathology	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