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Advance Your Health Care Career with an Online Associate Degree
If you’re looking for a degree that can help you obtain employment or advance your career in health care, this fully online Associate in Science in Health Sciences degree program will expand your medical vocabulary, improve your communication skills, and provide you with a solid understanding of the U.S. health care system.
In the core associate in health science courses, you gain skills needed for entry-level jobs in medical office administration, health insurance member services, community health services, medical billing management, and human resources. Instruction covers topics in private, nonprofit, and public (Medicaid and Medicare) health insurance and financing; health provider education and licensing; federal health care legislation and regulation compliance; health care delivery settings; and electronic medical records.
This online health science associate degree program is especially suited to veterans and servicemembers with some military medical education; licensed practical nurses or vocational nurses (LPNs or LVNs) looking to earn a non-nursing health science associate degree; people working in medical billing and medical coding in health insurance organizations; and allied health professionals who need a degree to further their career.
You can apply all the credits from this associate degree to Excelsior University’s Bachelor of Science in Health Sciences and a total of 50 credits toward Excelsior University’s Bachelor of Science in Health Care Management.
Fast Facts:
2.4 million new health care jobs are expected to be added by 2026 (Source: BLS)
Health care occupations earn 58 percent more than the average median wage (Source: BLS)
AS degree holders are prepared for entry into a variety of health care career paths
60
credit hours
Online AS in Health Sciences Program Details
60 credits are required for the Associate in Science in Health Sciences.
- Cornerstone Course
- Written English Requirement
- Ethics: Health Care Ethics Suggested (HSC 214 Ethics and the Health Professions)
- HIS 214 Ethics and the Health Professions or HSC 312 Ethics of Health Care
- Humanities elective
- Social Sciences
- Lifespan Developmental Psychology
- Social science elective
- Natural Sciences and Mathematics
- Natural science supportive of health sciences (minimum 2 credits)
- Mathematics (minimum 2 credits)
- Additional courses to reach required credits
- Information Literacy
- Arts and Sciences Electives
- Applied Professional and/or Additional Arts and Sciences Courses
- Capstone Course
The Health Sciences Component provides you with a solid knowledge base in the health sciences field.
Core Health Science Courses
Medical Terminology
This course introduces you to the medical language that’s necessary to every career in health care. As you become familiar with medical reporting style guidelines established by the American Association of Medical Transcription (AAMT), you learn how to read and pronounce medical terms. After this course, your working vocabulary will include terminologies of disease, pharmacology, and biological systems in human anatomy and physiology, and you’ll know how to use these terms correctly while writing and talking in health care settings.
Health Care in the United States
Learn how the U.S. health care and health insurance systems work, and how your work fits into the bigger picture. This course covers the ways public, for-profit, and nonprofit organizations deliver, finance, and manage health care services. Topics include: federal regulations such as the Affordable Care Act; access disparity; Medicaid, Medicare, and private health insurance systems; electronic medical records and medical office information technology; quality and safety in health care settings; and careers in licensed and non-licensed health care professions.
Professionalism in Health Care
Learn best practices for communicating with co-workers, clients/consumers, and families; resolving workplace conflict; planning your professional development; improving your cultural competence with diverse populations; and responding to fraud, malpractice, safety, and negligence. Instruction also covers organizational policy, patient rights, informed consent, and the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA).
Health Science Electives
You may be able to satisfy your health sciences electives requirement with credit awarded for your health care license or certification or prior coursework/transfer credits in a health science discipline. Visit the Credit for Health Care Credentials page to learn more.
Sample health science electives at Excelsior University include courses such as:
- Anatomy and Physiology (I and II)
- Introduction to Health Care Management
- Spanish Communication for the Health Care Professions
- Why We Overeat: Perspectives on Nutrition
- Sex, Gender, and Health
- Addictions in America
- Health in the News
- Biology of Health and Disease
Associate Health Sciences Capstone
This course assesses the knowledge you gained through the associate health science program curriculum. Explore the health care delivery system as it relates to specific health care professions, and exercise and refine your communication skills through activities such as resume writing and responding to interview questions.
View our catalog for additional information.
Common Careers with an
Online AS in Health Sciences
- Billing Coordinator
- Billing Supervisor
- Health Information Specialist
- Human Resource Specialist
- Medical Office Manager
- Patient Relations Manager
Explore Common Careers
Caleen Oliver
Bachelor of Science, 2015
Recognitions & Accreditations
Institutional Accreditation
Excelsior University is an accredited institution and a member of the Middle States Commission on Higher Education (MSCHE or the Commission) www.msche.org. Excelsior University’s accreditation status is accreditation reaffirmed. The Commission’s most recent action on the institution’s accreditation status on June 23, 2022 was to reaffirm accreditation. MSCHE is recognized by the U.S. Secretary of Education to conduct accreditation and pre-accreditation (candidate status) activities for institutions of higher education including distance, correspondence education, and direct assessment programs offered at those institutions. The Commission’s geographic area of accrediting activities is throughout the United States.
All of Excelsior University’s academic programs are registered (i.e., approved) by the New York State Education Department.