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School of Medicine and Medical Sciences

Bachelor of Science in Fundamental Health Sciences (Open for Admission)

Multilingual
140 credits
For students entering the program at the Freshman level
(Please click here for more info on the Freshman program)
110 credits
For students entering the program at the Sophomore level
(holders of a recognized Baccalaureate or Freshman diploma - equivalent to 30 credits)

Courses

Elective Courses
FHS310Biophysics
3 credits
This course is a general introduction to physics of human biological system. Topics include physical quantities and units, Elastic properties, Biomechanics, Molecular properties, Heat, Blood Circulation, Bioelectricity, Hearing, Vision, Lights and Radiation, Medical imaging (X-rays Imaging, MRI, Echography, PET)
FHS425Epidemiology
3 credits
An introductory course offered to undergraduates covering the basic principles and practice of Epidemiology and Biostatistics and basic methods of public health epidemiology investigation for both communicable and non-communicable diseases. This course introduces students to the types and sources of epidemiological data, common measures of morbidity and mortality, the design and analysis of various epidemiological study designs, and the main biases and issues that threaten data validity. The course also covers exploratory data analysis and introduces students to statistical techniques commonly used in the analysis of epidemiological data.
FHS445Economics and Health Management
3 credits
This course is an introduction to theoretical health systems in the world, giving students an insight into different economic, social and ethical aspects. The course covers principles of management focusing on hospital management.
FHS460Principles of public health
3 credits
This course introduces students to key concepts, and principles in public health. Students will learn about the history of public health and the important role and responsibilities public health practitioners have in improving quality of life for populations. Topics covered in this course include, but are not limited to the, built environment, chronic and infectious diseases, health disparities, ethics, and preparedness.
Major Courses
FHS200Human Anatomy
3 credits
This course introduces the students to the human body and its many complex structures. The structure and shape of important organs will be described and discussed to be later related to common surgical scenarios and current research. Each part of the course will focus on a specific area of the human body; This will help the students to apply their understanding of basic anatomy to common clinical scenarios and research.
FHS210 General Histology
3 credits
The purpose of this course is the theoretical and practical acquisition of the fundamental basics in general functional histology. Outline: meiosis and gametogenesis, early development, histology techniques, supporting tissues, epithelial, muscle tissue, nerve tissue, hematopoietic tissue.
FHS220Human embryology
3 credits
This course helps the students understand how a well- organized and complete individual develops from the zygote (single totipotent) following inductions in chains. The aim is also to understand that the development of the human body is dependent on endogenous factors (regulatory genes) and is also dependent on external or environmental factors.
FHS300Cytology and Human cell pathologies
3 credits
This Cytology and Human Cell Pathology course focuses on the study of human cellular structures, their functions, and the pathological changes that occur in diseases, equipping students with the knowledge to identify and interpret cellular abnormalities crucial for disease diagnosis.
FHS320Neuroanatomy and neurophysiology
3 credits
Functional organization of the central nervous system, receptors, sensations, pathways, neurotransmitters, neuromodulator, synapses, reflexes, organization of the sensory and motor system and their lesions, function of vestibular apparatus. Also, the student must recognize normal pattern of EEG, mechanisms of sleep and higher functions of the brain including memory, speech, and learning. Special senses include vision, hearing, sense of smell and taste. Recognize some of the neurovascular disorders.
FHS405Immunology
3 credits
This class is a fundamental immunology course for students entering the medical health professions. The students will study immune system physiopathology which is typically divided into two categories: innate and adaptive responses. This course includes the anatomy of central and peripheral lymphoid organs and functions of immune cells (T and B lymphocytes, NK cells, dendritic cells) and molecules (MHC, TCR, BCR, complement system) in physiological and pathological situations such as transplantation, infections, tumors and autoimmunity. The second part of the course provides the core information required to understand diseases with an immunological basis. It covers the underlying pathophysiology, the signs and symptoms of disease, the investigations required (mainly the immunologic laboratory tests intended to aid in clinical diagnosis). It also includes a brief review of immunohematology and blood transfusion issues.
FHS411Molecular Biology Laboratory for Health Sciences
1 credits
This molecular biology lab provides students with first-hand experience related to concepts studied in the Molecular Biology course, and allows them to explore tools and methods used by health scientists: DNA extraction, PCR amplification, enzymatic digestion and cloning, bacterial transformation, SDS-PAGE, Western blot...
FHS450Microbiology and Parasitology
3 credits
The course introduces the student to the various sources of infectious and parasitic diseases. It describes the basic biological characteristics of microorganisms (bacteria, viruses, fungi and parasites) that cause human infections, their virulence factors, environmental resistance, their route of transmission, and the basis for human infection protection. Students will learn about different types of vaccines available for certain microbial infections. One of the goals is to teach basic groups of antimicrobial drugs, their spectrum of action, mechanism of action on the bacterial cell, and mechanisms of bacterial resistance to antimicrobial drugs. It aims is to introduce students with the possibilities of treating fungal, parasitic, and viral infections. The course will allow insight into the basic procedures of microbiological diagnostics, with particular emphasis on microbiological analysis of the most common clinical samples.
FHS451Parasitology and microbiology laboratory
1 credits
The experimental work supports the ideas explained in the course and introduces microbiological and experimental approaches. It includes bacteriological analysis of samples and a review of cytobacteriological examination of different medical samples, as well as the study of most relevant parasites in human diseases.
FHS470General Pharmacology and Toxicology
3 credits
The objective of this course is to familiarize the students with medications. It explains the different phases the medication has to go through before being manufactured and used on the market, the fate of medications in the body as well as the mechanism of action of the medications. The students will become familiar with major side effects of medications, drug‐drug interactions and precautions to be taken while prescribing medications in specific populations.
FHS490Research Methods and Final year project
3 credits
This course is designed to emphasize the foundational methods and techniques of scientific research. Students will be exposed to the main components of the research process, research problem, research question, research objectives, research hypotheses, data collection, ethical issues in research, report writing, and presentation. The main objective of this course is to enable students to understand the research process, conduct and publish the research projects. Students actively participate in the Final Year Project which is a supervised applied research activity where groups of students identify a health problem of local or global significance, and design and complete a research project relevant to that problem.
General Education Requirements
Artistic Discovery
3 credits
Career Management
3 credits
Digital Literacy and Information Technology
3 credits
English Communication
3 credits
Humanities, Ethics, and Civilizations
3 credits
Intercultural and Religious Fluency
3 credits
Lebanese History and Legacy
3 credits
Psychology and Social Behavior
3 credits
Core Courses
BCH320Structural Biochemistry
3 credits
This course is based on an understanding of the different biochemical processes taking place in the human body. Students will learn about the basic formations in biochemistry, so they are then able to competently address all areas related to medical biochemistry. Structural biochemistry defines the structure of the various molecules of living matter such as carbohydrates, lipids, amino­acids, proteins, enzymes, nucleotides and vitamins.
BCH421Metabolic Biochemistry
3 credits
Understanding all vital processes requires knowledge of the biochemical reactions and their integration in metabolic pathways. This course covers two basic areas of molecular biochemistry which are the production and storage of energy, and the biosynthesis of macromolecules. The course starts with the metabolism of carbohydrates, the main producer of energy in the cell. Several topics are devoted to the study of glycogen metabolism, glycolysis, the Krebs cycle and the pentose phosphate pathway. Then lipid metabolism (β oxidation, fatty acid synthesis, cholesterol synthesis), and on to protein metabolism (transamination, urea cycle) and then nucleotide metabolism.
BCH470Laboratory of Biochemistry
1 credits
Students learn how to prepare a buffer solution and how to determine its capacity and its pKa. They also learn to distinguish major biochemical molecules (carbohydrates, lipids, proteins) by using specific qualitative tests for this purpose. Glucose in plasma, lipids, triglycerides, proteins in serum, and level of creatinine in urine are evaluated by using spectrophotocolorimetric techniques.
BIO201General Biology I
3 credits
This course is an integrated approach to the biology of organisms, covering the chemical and cellular organization of life, the transfer of energy through living systems, as well as heredity, diversity, and evolution. This course is required for Biology, Biochemistry and Chemistry majors, and for Biochemistry and Natural sciences minors.
BIO202General Biology II
3 credits
This course is designed to provide in-depth knowledge of the evolution, diversity, and function of plants; the evolution, structure, function, and physiology of animals; and the ecology of organisms, populations, communities, and the globe.
BIO271General Biology Laboratory
1 credits
This laboratory provides a hands-on approach of several biological processes and concepts that have been studied in the accompanying course.
BIO272Laboratory of General Biology II
1 credits
This laboratory provides a hands-on approach of several biological processes and concepts that have been studied in the accompanying course.
BIO321Human Anatomy and Physiology
3 credits
This Human Anatomy and Physiology course covers major elements of the human body, including basic anatomy, cellular structure and function, and the integration, organization, and control of the Muscular, Nervous, Endocrine and Reproductive systems. While completing this course, students will acquire an understanding of normal anatomy and physiology, of physiological adaptations to special conditions and of physiological factors in disease processes.
BIO322Genetics
3 credits
The purpose of this course is to provide basic knowledge of genetics: cytogenetic (the study of chromosomes), formal genetics (the study of hereditary transmission mechanisms), molecular genetics (the study of nucleic acids, their replication, transcription, and translation), as well as bacterial and population genetics.
BIO413Molecular Biology
3 credits
The course begins with a review of nucleic acids and looks at the methods for their extraction, separation and analysis. Secondly, the course extensively studies the regulation of gene expression and provides an update on the changes to the nucleic acids transcriptionally, post­ transcriptional and translational. Finally, detailed molecular analysis techniques, cloning, PCR, sequencing and development of DNA banks are described.
BIO415Systems Physiology
3 credits
This course is designed to provide students with an understanding of the physiological functions and their regulation of human body organ systems. It will include the blood, cardiovascular, respiratory, digestive and body metabolism, and urinary systems.
CHM212General Chemistry
3 credits
(course covering GE: SCIENCES AND HEALTH)
The purpose of this course is to present a general outline on chemistry. Through this course chemistry is introduced in its various aspects: the structure of the atom, the various models, and the properties of the elements in the periodic table; various chemical bonds, the Lewis structure, VSEPR rules; thermochemistry, thermodynamics and chemical equilibrium; kinetic chemistry, reactions rate orders, the Arrhenius law; solutions chemistry, acids and bases and various acid-base equilibrium; complexation, liquid solid equilibrium and solubility product; and redox titration and electrochemical cells.
CHM270Chemistry Laboratory
3 credits
The general chemistry laboratory aims to develop different skills for the practical application of theoretical knowledge of general chemistry. Techniques to be learned: preparation and dilution of solutions, experimental verification of the Nernst equation, realization of different types of acidbase and redox titration by volumetric, calorimetric, pHmetric or potentiometric monitoring, and the study of solubility and precipitation reactions and characterization of ions present in a given matrix. The goal of the lab course is to ensure that students are capable of understanding the chemical concepts and to carry out experiments safely and carefully in the laboratory, to obtain data accurately and to manipulate the data correctly.
CHM317Organic Chemistry
3 credits
Organic chemistry is an introduction to the structure, reactivity, and properties of organic compounds. This course is intended to introduce students to the major concepts in organic chemistry and prepare them for the upper-level classes in chemistry and biochemistry and the organic requirements for medical schools. Topics include introduction and review, electronic structure and bonding in organic molecules; nomenclature of organic compounds; structure and properties of alkanes, cycloalkanes, and alkyl halides; stereoisomerism and chirality of organic compounds; and the structure, properties and reactivity of alkynes and alkenes.
CHM371Laboratory of Organic Chemistry
1 credits
The objective of this practical work is to illustrate by experiment the concepts covered in the course of organic chemistry for students in chemistry and biochemistry and for medical students.
CHM411Organic Chemistry II
3 credits
This course covers: types of reactions (substitution, addition, elimination, radical, rearrangement) energetic diagrams (kinetic)? mechanisms and reaction intermediates (SN1, SN2, E1, E2, etc.)? reactivity and reactions: alkanes, alkenes (Markovnikov rule, Kharash, polymerisation), dienes (Diels?Alder), alkynes? reactivity of halogenated derives (SN2 and Walden inversion, SN1, effect of different parameters, E2 and rule of Saîtzef, E1)? benzinic hydrocarbons: electrophilic substitution SE2 (Friedel Crafts alkylation, acylation, effect of the substituent, etc.)? aldehydes and ketones (Canizzaro, Wittig, etc.)? and organometalics.
MAT216General Mathematics
3 credits
(course covering GE: EFFECTIVE THINKING AND QUANTITATIVE REASONING)
This course provides the solid basics needed by students to be able to handle their specialty courses. Topics covered include function of a real variable, elementary functions, Taylor's expansion, simple integral and methods of integration, differential equations, multivariable functions, continuity, partial derivative, the chain rule, differential, introduction to double integrals, methods of integration, matrix calculus, determinants, and linear systems.
PHY211Physics for Life Sciences I
3 credits
The physics lab provides students with a unique opportunity to test theories and scientific laws and initiate them into the methods and techniques of measurement that are the basis of these theories. In the laboratory, the students learn the limits in the application of theories and the importance of experiments in the evolution of concepts and theories. The following experiments are carried out: metrology in mechanics, Wheatstone bridge, ideal gas law, water-vapor latent heat, Venturi tube, study of a magnetic field, Michelson interferometer, Stephan-Boltzmann law, and a study of the centrifugal force.
PHY212Physics for Life Sciences II
3 credits
This course consists of several independent parts. The first one deals with electricity and magnetism. The second part deals with light optics and radiation Optics. Finally, the third part concerns modern physics (nuclear and particle physics).
PHY270Laboratory of Physics
1 credits
The physics lab provides students with a unique opportunity to test theories and scientific laws and initiate them into the methods and techniques of measurement that are the basis of these theories. In the laboratory, the students learn the limits in the application of theories and the importance of experiments in the evolution of concepts and theories. The following experiments are carried out: metrology in mechanics, Wheatstone bridge, ideal gas law, water-vapor latent heat, Venturi tube, study of a magnetic field, Michelson interferometer, Stephan-Boltzmann law, and a study of the centrifugal force.
STA220Statistics
3 credits
This course prepares students for the practical use of probability and statistics in the biomedical field (agronomy, chemistry, biochemistry, nutrition, medicine, etc.). Topics covered are: elements of descriptive statistics, population, statistical unit, frequency distribution characteristic of central tendency and dispersion; concepts of probability and combinatorics, conditional probability and Bayes' formula, applications, discrete and continuous random variables, expectation and moments, weak law of large numbers, empirical frequencies and probabilities customary laws (Binomial, Multinomial, Poisson, Normal) and asymptotic behavior, the law of large numbers, sampling and estimation, introduction to the use of hypothesis tests, and the Chi­2 contingency table.

Mission

The mission of the Bachelor of Science program in Fundamental Health Sciences is to help students pursue science or health -related specialties, as well as medical studies, by providing quality teaching and ethical skills as an appropriate foundation for further education, meaningful careers and life-long learning.

Program Educational Objectives

1. Graduates will have analytical and critical thinking skills, as well as ethical consideration, to address and solve problems, whether individually or as part of interdisciplinary teams.
2. Graduates will be able to pursue careers in health management, public health, or scientific fields, and continue their professional development while engaging in life-long learning.
3. Graduates will have the proper knowledge and foundation to succeed in a wide variety of post-bachelor paths, including medical and graduate schools, to later become capable physicians or scientists, motivated towards research and innovation in biology and health.

Student Learning Outcomes

a. An ability to identify, formulate, and solve broadly defined technical or scientific problems by applying knowledge of mathematics and science (especially biology and physiology) to areas relevant to fundamental health sciences.
b. An ability to formulate or design a system, process, procedure or program to meet desired needs.
c. An ability to develop and conduct experiments or test hypotheses, analyze and interpret data and use scientific judgment to draw conclusions.
d. An ability to communicate effectively with a range of audiences.
e. An ability to understand ethical and professional responsibilities and the impact of technical and/or scientific solutions in global, economic, environmental, and societal contexts.
f. An ability to function effectively on teams that establish goals, plan tasks, meet deadlines, and analyze risk and uncertainty.
Holy Spirit University of Kaslik
Tel.: (+961) 9 600 000
Fax : (+961) 9 600 100
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