Health Sciences

Integrating the study of biology, chemistry, and physics with a focus on the science of the human body in conditions of health and disease.

The Health Sciences department offers:

Majors

The Pre-Health Professions program helps students meet the challenges of planning for and applying to medical school and other graduate programs in the health professions.

Featured course

Jump to level: All Health Sciences courses

by level: 100 • 200 • 300 • 400

HS-120 Public Health
This course introduces students to the core disciplines of public health including epidemiology, biostatistics, environmental health, social and behavioral sciences, and health policy. Using a social-ecological framework, emphasis is placed on understanding the determinants of health and approaches to public health challenges in the United States.
HS-209 Human Anatomy and Physiology I
Systems approach to study the structure and function of the human body. Emphasis is placed on the levels of organization within the human body, and the anatomy and physiology of the integumentary, skeletal, muscular, and nervous systems. (The remaining systems are covered in HS 210 Human Anatomy and Physiology II.) Three class hours and three laboratory hours. Prerequisite: Bio 111 or 113 and Bio 112.
HS-376 Chronic Disease
This is an entry level pathophysiology course. Emphasis is placed on the signs, symptoms, diagnosis, and treatment of the chronic diseases most commonly found in western society. Course specifically focuses on Cardiovascular Diseases (Hypertension, Atherosclerosis, Heart Attack, Stroke), Respiratory Diseases (Emphysema, Asthma, Bronchitis), Metabolic Disorders (Diabetes Mellitus, Hyperlipidemia, Obesity), Cancer, Chronic Inflammation and others. Prerequisites: HS 209 and HS 210.

Our distinguished faculty’s publications

 

News

 

Health Sciences Department Spotlight

Prof. Emily Besecker and Theresa Blickenstaff
How the link between exercise and GI health could impact spinal cord injury research
new virtual dissection tables
9 facts about Gettysburg’s new virtual dissection tables
Health science majors
A winning combination for a career in health

Prof. Megan (Graham) Benka-Coker ’09

Health Sciences

Benka Coker’s ’09 research focuses on the impact of household air pollution on health.

When Megan Benka-Coker ’09 graduated from Gettysburg College, she would have never predicted that in fewer than ten years she would be back as a professor. “I always thought I would pursue more of a research path,” Benka-Coker said. Yet, when she stumbled across an opening in the health sciences department, she realized it would be the perfect fit.

Benka-Coker is teaching a global health course this spring, a topic she hopes will attract students in all disciplines, not just health sciences. Her current research focuses on exposure to household air pollution and its impact on health. In countries where electricity is not readily available, households often prepare meals and heat their homes over open fires or small stoves. Cooking with firewood inside the home results in high levels of pollution, both particles and gases, that can be dangerous for the health of the family members—mainly women who are cooking, and children who are watched by their mothers.

Benka-Coker hopes to partner with a local Gettysburg organization, Project Gaia, and conduct exposure and health studies on ethanol burning cookstoves in Eastern Africa, Nigeria, and possibly India. “As an environmental epidemiologist I think there is much work needed to be done in improving our exposure assessment and improving our measurements,” she said.

As a professor, her work is coming full circle. “It was really all the experiences at Gettysburg College that brought me to global and public health,” Benka-Coker said.