In addition, we offer minors in Medical History and Ethics , Environmental Health , and Public Health. We also offer a degree completion program in Dental Hygiene for students who have completed a dental hygiene training program at another college. If you think you are interested in a career in the health sciences, but are not sure of what kind of career, there are a number of factors to consider. Nurses are the health-care professionals who probably have the highest degree of direct patient contact. Physical therapists, occupational therapists, prosthetists, physician assistants, medical doctors, and dentists also have a lot of patient contact.
Most medical technologists work in hospital laboratories and have little patient contact.
Environmental health specialists are seldom involved in the delivery of health care, and public health specialists usually work in more administrative positions. Medicine, dentistry, and pharmacy require two or three years of difficult college coursework, including calculus, a year of general chemistry, and a year of organic chemistry. Medicine and dentistry also require biochemistry, making a total of three college years of chemistry. Medical technology and environmental health require many of the same courses. UW's physical therapy program will accept a shorter chemistry sequence, but most pre-PT students complete the longer chemistry sequence because they plan to apply to more than one PT program, and the longer chemistry sequence is commonly required by the PT programs at other colleges.