College of Health Solutions

In this program, you’ll learn how to assess and prescribe nutrition practices to improve a patient's health and prevent diseases. You’ll also gain an understanding of how to leverage testing strategies and data to research new nutrition techniques to apply in clinical practices. In this program, you can choose to study the standard curriculum or complete the dietetics track.

• The standard curriculum is best if you didn’t major in nutrition, and is particularly good for pre-professional students in their gap year.
• The dietetics track is best if you’ve completed an accredited didactic program in dietetics (DPD) or have earned the Registered Dietitian Nutritionist (RDN) credential and are looking to advance your career through nutrition assessment training in special populations.

Throughout the program, you’ll learn to:

• Analyze research evidence to obtain disease-specific nutritional information and recommendations.
• Collaborate with registered dietitians to provide medical nutrition therapy as part of a patient care team.
• Use patient information to craft individual nutrition management plans focused on optimal health and risk factor reduction.

Ideal candidates for this program have earned a bachelor’s degree in science and plan to enter a health care role or advanced professional schools such as medical school, dental school, nursing and more. You may also be a physician, nurse or other clinical practitioner who’s interested in gaining a deeper understanding about how diet impacts a patient’s health.

Health informatics has a wide range of applications, from managing hospital bed usage at a local medical center to addressing global population health challenges. In this program, you’ll learn how health informaticians use data analysis to prevent diseases, improve patient safety and build decision support systems.

This program also focuses on the ways health informatics professionals create improved workflows in clinical settings, including using dashboards and data visualization tools. Developing effective management and analysis of health data can reduce costs and increase quality of care. Informatics expertise is highly valuable across industries, including clinical and non-clinical health care, academia, community health, global public health and more.

Further, this program trains an inclusive, multicultural and multidisciplinary group of students. Courses emphasize practical learning experiences to apply innovative informatics solutions in health care and population health. You’ll also gain theoretical and applied knowledge in health informatics to improve health outcomes for individuals and communities.

The knowledge and skills you’ll develop

In this program, you’ll dive into the analysis, science and interpretation of health care data. Courses offer a comprehensive understanding of how technology and data can be used together to improve public and private health care systems. Through your coursework, you’ll build competencies in:

• Analyzing and interpreting large sets of health care data.
• Applying leadership theories.
• Communicating complex information to multiple audiences.
• Recommending effective workflow solutions.

Additionally, you’ll explore the multidisciplinary nature of health informatics. You’ll learn how health informaticians collaborate with clinicians, biomedical and computational scientists, knowledge management professionals, educators and health care consumers to solve problems in health care delivery.

How does this program compare to a master’s in health information management?

While this health informatics program and the master’s in health information management both focus on health care data, they differ in their emphasis, skill sets and career outcomes. This degree emphasizes research, innovation and applying data for health care optimization. Courses highlight topics in health care databases, programming, telemedicine and population health analytics. Upon graduation, you can pursue roles as a health informatics analyst, clinical informatics specialist or a health care data scientist in various industries.

In contrast, a master’s in health information management (HIM) focuses on the accuracy, security and compliance of health care data. The curriculum covers medical coding, electronic health records management, data governance and regulatory policies. Graduates typically seek positions as compliance officers, health information directors, coding managers or privacy officers. While the HIM leans toward operational and compliance-based skills, health informatics is more technology-driven, emphasizing data science and system design.

This program provides clinicians with the training and expertise needed to succeed in today’s integrated primary care environments. As a student, you’ll complete specialized coursework focused on evidence-based behavioral interventions.

The curriculum offers options for live and self-paced learning opportunities. You can both set your own schedule and collaborate with classmates and instructors in real time. During live sessions, you’ll engage in discussions, ask questions and explore applied case scenarios. The webinars are also recorded for those who can’t attend live, allowing for maximum flexibility as you prepare for the next steps in your clinical career.

What you’ll learn in this Doctor of Behavioral Health program

This applied, professional doctorate covers health care interventions and management strategies for integrated behavioral health programs. The core curriculum emphasizes three pillars of education, including:

• Medical literacy: Understanding the nuances of disease pathophysiology, progression and treatment.
• Integrated behavioral interventions: Learning how to coordinate the treatment of medical and behavioral conditions in primary care and other medical settings.
• Entrepreneurship: Leveraging your skill set to meet the demands of the 21st century health care market.

Additionally, you’ll learn how to create and implement population health management programs, as well as assess and improve the level of integrated care in primary settings. Other topics covered include using evidence-based strategies to identify patients at risk for health issues and engaging them in their care.

Who’s a good candidate for this clinical DBH?

This program is intended for professionals who are licensed (or license eligible) as behavioral, medical or allied health professionals. It’s ideal if candidates have a current position or would like to work in a hospital or primary care clinic. Experience working on an interprofessional team in a medical setting can also provide helpful context for those entering the program.

Successful candidates seek to enhance their clinical work and develop management skills to specialize in integrated behavioral and primary health care. Different from programs that focus only on mental or physical health, this clinical DBH emphasizes incorporating behavioral interventions and therapeutic lifestyle changes in addition to medical condition management.

Are you interested in creating and/or managing an integrated care program? ASU also offers a Doctor of Behavioral Health with a management concentration online. If you want to explore which concentration is right for you, review this article comparing the two.

Biomedical diagnostics captures the critical data that guides disease detection, treatment decisions and personalized health management. These insights drive clinical decisions, improving patient outcomes and advancing global health.

Coursework and specialized training explore the science and technology of diagnostics, as well as key topics such as health economics, policy and regulatory frameworks. You’ll gain the expertise to succeed in a rapidly evolving field and contribute to groundbreaking advancements in health care.

The knowledge and skills you’ll develop in this program

The fast-growing biomedical diagnostics field offers various career opportunities, requiring a broad scope of knowledge and skills. To equip you with a more holistic understanding of biomedical diagnostics, the curriculum spans five core areas, including:

• Application: Investigate case studies on bioethics, clinical utility, intellectual property and smart systems, as well as modality integration and systems analysis.
• Business: Navigate public and private health care finance and reimbursement, along with personalized health care and companion diagnostics.
• Policy: Examine the role of public policy in addressing public health needs through the advancement of diagnostics.
• Science: Focus on underlying bioinformatics and bio-statistical analysis, clinical trial design and regulatory systems, as well as the technology behind imaging pathology, molecular and immunological testing platforms.
• Technology: Explore instrument and assay development, biomedical engineering and diagnostic product development.

How this program compares to a master’s in biomedical sciences

A master’s in biomedical sciences offers a broad overview of the biomedical field without specializing in a particular area. In contrast, this master’s in biomedical diagnostics provides an in-depth understanding of the science, technology, business and application of diagnostics — focusing on the critical role diagnostics play in health care decision-making and innovation.

This program provides a deep understanding of how modern medicine uses diagnostics to detect disease, guide treatment and advance personal care. You’ll investigate the broader impact of diagnostics, from driving pharmaceutical and technology advancements to shaping health care policy and regulatory decisions worldwide.