Exploratory Courses

Winter 2026 Course Offerings

Consider these courses when building your schedule to further explore health and healthcare as a field of study and vocation.

Consult with your Academic Advisor when registering for courses to ensure your progress toward the completion of degree requirements.

Health Professions Pathways

B CORE 233 Special Topics in Pre-Health Professional Pathways (2, max. 6)
Explores pathways to a career in health and prepares students for professional roles in healthcare. Students ready to apply to graduate and professional health programs will receive additional instruction and support in applying to those programs. Course overlaps with: GEN ST 151. Credit/no-credit only. Next offering: Winter 2026 on Wednesdays from 5:45-7:45pm, SLN 10875.

If you’re considering a career in clinical patient care (medicine, dentistry, pharmacy, etc.), consider starting with courses in Biology and/or Chemistry depending on your placement in those courses. These sequenced courses are prerequisites for many professional health programs.

Visit our Pre-Health Advising page on Coursework for more on program prerequisites.

If you’re considering a career in health, but not sure exactly what or where, consider Health Studies or Health Elective courses.

Visit the Community Engaged Learning & Research website for information on these courses.

UW Seattle courses require cross-campus enrollment.

NEW COURSE: GH 375 Global Perspectives on Local Health Issues: Glocal Health (3 cr)

  • Tue/Thur 1-2:20 PM
  • Instructor: Kata Mucha
  • Fulfills Diversity, Social Science requirements
  • Learn to address health disparities/inequities in Washington State and the UW through global frameworks of equity, allyship, and cultural humility. Topics will include cross-cultural health and cultural humility, allyship, decolonization, and anti-racism in practice, community-based research and global-to-local program models, and immigrant and refugee health in WA state.

NOW OPEN TO NON-SPH MAJORS: GH 459/559 Noncommunicable Diseases: Intersecting Health Challenges (3 cr)

  • Wednesdays 8:30-10:20, Quiz Section Fr 9:30-10:20
  • Instructors: Sarah Masyuko and David Watkins
  • Fulfills Social Science, Natural Science, and Diversity Areas of Inquiry
  • Noncommunicable diseases like heart disease and cancer are becoming more common in all countries. This course will investigate and address epidemiology, shared risk factors, health system response, relationships between noncommunicable diseases and social determinants of health, and the intersection of communicable and noncommunicable diseases in a global context. It will also provide case studies of programs and policies from diverse countries that are using different approaches to prevention and control.
  • PHRMSC 311 / PHARM 311 Drugs, Diseases, and the Quest for Better Health Outcomes (3) 
    • Introduces the fundamental principles of how medications exert their effects, the process of drug development, and the current landscape of pharmacy practice in the United States.  
    • Recommended: basic knowledge of general chemistry, anatomy, and physiology 
    • MWF 12:30-1:20 PM in the Health Sciences Education Building (HSEB) 325 with Karan Dawson 
  • PHRMSC 451 / PCEUT 451 Intro to Drug Discovery and Development (2) 
    • Covers the process of drug discovery and development with a specific emphasis on current trends and hot topics in the pharmaceutical sciences. Recommended: coursework in biology and biochemistry 
    • T 3:30-5:20 PM in Health Sciences T-473 with Melissa Barker-Haliski 
  • PHRMSC 482 Current Trends in Pharmaceutics Research Seminar (1)  
    • Current topics in active research relevant to pharmaceutics and professional pharmacy practice. Topics include drug metabolism and transport, Physiologically-Based Pharmacokinetic (PBPK) modeling, vaccine development, drug delivery, drug formulation, or related research within the Department of Pharmaceutics. 
    • T 9:30-10:20 PM in Health Sciences T-747 with Ed Kelly 
  • PHRMSC 483 Current Topics in Aging Research Seminar (1) 
    • Explores current topic areas pertinent to aging research. Emphasizes use of applied knowledge in aging sciences for development in critical thinking, data analysis, and interpretation of study findings. Recommended: basic knowledge in general chemistry and biology M 1:30-2:20 PM in Health Sciences T-531 with Laura Hart 

REHAB 200 Introduction to Rehabilitation Science and Professions (2)
Introduction to rehabilitation science and the professions of occupational therapy, physical therapy, prosthetics and orthotics, and speech-language pathology. Also provides introduction to bio-psychosocial models of disability and implications for rehabilitation. Credit/no-credit only. Offered: W.

REHAB 300 Introduction to Occupational Therapy (1)
Provides an introduction to the occupational therapy profession with theoretical foundations and overviews of clinical practices in various settings. Credit/no-credit only. Offered: W.