What is the Bioclinical Science degree?

The Associate of Arts in Bioclinical Sciences (BCS) provides students with a foundation of knowledge and skills applicable to broad range of applied health sciences professions. The BCS degree is not built to provide you with a specific set of skills to prepare you for a specific career in healthcare.

You can see the list of courses required for the BCS degree by visiting the BCS degree page in the OTC catalog. Click on either the small “paper” icon or the “printer” icon in the top left of the new window to access a printable version of these requirements.

 

Why should I get a Bioclinical Science degree?

Completion of the BCS degree is one path toward applying for OTC’s Bachelor of Respiratory Therapy (BSRT) degree.  Other than the BSRT, this program is not designed to be a directed path of study for any one particular health science program, nor is it an appropriate choice for students with an end goal of an advanced medical degree (such as a MD).

Most often, students find themselves placed in the BCS degree while they work on their preadmission courses for one of OTC’s selective admissions Health Sciences programs. If you are successful in being admitted to your selective admission program, you will be moved out of the BCS degree and into your program degree.

You do NOT need to complete the BCS degree to apply to any of OTC’s Health Science programs (other than the BSRT).

You can get an overview of which BCS courses are required for OTC’s Health Sciences programs by checking out this guide.  You can get all the specific pre-admission requirements for each of OTC’s Health Science programs by exploring the program home pages and checking out the suggested course sequences and/or application information sections.

If you are planning on applying to a selective admissions healthcare program at another college, you should contact that college as soon as possible so that you can be sure you the courses you are taking at OTC will be accepted in transfer as the appropriate preadmission classes.

If you are not headed toward a selective admissions healthcare program, earning the BCS degree will simply give you a broad foundation in skills and knowledge related to the science of the human body.   The BCS degree is not built to provide you with a specific set of skills to prepare you for a specific career in healthcare.

 

What classes should I start with? What should my first semester look like?

If you know which selective admissions Health Sciences program you want to apply to, then you should use their preferred course sequence to plan your classes.

If you aren’t sure which field of healthcare you’d like to go into, we would suggest the following for your first semester if you are a full time (15 credit hours) student:

  • BCS 102 Navigating Bioclinical Science (2 credit hours)
  • BCS 165 Human Anatomy (4 credit hours)
  • BCS 132 Allied Health Nutrition (3 credit hours)
  • HSC 120 Medical Terminology (3 credit hours)
  • MTH 128 or 128S (3 or 4 credit hours)

If you plan to take less than 15 credit hours your first semester, our suggestion would be to start at the top of this list (with BCS 102),then work your way down.  If at all possible, taking both BCS 102 and BCS 165 your first semester is an excellent plan.

For a full listing of the suggested course sequence for this degree, please see the OTC Catalog.

If you have any questions about your path – please contact your Admissions Counselor or your College Navigator.

last updated 1/31/2023