The Health Education Bachelor Program

An overview about the health education program

The health education program was established in the College of Applied Medical Sciences - King Saud's university in year 1403H.  This program belongs to the Community Health Sciences department which makes it enjoys the privileges of health cooperation and integration with the other programs in the same department. The health education has a positive effect on the behavior of individuals and Communities and helps in the disease prevention through the deployment of health awareness, call and advocacy to the health issues and helping people adoption of Sound health behaviors, it helps as well the disabling, the chronic patients and their families to adapt with the disease or the disability by educating them new life styles. Therefore the health education program mission rushes in the preparation of qualified and trained cadres in the field of the health promotion and the patients' education for the improvement of the community health and the achievement of a better quality of life to all its levels.  The program is keen on giving the graduates knowledge, abilities and the skills that qualify them to work as the specialists in this field, through the continuous update of the educational courses and the intensification of the practical training in different practical fields for the health education and promotion. 

Vision:

The leadership and the distinction in the field of health education and promotion.

Mission:

To contribute in the improvement of the community health and to secure a better quality of life through qualifying cadres with international competitive ability in the fields of  health education and promotion and who are distinguished by thinking, creation and self-confidence and who are empowered with values and ethics necessary to practice the profession within a multidisciplinary team and to develop skills related to planning, implementation and evaluation of the educational programs and campaigns, to encourage community participation and to carry out distinguished scientific researches .

Objectives:

1. To prepare pioneers is in the fields of health education and promotion that includes education of the patients, their families, school and community health education and environmental upbringing.  
2. To encourage practicing health education within the framework of the international criteria and the professional ethics.
3. To encourage researches in different scopes of health education for the improvement of the health and development of the profession.
4. To cooperate with the related sectors and to provide consultations and training courses related to the health education
5. To promote and disseminate awareness of health issues and to inculcate health values among community members
6. To fulfill the increasing demand of the labor market and community requirements for specialists in the field of health education and promotion.

The educational objectives of the program:

The health education Bachelor graduate is distinguished by the ability to:

• apply the medical, statistical, environmental and behavioral knowledge as skills in the practical life in different settings and the scopes of health education and promotion.
• assess of individuals, families and societies needs for the services of health education and promotion.
• interpret of the human behavior and the factors affecting it and its relation with health and disease.
• plan, implement and develop the health education and promotion programs with the use of a various group of the health education and promotion strategies aiming to the improvement of the health status to the community as all .
• offer the clinical health education services to the patients, the disabling persons and their families.
• prepare, test and evaluate the educational materials and the assisting educational tools.
• Apply the health education and promotion related researches and studies.
• deduce the results from the researches and the studies to benefit from it in planning and evaluation of the proceedings of the health education and promotion programs.
• adopt many roles of the health educator necessary for the fulfillment of the changing community health development needs according to the difference of cultures and habits in the community 's categories .
• communicate effectively with different sectors concerned with the health promotion for advocacy of the health issues and promoting the health promotion interventions.

Admission Criteria for Health Education Program

1. Student should meet the requirements for acceptance in the Faculty of Applied Medical Sciences under the terms of Deanship of Admission and Registration that include:
     • Graduation from high school with an average not less than 90%,
     • Pass a proficiency test,         
     • Pass a personal interview  

2. Pass the preparatory year.
3. At the end of the second level, student should fill out a form of specialization and based on the comparison between the students according to the cumulative GPA for the student.

Job Description for the graduate :
Professional Title: Health Education Specialist/ Clinical Health Educator

Job Description of health education specialist and clinical health educator:

• Assess health needs and education needs of individuals, groups and society.
• Planning health education programs, preventive, curative and rehabilitative.
• Application of innovative methods of educational and attractive individual, collective and media.
• Preparation and evaluation of educational material and health messages and educational tools to help.
• Develop and implement educational programs and awareness campaigns in all areas of health education:

• health education, clinical,
• health education in preventive health services,
• school health education,
• occupational health education and safety,
• health education-oriented societies, and others.

• Management of programs and activities and health education services.
• Assessment and monitoring of programs and strategies for health education.
• Documentation of health education activities and procedures.
• Conducting research and studies related to health education and health promotion.
• Serve as a reference for health education and health information.
• Information, communication and advocacy for health issues.
• Marketing the profession of health education and work on the development of the profession.
• Coordination of cooperation between government agencies and private organizations related to health education and education of patients.
• Ensure the application of quality standards in educational services. 
• Respecting the rights of patients and a commitment to ethics and ethics of the profession of health education.

Terms of graduation:

In order to obtain a Bachelor of Applied Medical Sciences in the field of Community Health Sciences- Health education from the King Saud University, the student must successfully pass the 133 credit hours-eight levels including University requirement (33 credit hours), and department requirements (100 credit hours distributed on 6 levels). In addition to 50 weeks of internship in hospitals or other relevant health sectors.

Career Opportunities:

Due to the Increase and growth of the profession of health education and clinical health education in recent years, demand for health education specialists and clinical health educators with the competencies and skills in the field has increased. Job opportunities for graduates of the program are available in different health sectors, in governmental and private hospitals, in primary health care centers, in school health services, in professional institutions, and regional health organizations, and voluntary associations, and others. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia at the moment is one of the first countries in the world that has a an ongoing need  to this program because of the increased labor market demand for its graduates and the profession.
Due to the lack in the field of specialty, the Saudis graduates who have obtained an average of "excellent" or "very good" might be appointed in the department as demonstrators or given the opportunity to acquire a master's degree and doctorate from abroad