KPCOM Establishes Health and Wellness Coaching Bachelor’s Program

The KPCOM received approval to launch its third bachelor’s degree program—a Bachelor of Science in Health and Wellness Coaching (HAWC) in partnership with NSU’s College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences (CAHSS). The new program, which will begin in fall 2020, also offers students an option for an accelerated Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine degree program, as well as an option for dual admission into the CAHSS’s Master of Science in Family Therapy program.

The HAWC program will be offered as a traditional on-site, daytime model at the Fort Lauderdale/Davie Campus. Faculty members from the KPCOM, the CAHSS, the Halmos College of Natural Sciences and Oceanography, and the College of Medical Sciences will teach the courses.

The curriculum will provide opportunities for the HAWC students to participate in global and domestic health outreach initiatives with undergraduate public health, nutrition, family studies, and pre-counseling students. Classroom instruction will be augmented with innovative, community-based, experiential learning opportunities that include the use of contemporary information technology.

Additionally, the curriculum will provide opportunities for immersion in experiential learning and clinical research. Curricular aspects will also encompass essential principles of human and family systems theories, varying perspectives of wellness and nutrition, public health, research methods and evaluation in coaching, ethics of coaching, and clinical practice.

Future graduates will attain the skills necessary to provide personalized health solutions for patient and clients in a holistic manner. This includes the ability to assess client lifestyles and family support systems, develop tailored diet and/or wellness plans, create health education materials, conduct health workshops and seminars, build a clinical practice, and apply solution-building strategies to coaching.

“We are very excited about this new bachelor’s program, since it will provide a unique pathway for students to enter the Dr. Kiran C. Patel College of Osteopathic Medicine,” said Phyllis Filker, D.M.D., M.P.H., associate dean of undergraduate, graduate, and community education. “The HAWC major also provides an opportunity for students not interested in becoming a physician to be a vital part of the health care team.”