HEALTHCARE
Find Your Program
BUILD A CAREER CARING FOR OTHERS
Healthcare programs at Northern Arizona University (NAU) prepare you for meaningful, high-demand roles in patient care, public health, and medical support. Coursework covers anatomy, physiology, and clinical techniques, along with practical experience through labs, clinicals, and simulations. Programs allow you to focus on areas such as dental hygiene, physical therapy, medical assisting, or community health, with certificates offering even more opportunities for specialized education. Many programs are designed to prepare you for certification or licensure, helping you meet the qualifications and expectations of today’s employers.
BACHELOR'S PROGRAMS
B INTERDISCIPLINARY STUDIES – EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT 90-30
Respond and recover when the worst happens. As a professional in emergency management, you’ll be prepared to support first responders across public, private, and non-profit sectors—laying the foundations for safe interventions through planning and responsive leadership. In this interdisciplinary program, you’ll combine your personal interests with individually tailored coursework to gain an understanding of best practices in emergency preparedness. Developing unique skills in leadership, critical thinking, and problem-solving, you’ll prepare to pursue advancement in any industry. This program lets you transfer up to 90 credits and complete your degree with just 30 credits at NAU.
BS HEALTH SCIENCES – ALLIED HEALTH
Navigate the ever-changing healthcare environment. The need for skilled professionals in allied health disciplines is rapidly growing, and healthcare expenditures are expected to continue to increase over the next 10 years. Whether you practice diagnostic imaging, medical assisting, paramedic care, physical therapy assisting, respiratory care, surgical technology, or another health discipline, our Health Sciences – Allied Health program will help you advance your career opportunities.
BS HEALTH SCIENCES – PUBLIC HEALTH
Focus your passion on community health promotion. Public health professionals focus on preventing disease and injury by promoting healthy lifestyles. This program will prepare you to confront global health issues through helping to control infectious disease and reduce environmental hazards, violence, substance abuse, and injury. You’ll learn how income, environment, and access to care affect health outcomes. And you’ll gain skills to plan, implement, and evaluate educational programs; act as a resource person; administer services; and promote health equity.
BSDH DENTAL HYGIENE – DEGREE COMPLETION PROGRAM
Combine individually tailored coursework with extensive hands-on training to expand your existing experience as a dental hygiene professional. In this degree completion program, you’ll pursue a BS in Dental Hygiene while continuing to build advanced skills and experience through a flexible and robust course of study—in our dental hygiene clinic and radiographic facilities or through remote coursework and individual professional practice.
BSN NURSING PRACTICE – OPTION FOR REGISTERED NURSES
Take the next step in your career by completing your Bachelor of Science in Nursing. As quality healthcare becomes increasingly critical in the lives of your patients, your abilities as a highly skilled nurse will prepare you to create positive change as a trusted and sought-after professional. In this program, you will develop experience through real-world training in emerging management, treatment, and assessment trends to achieve positive results in diverse areas—establishing the skills required to fill essential roles in this growing field.
MASTER'S PROGRAMS
DMSC MEDICAL SCIENCE
NAU will prepare Physician Assistants (PAs) to systematically address the critical and complex needs of patients, communities, and populations within the healthcare system. Through the study of population health, patient-centered care, health economics, health policy, health informatics, and health equity, PAs work collaboratively to pursue high-value, patient-centered, team-based healthcare. PAs must also understand the role of social determinants of health; the need to address health disparities; how to influence policies and practices of organizations; and improving quality and safety to address some of the most challenging health issues.
DNP NURSING PRACTICE
Develop in-depth knowledge of interprofessional collaboration; information systems and healthcare technology; and the analysis, synthesis, translation, and dissemination of scientific and evidence-based professional literature. In this program, you’ll design and implement quality-improvement and practice-change projects and engage in systematic investigation of topics related to population health, healthcare systems, and advanced nursing practice.
MPH PUBLIC HEALTH – HEALTH PROMOTION
Champion health and well-being in your community. Harness expert knowledge to respond to public health issues while improving your local and global communities through effective communication, policy evaluation, and leadership. In this program, you will apply epidemiological methods to a wide range of public health settings. Combining personal practice and analytical skills, you’ll also gain experience in information science topics to prepare you as a leading professional in your field—building on your training and research experiences to address the needs of your community.
MS NURSING – ADVANCED PRACTICE
Our nurse practitioner program is designed for registered nurses with a baccalaureate degree and a broad base of nursing experience interested in providing family primary care. We will educate you in the components of Advanced Practice Nursing as well as Family Practice Nursing; these components include knowledge and management of client and family care, professional relationships, and healthcare delivery systems.
UNDERGRADUATE CERTIFICATES
UNDERGRADUATE CERTIFICATE – EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT
Defend your community from disaster. This certificate in Emergency Management will provide you with the knowledge and tools to mitigate, prepare for, and recover from the impacts of emergencies and disasters in your community and beyond. Through experiential learning and specialized coursework, you will gain a comprehensive understanding of emergency management and will learn foundational skills in incident management systems, emergency planning, and disaster recovery—preparing you to serve as a trained professional working to protect your community from emergency events.
GRADUATE CERTIFICATES
GRADUATE CERTIFICATE – PHYSICIAN ASSISTANT STUDIES – HEALTH EQUITY
The Health Equity Certificate for PAs is a 12-credit online certificate program designed to provide certified PAs with knowledge and competencies to contribute to a patient-centered, equitable, and accessible healthcare system. The program will focus on the role of the PA as a critical member of the healthcare team through coursework in population health, healthcare delivery systems, health policy, and health equity.
GRADUATE CERTIFICATE – PHYSICIAN ASSISTANT STUDIES – OPERATIONS & LEADERSHIP
The Operations and Leadership Certificate for Physician Assistants (PAs) is a 12-credit online certificate program designed to provide certified PAs with knowledge and competencies to contribute to a patient-centered, equitable and accessible healthcare system. The program will focus on the role of the PA as a critical member of the healthcare team through coursework in healthcare systems and practices, change management, healthcare finance and delivery, and health informatics. PAs who complete the certificate program will be prepared to meaningfully contribute to the improvement of health and healthcare systems.
GRADUATE CERTIFICATE – POST-MASTER'S FAMILY NURSE PRACTITIONER
Take your nursing career to the next level and make a real difference in underserved communities. This post-master’s certificate prepares experienced nurses to deliver advanced family primary care as certified Family Nurse Practitioners. The program combines evidence-based learning with hands-on clinical experience, emphasizing holistic, patient-centered care in rural and diverse healthcare settings. Graduates are prepared to pursue national and Arizona state certification, positioning you to lead in primary care, improve community health outcomes, and advance your career in high-impact healthcare roles.
GRADUATE CERTIFICATE – PSYCHIATRIC MENTAL HEALTH NURSE PRACTITIONER
Graduates may apply for American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC) national certification as a Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner (PMHNP). As a board-certified PMHNP, the Advanced Practice Registered Nurse (APRN) will engage in assessing, ordering labs/diagnostics, diagnosing psychiatric illnesses, prescribing pharmacological and nonpharmacological interventions, providing psychotherapy, and evaluating the efficacy of the treatment regimen. For successful patient and population outcomes, it is essential that the PMHNP have strong therapeutic communication skills.
GRADUATE CERTIFICATE – PUBLIC HEALTH
The public health needs of rural Arizona are immense. Tribal and non-tribal communities in Northern Arizona experience severe health disparities that are linked to illness. Individuals from rural communities often aspire to serve the health needs of their communities. This graduate certificate prepares you for careers in public health and can support career advancement if you are already employed in the field.
WHY NAU?
#1
BEST RETURN ON INVESTMENT IN ARIZONA
#1
LOWEST AVERAGE DEBT OF ANY ARIZONA PUBLIC UNIVERSITY
100%
ONLINE PROGRAMS BUILT AROUND YOU
125+
ONLINE DEGREES PROGRAMS
Ready to pursue your education online?
Explore a world of exciting programs, opportunities, and support with NAU Online.
ACCREDITATIONS & AWARDS
Find out why Northern Arizona University has been recognized for excellence in higher education. We are proud of these prestigious awards that showcase our commitment to academic excellence, affordability, and student success.
