Undergraduate Courses

Bachelor of Biomedical Sciences

Bachelor of Biomedical Sciences

Since 2002 Otago has been offering a degree in Biomedical Sciences,(BBiomedSc). Biomedical Sciences is a combination of subject areas that promotes understanding of the scientific basis of health and disease in humans.

Students have the opportunity of majoring in one of six subject areas offered within the Biomedical Sciences degree programme. These ar

• Drugs and Human Health
• Functional Human Biology
• Infection and Immunity
• Molecular Basis of Health & Disease
• Nutrition and Metabolism in Human Health
• Reproduction, Genetics and Development

The new degree programme is complementary to the existing majors offered within the BSc degree (i.e. Anatomy, Biochemistry, Microbiology, Physiology, etc.), but allows a wider diversity of of health-related papers to be taken. The degree provides a suitable qualification for graduate entry into medicine and other professional health science programmes, as well as increasing the range of career opportunities accessible to graduates. Students completing the First Year Health Sciences course will have met the requirements to advance to 200-level in the Biomedical Sciences degree.

The degree structure is of a standard three-year Bachelor degree programme enabling students to graduate with a Bachelor of Biomedical Science degree.

A postgraduate Honours degree in Biomedical Sciences is also available to students who have completed the requirements for the BBiomedSc degree with an average grade of at least B+ for the appropriate 300-level papers.

Why Otago?

Otago has an international reputation for its biomedical research, including genome, cancer, heart, nutrition and animal genetics research. Building on this, the aim of the new programme is to promote excellence in the application of biomedical sciences by producing graduates who will be well equipped to meet a broad range of career and academic challenges in the 21st century.