Psychology

Message from Head of the Department

Professor James Barnes

Psychology is an exciting major that will help you understand the behaviour of yourself and others. Our psychology courses cover a wide variety of topics and are taught in small classroom settings by energetic and dedicated faculty. We provide many opportunities for students to participate in research or gain clinical experience. We place students in a variety of settings to gain clinical experience such as local community mental health organizations, local schools, and rehabilitation clinics.

Students in this psychology program have a unique opportunity to participate in and conduct research. Many students work personally with faculty on research topics such as sleep disturbances, physical activity and cognition, eyewitness memory and the effects of stress on cognition.

I invite you to browse through our web pages to learn about the diverse expertise of our faculty and the opportunities that we offer students. Please contact us if you would like more information.

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List of Programs and Local Accreditation Status

BSc Psychology

The Psychology program in Fatima College of Health Sciences (FCHS) prepares students to obtain a Bachelor of Science degree in Psychology (BSc) and enables students to pursue a wide range of science and research-related careers at the bachelor’s level or to pursue an advanced level of studying human behaviour. The Psychology program equips students with theoretical and practical knowledge of the core areas of psychology and introduces students to the key theories in the field.  As a scientific discipline, the study of psychology requires competence in research methodology and critical thinking, two important skills that will be at the core of the program. FCHS students will also attain a high-quality scientific degree focused on knowledge in the discipline of psychology, integrity in the application of that knowledge, effective program management, and excellent communication skills.

The BSc in Psychology is a four-year, full-time undergraduate program requiring 125 credit hours for completion. The program is designed to meet international standards of academic design, teaching delivery and assessment. FCHS will evaluate and continually improve the program to ensure that courses are delivered at a high standard, and that student learning outcomes are aligned with FCHS outcomes as well as the UAE requirements.

Program Learning Outcomes

Below are the program learning outcomes achieved at graduation from the bachelor’s degree in psychology. At the end of the degree, students will gain expertise in five main areas:

KNOWLEDGE BASE
  • Describe key concepts, principles, and overarching themes in psychology.
  • Develop a working knowledge of psychology’s content domains
  • Describe applications of psychology
SCIENTIFIC INQUIRY & CRITICAL THINKING
  • Use scientific reasoning to interpret psychological phenomena
  • Be able to demonstrate psychology information literacy
  • Engage in innovative and integrative thinking and problem solving
  • Interpret, design, and conduct basic psychological research
  • Incorporate sociocultural factors in scientific inquiry
ETHICAL & SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY IN A DIVERSE WORLD
  • Apply ethical standards to evaluate psychological science and practice
  • Build and enhance interpersonal relationships
  • Adopt values that build community at local, national, and global levels
COMMUNICATION
  • Demonstrate effective writing for different purposes
  • Exhibit effective presentation skills for different purposes
  • Interact effectively with others
PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
  • Apply psychological content and skills to career goals
  • Exhibit self-efficacy and self-regulation
  • Develop and Refine project-management skills
  • Enhance teamwork capacity
  • Develop meaningful professional direction for life after graduation

Curriculum Structure, Credit Hours, and Graduation Requirements

To graduate students will need to complete courses with a total of 122 credit hours. A typical study plan is shown in section 5. The psychology program courses are categorized as the following:

Students will take general education courses in sciences and humanities in addition to, other introductory major course to gain an understanding of basic concepts, methods and theories in psychology.

 

Course Code

Course Title
Credit Hours
GRD 271Islamic Studies
3
GRD 101Biology
3
GRD 102Biology Lab
1
GRD 171Introduction to Psychology
3
GRD 161Academic Writing 1
2
GRD 251Introduction to Research & Biostatistics
3
GRD 133Foundations of Health
3
GRD 301Innovation and Entrepreneurship
3
Total
21

The courses mentioned below are mandatory for all FCHS students:

 

Course Code

Course Title
Credit Hours
GRD 100First Year Seminar
0
GRD 111Anatomy and Physiology A
3
GRD 112Anatomy and Physiology A Lab
1
GRD 261Academic Writing 2
2
GRD 121Anatomy and Physiology B
3
GRD 122Anatomy and Physiology B Lab
1
GRD 361Research Methodology
2
Total
12

Students will select one course from another discipline to complete a minimum of 3 credit hours. Students will choose from a variety of College Elective Courses (CER) offered by all the programs at FCHS such as Innovation in Health Sciences, Health Care Management, Epidemiology, Transition to Health Practice amongst other.

Course Code

Course Title
Credit Hours
CER XXXXCollege Elective Course*
3
Total
3

Students must complete all courses mentioned in this table:

 

Course Code

Course Title
Credit Hours
PSY 111Psychology in Everyday Life
3
PSY 122Lifespan Developmental Psychology
3
PSY 133Introduction to Social Psychology
3
PSY 211Introduction to Counselling
3
PSY 212Health & Wellbeing Psychology 1
3
PSY 213Cultural Psychology
3
PSY 224Cognitive Psychology
3
PSY 225Educational Psychology
3
PSY 226Health & Wellbeing Psychology 2
3
PSY 227Psychology of Special Needs Education
3
PSY 238Behavioural Neuroscience
3
PSY 311Counselling Psychology in Context
3
PSY 312Statistics for Psychology 1
3
PSY 313Abnormal Psychology
3
PSY 324Statistics for Psychology 2
3
PSY 325Clinical Psychology
3
PSY 326Emotions & Motivations
3
PSY 327Sensation & Perception
3
PSY 411Internship*
5
PSY 412Research Project 1
3
PSY 423Clinical Neuropsychology
3
PSY 424Research Project 2
3
Total
68

 Internship: Students will have the opportunity to apply for either an undergraduate educational placement for one semester of study at a local institution or an overseas partner institution.

Each student will select 6 courses with a total of 18 credit hours from the major elective courses:

 

Course Code

Course Title
Credit Hours
PEC 501Psychometric Assessments
3
PEC 502Cyberpsychology
3
PEC 503Psychology of Language & Vision
3
PEC 504Forensic Psychology
3
PEC 505Applied Behavioural Analysis
3
PEC 506Critical Social Psychology
3
PEC 507Abnormal Child Psychology
3
PEC 508Occupational Psychology
3
Total
30

Study / Guidance Plan
Course Description

Cost of Studying the Program

Staff
TitleDegree
Dr. Saher Al SabbahAssociate ProfessorPhD
Dr. Dina JoksimovicAssistant ProfessorPhD
Dr. Nida KhanInstructorPhD
Dr. Afreen FaizaLab SpecialistPhD
Amani DawlishInstructor
Reem Ali Ahmed Ali Alharthi Teaching Assistant