Health science is the applied science dealing with health, and it includes many sub disciplines. See also health science academic disciplines.

There are two approaches to health science: the study and research of the human body and health-related issues to understand how humans (and animals) function, and the application of that knowledge to improve health and to prevent and cure diseases.

Health research builds upon the basic sciences of biology, chemistry, and physics as well as a variety of multidisciplinary fields (for example medical sociology). Some of the other primarily research-oriented fields that make exceptionally significant contributions to health science are biochemistry, epidemiology, and genetics. See also life sciences and life science academic disciplines.

Applied health sciences also endeavor to better understand health, but in addition they try to directly improve the health of individuals and of people in general. Some of these are: biomedical engineering, biotechnology, nursing, nutrition, pharmacology, pharmacy, public health, psychology, physical therapy, and medicine. The provision of services to improve people's health is referred to as health care (see below). See also branches of medicine.

The health sciences industry, a multi-billion dollar business sector, is a cross-section of the life sciences and the health care and medical diagnostics industries.