Curriculum - Master of Public Health

In addition to mastering the core curriculum competencies and the competencies for the student’s division or program, each student in the Global Health Concentration learns to analyze and describe international health issues.All students in the Global Health Concentration will complete four global health courses from at least two of the five perspectives on public health by which global health courses have been categorized. Students will also participate in two semesters of the Global Health Seminar (preferably in their first year) and complete a global health internship during the summer between the first and second years of the M.P.H. program. If students have already had 10-12 weeks of international public health experience, they can do an internship based in the US as long as it is pertinent to global health; otherwise, they have to do an internship abroad. Students must write a global health-related thesis or participate in a relevant capstone experience (as determined by their division). There are currently 54 MPH students in the Global Health Concentration.

Competencies
Curriculum
Thesis Topics

Competencies for the M.P.H. Global Health Concentration and the Advanced Professional M.P.H. Program Global Health Track

Each student in the Global Health Concentration will master the core curriculum competencies and the competencies for the student’s division or program. In addition, upon receiving an M.P.H. degree in the Global Health Concentration, the student will be able to:

Describe the major causes of morbidity and mortality in the world and in the world’s major regions.
Describe cross-national determinants of health based on courses selected from the five perspectives on public health: biomedicine; epidemiology; psychosocial/ social and behavioral/ anthropology; development/ political economy; ethics/ history/ humanities.
Analyze global health problems taking into account their social, political, economic, legal, and human rights dimensions.
Understand the different components of the global health governance infrastructure, and critically assess this infrastructure.
Assess global health issues from an interdisciplinary perspective, including public health disciplines, medicine, international relations, environmental studies, political science, law, anthropology, and others.
Apply necessary leadership skills to serve as bridges between the global health research and practice settings.
Apply research methods in the design, monitoring, and evaluation of global health initiatives.
Explain and propose solutions for the unique challenges involved in conducting public health research in low-resource settings.
Describe and analyze different roles of global public health practitioners and apply this to individual career development.

Curriculum

PDF Version

Download the PDF version of the curriculum for the MPH Global Health Concentration.

Students enrolled in the Global Health Concentration must fulfill the requirements of their respective divisions or programs. In addition, the Global Health Concentration requires the student to complete the following courses. All “a” courses are offered in the fall term, and “b” courses are offered in the spring term.

Concentration Requirements

EPH 591a, Global Health Seminar* - n/a
EPH 591b, Global Health Seminar - n/a
EPH 520c, Summer Internship** - n/a
EPH 525, Thesis or Capstone experience (determined by division) - 2 Course Units

Four courses from at least two of the five perspectives on public health.GH courses categorized by perspectives on public health (spring courses (‘b’) subject to change):

Biomedicine:

BENG 405b, Biotechnology and the Developing World – 1 Course Unit
EMD 547b, Vaccines: Concepts in Biology – 1 Course Unit
EMD 550b, Biology of Disease Vectors – 1 Course Unit
GLBL 327a/ INRL 529a, Water, Infectious Disease, and Global Health – 1 Course Unit

Epidemiology:

CDE 543a, Global Aspects of Food and Nutrition – 1 Course Unit
EMD 557a/ NURS 713a, Global HIV/AIDS: Challenges and Responses – 1 Course Unit
EMD 572a/ F&ES 891a, Eco-epidemiology – 1 Course Unit
EMD 583b, Public Health Surveillance – 1 Course Unit
HLTH 230b, Global Health: Challenges and Promises (also listed in Psychosocial) – 1 Course Unit
INRL 525a, Global Health Research: Methodological and Ethical Considerations – 1 Course Unit
MCBD 861b, Global Problems of Population Growth – 1 Course Unit

Psychosocial/ Social and Behavioral/ Anthropology:

AFAM 311a, Race, Health, and Captivity – 1 Course Unit
ANTH 257a/ HLTH 260a/ INTS 341a, Biocultural Perspectives on Global Health – 1 Course Unit
ANTH 427b, Topics in Medical Anthropology – 1 Course Unit
CDE 594a, Maternal and Child Public Health Nutrition – 1 Course Unit
HLTH 230b, Global Health: Challenges and Promises (also listed in Epidemiology) – 1 Course Unit
INRL 626b, Mental Health and Psychosocial Support in Humanitarian Settings – 1 Course Unit
INST 343b, Conflict, Resilience & Health – 1 Course Unit
SOCY 543b, Demography, Gender and Health – 1 Course Unit
WGSS 662b, HIV and AIDS in Africa – 1 Course Unit

Development/ Political Economy:

AFST 420b/ LAST 406b/ EP&E 246b/ PLSC 430b, The Politics of Development Assistance – 1 Course Unit
AFST 447a/AFST 647a/EP&P 271a/PLSC 447a, Rwandan Genocide in Comparative Context - 1 Course Unit
AFST 560a, The Political Economy of AIDS in Africa – 1 Course Unit
ECON 325b, Economics of Developing Countries – 1 Course Unit
ECON 469a/ GLBL 325a, Health Inequality and Development – 1 Course Unit
EP&E 289a/ ER&M 362a/ INST 384a/ SOCY 363a, Genocide and Ethnic Conflict– 1 Course Unit
F&ES 825a, International Environment Law and Policy– 1 Course Unit
F&ES 848a, Climate Change: Impacts, Adaptation and Mitigation – 1 Course Unit
F&ES 899b, Haiti: Sustainability Development in a Post-Disaster Context – 1 Course Unit
HIST 943b/ HSHM 736b/ WGSS 730b, Health Politics, Body Politics– 1 Course Unit
HPA 591a, Global Health Systems (renamed: Global Health Economics) – 1 Course Unit
HPA 592b, Strategic Thinking in Global Health– 1 Course Unit
HPA 620b, Independent Study in Global Health – 1 Course Unit
INRL 522b/ INST 331b, Social, Economic and Political Dimensions of Development– 1 Course Unit
INRL 713b, Critical Issues in Development Policy – 1 Course Unit
MGT 526b, Doing Business in the Developing World - 1 Course Unit

Ethics/ History/ Humanities:

EP&E 317a/ PLSC 141a, Ethics of Humanitarian Intervention – 1 Course Unit
HIST 234a/ HSHM 235a, Epidemics and Society in the West since 1600– 1 Course Unit
HIST 903a/ HSHM 728a, The Global Challenge of Malaria– 1 Course Unit ***
HIST 906b/ HSHM 647b, Medicine and Public Health in Latin America 1820-2000– 1 Course Unit
HPA599b/ INRL 524b/ PHIL 709b/ PLSC 594b, Global Health Ethics, Politics and Economics – 1 Course Unit
INRL 527a, Comparative and International Bioethics – 1 Course Unit

_{*One full academic year, to be taken if possible in the first year}

_{**If the student has already had 10-12 weeks of international public health experience, they can do a global health internship in the US as long as it is pertinent to global health; otherwise, they have to do an international internship}

_{***Not offered in 2011-2012}

Revised 8/26/2011

Spatial and Environmental Determinants of Winter Oviposition in Brazil
Household Economic Burden of Acute Febrile Illness in an Urban Slum in Brazil
Development of a Serological Test for Leishmaniasis in Colombia
They Go To Die – A Documentary Film
Epidemiology of Hookworm Infection among School Aged Children in the Kintampo North District of Ghana
Analysis of Incident of Sexually Transmitted Infections in San Juan, Puerto Rico
Effect of Maternal Arsenic Metabolism on Low Birth Weight in Romania
Divinity & Distress: The Impact of Religion & Spirituality on the Mental Health of HIV positive Adults in Tanzania