Schools: School of Medicine and Public Health, School of Nursing, School of Pharmacy, School of Veterinary Medicine, Division of International Studies, Graduate School

Designation: Interdisciplinary Program

Majors and Degrees offered: none

Other: Graduate Certificate and Capstone Certificate

Faculty for core courses and electives:  Linda Baumann, PhD, RN; Lori DiPrete Brown, MSPH; Bruce Christensen, PhD; James Conway, MD; Maureen Durkin, PhD; Tony Goldberg, MS, DVM, PhD; Cynthia Haq, MD; Curt Johnson, PharmD; Richard Keller, PhD; Nancy Kendall, PhD; Connie Kraus, PharmD; Judy Ladinsky, PhD; Maria Lepowsky, PhD; F. Javier Nieto, MD, PhD; Christopher Olsen, DVM, PhD; Jonathan Patz, MD, PhD; Ajay Sethi, PhD, MHS; Kenneth Shapiro, PhD; Halcyon Skinner, PhD; Karen Solheim, PhD, RN, Amy Trentham-Dietz, PhD; James Vergeront, MD; Eva Vivian  PharmD, BCPS, CDE; Susan Kidd Webster MSSW,  Whitney Witt, PhD, MPH; Claire Wendland, MD, PhD; Thomas Yuill MS, PhD.

The Certificate in Global Health is a collaborative offering from the schools of Medicine and Public Health, Nursing, Pharmacy, Veterinary Medicine, and the Division of International Studies.  The certificate curriculum focuses on global health topics and health issues that transcend national boundaries, emphasizing health and disease in developing countries.

Through a nine-credit program of course work and a global health field experience, students will be prepared to address health disparities in a context of cultural diversity. Certificate recipients may serve populations internationally or work among the increasingly diverse population of Wisconsin and the United States.  Through core courses and electives, students may focus their studies on health promotion, detection and treatment of disease, prevention and management of outbreaks, health policy, environmental health, or other interdisciplinary topics.

Available as a Graduate Certificate to professional students in the health sciences, to graduate students in health-related fields, and as a Capstone Certificate to individuals with a minimum of a BA or BS in a health-related field, the Certificate in Global Health program is designed to assist traditional and non-traditional students with interests in global health.  The program is based in the Department of Population Sciences of the UW School of Medicine and Public Health and is administered by the Center for Global Health at UW-Madison.

How to Apply

Applications for fall 2009 will be accepted from January 12 through Friday April 17^th. 

Curriculum

A minimum of 9 credits are required for the certificate, including 6 core course credit requirements, one of which is a credit-based global health field experience, and 3 elective credits.  Below is a description of the core requirements and electives. 

Core Course Requirements (6 credits):

PHS718, section 2: Fundamentals of International Health Care Systems (2 credits)

This course addresses and analyzes differences in health status and methods of organizing and providing health services in countries with varying levels of development and types of socio-political systems. Students develop an understanding of the various avenues of international cooperation in health.  It is offered the first 7 weeks of the fall semester.

PHS904, section 4: Topics in Epidemiology: Global Health (2 credits)

The purposes of this course are to explore the relationship between globalization and health and provide students with an understanding of: a) major indicators and determinants of health and health disparities across populations, from less to more developed countries; b) the role of epidemiology in developing proven and potential interventions to improve global health and reduce health disparities; and c) methodological and ethical considerations in international health research. The course is also designed to expose students to health research and clinical work of faculty working in a range of disciplines relevant to global health, and to help students identify ways in which they might contribute in the future to improvements in global health.  It is offered the second 7 weeks of the fall semester.

PHS640:  Foundations for Global Health Practice (1 credit)

This 1-credit course helps students to prepare for a global health field experience.  Students study general precepts of global health, learn to use quantitative and qualitative data to gain an understanding of the health situation related to their selected country and health topic of focus, and plan a global health field experience including selecting a site, identifying a counterpart organization, developing a scope of work that is of mutual benefit to the student and the counterpart organization, and preparing to travel (health and safety).  There course is offered in five evening meetings over the course of the semester.  It is offered in both the fall and the spring semesters.  Note: If a student elects to participate in a faculty-led global health field course rather than an independent field experience the field experience preparation requirement is met by substituting the related field course pre-requisites (PHS650 Health and Disease in Uganda, or Health and Disease in Thailand).

Global Health Field Experience (1-6 credits)

A global health field experience is a credit-based experience in a setting relevant to global health. Field experiences are generally carried out during winter, spring or summer breaks, and 1 week on site is equivalent to 1 credit.  Global Health Field experiences may also be carried out during the academic semester if they do not interfere with class attendance or completion of requirements for registered coursework.

Students may elect to do a faculty-led group field experience through Center for Global Health, or they may choose to design an independent field experience at the site of their choice.  Field experiences usually take place in a country outside the US, but may also be carried out among a culturally diverse population in the United States.  Students may also work with international agencies, such as the United Nations, the World Health Organization, Centers for Disease Control & Prevention, or non-governmental organizations.

Requirements:

For faculty-led group experiences students are required to take pre-requisite campus-based courses and apply to participate in the field course through the UW Office of International Academic Programs (IAP).  Upon satisfactory completion of the field course students will receive credit for PHS 645: Global Health Field Study. 

For independent field experiences students must prepare a proposal, to be reviewed and approved by his or her advisor, which describes project goals and objectives and lays out a tentative schedule of activities.  Students must register for independent study credit in an appropriate school or department (699 in medicine, veterinary medicine, pharmacy, nursing or other a graduate department).  If the field experience has a substantial public health component they may also register for PHS 788, Public Health Field Experience. Upon completion of the field experience all students must submit a field experience journal (reflection), an evaluation by the field preceptor, a referenced field experience report, and a site evaluation. As is noted above, PHS 640 Foundations for Global Health Practice is a pre-requisite for individual field experiences. 

Students must be in good academic standing to participate in the global health field experience.

In order to take full advantage of the field experience, prior completion of all course work is recommended whenever possible.

Course Schedule for Global Health Field Experiences

Course Schedule for Global Health Core and Electives

Below is a list of core courses (bolded) as well as approved electives.  Students may petition to count other relevant graduate-level UW courses toward the certificate.  Please refer to the UW timetable before determining a course of study as course information may be subject to change.

Planning the Course of Study

While it would be possible to complete the course of study in one year, by taking 4 core credits (PHS 718 and PHS 904-Epi) in the fall semester, completing the 1 credit Foundations in Global Health course in the fall or spring, and taking 3 elective credits in either semester, certificate students are encouraged to allow two years to complete the program.  This time-frame provides sufficient flexibility for students to access core courses and for graduate and professional students to work around curriculum requirements in their primary areas of study. Capstone candidates, who are also meeting the demands of full or part-time work while they are pursuing the certificate, would follow a similar course of study as the graduate students, with most taking 1-2 years of part-time study to complete the certificate.  It is expected that most students will complete the certificate in no more than 3 years.

Assistance with Course Registration

For all students:  A number of required and elective courses require permission of the instructor.  Please e-mail the instructor explaining that you are a Certificate in Global Health student.  The instructor will make arrangements for you to be able to register.  Please note that courses fill quickly, so please register early.

For Capstone students:  Please contact Mary Quass (mquass@dcs.wisc.edu) for assistance regarding issues pertaining to your status as a special student.  Because you are a Certificate candidate you are eligible to register before other special students.