Office of Global Health

Curriculum

The Graduate/Professional and Capstone Global Health Certificates Online share the same overall curriculum.  The 11 graduate credit curriculum includes five two-credit online courses that are largely asynchronous to optimize flexibility for students, plus a mentored field experience.

The five online courses are:

  • PUBLHLTH 710: Introduction to Global Health: History, Current Issues, and Health Statistics (2 cr)
  • PUBLHLTH 711: Global Public Health and Healthcare Systems: Organizations, Governance, Financing, and Workforce (2 cr)
  • PUBLHLTH 712: Global Health: Infectious Diseases, One Health, and Prevention Strategies (2 cr)
  • PUBLHLTH 713: Global Health: Non-communicable Diseases, Poverty, Environmental Health, and Food Security (2 cr)
  • PUBLHLTH 714: Global Health Field Work Fundamentals: Engagement, Ethics, Policy, and Methods (2 cr)

The following is the recommended sequencing of course completion:

  • PUBLHLTH 710 and 711 provide broad introductions to global health and should ideally be taken prior to other courses (If possible, PUBLHLTH 710 should be taken first and then PUBLHLTH 711.)
  • PUBLHLTH 712 and 713 may be taken at any time, but ideally after having completed PUBLHLTH 710 and, if possible, PUBLHLTH 711.
  • PUBLHLTH 714 provides detailed preparation for safe and successful completion of fieldwork and should ideally be taken in the semester immediately prior to a student’s planned field experience, but must be taken prior to the field experience.
  • Due to the restrictions of some primary degree programs, the recommended sequence of courses may vary. Please feel free to discuss with the Program Director, Dr. Ann  Evensen.

In addition to these five online courses, certificate students complete a one-credit field experience:

  • For students with relatively little international experience, this should take the form of one of the faculty-led, group field courses offered by International Academic Programs (IAP).
  • More advanced students with substantial prior experience living/working in a lower-middle income setting also have the option of developing their own independent field experience (with a UW-Madison faculty mentor). Independent field experiences are focused on an issue/topic of particular interest to a student and usually take place in a country outside the U.S., but may also be carried out among an international/underserved population in the United States.  Students may also undertake work with international agencies as an independent field experience, e.g., the United Nations, the World Health Organization, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, or non-governmental organizations.
      • A student conducting an independent field experience will sign up for one credit of independent study in the department of their UW-Madison faculty mentor.
      • Purely clinical global health experiences (across all health science programs) do not satisfy the expectations of a global health certificate independent field experience. Certificate field experiences must focus substantially on an issue of community/public health.
  • Capstone certificate students also have the option of completing PUBLHLTH 715, a structured independent study in-depth analysis of a contemporary global health issue in place of an actual field experience if fieldwork is not possible (due, for instance, to family/childcare commitments, work commitments, impediments to travel in their home country, financial constraints, etc.).

Grading:

  • PUBLHLTH 710, 711, and 714 are graded using the A-F letter grade system.
  • PUBLHLTH 712 and. 713 are graded using the S/U letter grade system.
  • Faculty-led field courses and independent field experiences are graded using the A-F letter grade system.
  • PUBLHLTH 715 is graded using the A-F letter grade system.
Updated 6/23/22