Students in this specialty concentration will develop skills and competencies to be successful in public health including:

• Explain the global context in which public health problems occur including the social, political, or economic forces that underly them.
• Apply social justice or human rights principles in the assessment of public health programs, interventions or policies.
• Describe the roles or relationships of the entities that influence global health.
• Identify the leadership or management skills needed to effectively participate or lead local, national, or global reproductive and maternal rights organizations.
• Describe multi-agency policy-making in response to complex health emergencies.

The MPH degree requires the completion of a total of 45 credits, an applied practice experience, and a culminating experience. In addition to the general course requirements, students will take both concentration-specific courses and electives:

• Introduction to Global Health
• Introduction to Medical Anthropology
• Zoonoses: An Emerging Public Health Issue
• Program Planning
• Epidemiology of Infectious Diseases
• Global Mental Health
• Humanitarian Aid in Complex Emergencies
• Racism and Public Health in the United States
• Global Environmental Change
• Health and Human Rights: Human Rights Abuses, Torture and Its Consequences
• Global Reproductive and Maternal Health

Remaining credits are accrued through electives, seminars and independent study. The concentration advisor should be consulted early to plan ahead for the completion of the MPH degree requirements. Refer to the Global Health Checklist for a full list of courses.

Culminating Experience

Students in this concentration complete a master’s thesis as their culminating experience. Recent projects include:

• Working to improve the health of villagers in India through child health nutrition programs and community education.
• Examining the role of alternative and complementary medicine in villagers in rural outpatient settings in India.
• Designing and teaching a basic public health curriculum in a local college in the Spirit Lake Nation of the Native American Dakota Tribe.
• Performing targeted needs assessments in rural Kenya through collaboration with the International Rescue Committee, which serves refugees affected by violent conflict.