Entry requirements

University degree, minimum of 180 credits, in medicine, nursing, nutrition or another area relevant to global health. All applicants need to verify English language proficiency. This is normally attested by means of an internationally recognised test such as TOEFL or IELTS. Completed course in Global Health 1, or equivalent.

Learning outcomes

At the end of the course the students are expected to be able to:

• If internship is done, understand the work of an international or non-governmental organisation.
• If a minor field study is done, understand the principles of planning, execution and compilation of research studies.
• If theory courses are done during elective period, fulfil criteria for each specific course.
• Use Universal Health Coverage and Primary Health Care as a frameworks to compare health systems at different economic levels.
• Analyse critical health systems supports to enabling Primary Health Care, e.g. human resource, information systems, supply chains and health financing systems.
• Develop suggestions for improved decentralized management at e.g. district level.
• Plan for the management and evaluation of various interventions including psychosocial support, human resource management and ethics.
• Critically evaluate research papers.
• Develop an analysis plan for quantitative or qualitative data.
• Choose appropriate analysis method for different types of data.

Content

The first half of the course (15 cr) is an elective period. Students could choose from one of three options: (1) Theory courses, (2) Minor Field Study or (3) Internship.

1. Theory courses for 15 cr: Based on availability of teacher resources, students can choose from different theoretical courses. Courses will be relevant to the field of global health, eg. environmental health, politics in global health, infectious diseases etc. Students will also have the possibility to transfer credits from other courses. Assessment of viability for credit transfer is done by the Programme Coordinator.

2. Minor Field Study, 15 cr: The course takes the form of an individual small research project. It focuses on practical problems with doing research in a situation outside of one's own society on a health issue in a low­ or middle-income country or in a marginalized population. Students identify and design a research protocol and select appropriate methods under the supervision of teachers. To prepare for data collection in a specific area, the contacts are made with local coworkers. An application for ethical review will be carried out. Travel to field research and data collection is carried out according to the protocol. Encode and store data for further analysis. A written summary of fieldwork experience will be presented.

3. Internship, 15 cr: Internship in an organisation that works with global health organised by the student and approved by the department.

The second half of the course consists of two course modules: (1) Health Systems, Management and Economics, 7,5 cr, and (2) Research Methods III, 7,5 cr.

1. Health Systems, Management and Economics, 7,5 cr: The course covers studies on health systems, management and health economics.

2. Research Methods III, 7,5 cr; The course goes in-depth with either quantitative or qualitative methods, as decided by each individual student, in order to prepare for thesis writing. The course also includes a critical literature assignment.

Instruction

The instruction consists of lectures, literature studies, seminars and individual and joint assignments, and presentations. Teaching is interactive and students are encouraged to participate and reflect on their own experiences in the field. All teaching and learning materials are in English.

Assessment

The assessment is based on:

Written tests, participation in compulsory sessions, oral presentations, assignments. All examinations are in English.

If there are special reasons for doing so, an examiner may make an exception from the method of assessment indicated and allow a student to be assessed by another method. An example of special reasons might be a certificate regarding special pedagogical support from the University's disability coordinator. All examinations are in English.