Specialty Area in Global Health
The School of Public Health offers specialty area study in global health for students enrolled in any of the School's discipline-based programs. This is a nonadmitting program that provides an opportunity for students and faculty from different academic programs to explore issues in global health.
Nine units of course work are required for the Global Health Specialty Area. Students must:
- Be enrolled in one of the School of Public Health's discipline-based programs.
- Concurrently meet all course requirements and recommended electives for their respective programs.
- Schedule an interview with an Global Health adviser and complete a Tracking Form by the end of their first fall semester. One-year students will find it difficult to complete 33 units in two semesters (24 for M.P.H. and 9 for Global Health Specialty Area). However, students who exempt out of required core courses may count those exempt units toward the 33 unit requirement. Courses taken in the summer before enrollment may also count toward the 33 units.
Each student who successfully completes the curriculum and files a signed Global Health Tracking Form in the Global Health Office will receive upon graduation a letter signed by the dean of the School and by the chair of the Faculty Committee on Global Health certifying the student's completion of the requirements for the Global Health Specialty Area.
International Internships
A strong emphasis is placed on acquiring relevant international experience. To this end, the program assists students in locating international internships with agencies, institutions, and organizations abroad that promote, fund, and/or implement public health activities. These internship placements must be approved by the Center for Public Health Practice and should provide the student with a relevant and rigorous off-campus learning experience. While responsibility for securing an acceptable international placement lies with the student, the Global Health Office serves as a resource center to assist students in identifying internships with international agencies and national organizations that conduct international health activities.
Global Health Courses (partial list)
Required
- PH 212D Global Health Core Course
Electives
- PH 202B Ethnic and Cultural Diversity in Health Status and Behavior
- PH 207B International Food and Nutrition Policies
- PH 211 Health and Human Rights
- PH 212A International Maternal and Child Health
- PH 212C Health and Social Policy in Mexico and Latin America
- PH 212E Private Sector Health Services in Developing Countries
- PH 213A Family Planning, Population Change and Health
- PH 226D Global Health Economics
- PH 253B Epidemiology of Infectious Diseases
- PH 253C An Overview of the HIV/AIDS Epidemic
- PH 253D Behavior and Policy Science in HIV Treatment and Prevention
- PH 257 Outbreak Investigation
- PH 259B Practical Applications of Epidemiological Methods in Developing Countries
- PH 260F Infectious Disease Research in Developing Countries
- PH 265 Molecular Parasitology
- PH 271D Global Burden of Disease
Students interested in pursuing course work and/or research in global health should apply to any of the regular academic programs of the School of Public Health. While proficiency in a foreign language is encouraged, it is not required.
For further information about the Specialty Area in Global Health, contact Claire Norris, Global Health Office, at cnorris@berkeley.edu or (510) 642-6915.
- Complete a 3-unit Global Health Core Course. This course examines health in the context of development models and provides a background for understanding health care in developing countries.
- Complete 6 units of course work with international content, selected in consultation with an Global Health faculty adviser. These courses may be selected from offerings in the School of Public Health, or from approved courses in the Departments of Agriculture and Resource Economics, Anthropology, Geography, City and Regional Planning, Demography, and Peace and Conflict Studies. The courses and seminars selected should enable students to gain multidisciplinary insight into public health problems in various international environments. A complete list of courses approved as part of the Global Health Specialty Area is available from the Global Health Office.