Global Health Concentration

Rafael Pérez-Escamilla, Ph.D., Director

Students in the traditional two-year M.P.H., Advanced Professional M.P.H., and B.A.-B.S./M.P.H. programs may complete this concentration while they satisfy the requirements of their respective departments or programs.

The multidisciplinary approach of the Global Health Concentration (GHC) encourages creativity and innovation, while fostering a global perspective on public health. The concentration emphasizes an integrative, problem-solving approach to global health issues and to diseases and conditions that afflict low- and middle-income countries. Students who complete this concentration will be well prepared for positions in a variety of sectors/organizations—public and private, national, bilateral and multilateral—dedicated to global health challenges.

All students in the GHC will complete five global health course units and a global health-focused applied practice experience (APE). It is strongly recommended that the APE is done through an organization that is conducting work relevant to low-to-middle-income countries (LMICs) during the summer between the first and second years of the M.P.H. program. All students conducting an international APE or internship must complete the YSPH International Pre-Departure Preparation Workshop held in the spring term of their first year. Students are also strongly encouraged to write a global health-related thesis or capstone project (if required by their department/program). 

Concentration Requirements

PUBH 521Applied Practice Experience0
PUBH 591Global Health Seminar (taken in first year)0
SBS 595Global Health Foundations: Principles and Applications1
And one of the following courses:
HPM 557Evidence-Based Decision-Making in Global Health1
HPM 575Evaluation of Global Health Policies and Programs1

Students must also take three elective global health courses selected from at least two of the seven perspectives on public health. The seven perspectives on public health are:

  1. biomedicine,
  2. epidemiology,
  3. psychosocial/social and behavioral/anthropology,
  4. development/political economy,
  5. ethics/history/humanities,
  6. implementation science, and
  7. environmental health sciences.

A list of courses offered in each of the seven areas is available on the GHC website: https://ysph.yale.edu/myysph/curriculum/mph/ghc/electives. Please note that all courses listed may not be offered each term. Students pursuing the GHC may also propose courses not listed here as potential GHC electives. In this case, students must complete the required approval form, which is available on the Global Health at YSPH YaleConnect page. Requests must be approved before the YSPH deadline to add new courses. Upon receiving the form, the YSPH GHC program will let the student know if the course meets GHC elective requirements.

Competencies

Each student in the Global Health Concentration will master the core curriculum competencies and the competencies for the student’s department/program. In addition, upon receiving an M.P.H. degree in the Global Health Concentration, the student will be able to:

  • Describe the global burden of disease patterns across world regions and population characteristics
  • Analyze the roles, relationships, and resources influencing the United States’ role in global health governance and infrastructure
  • Propose sustainable, evidence-based solutions to address key global health challenges
  • Apply ethical approaches in global health research and practice
  • Apply monitoring and evaluation techniques to global health programs, policies, or outcomes
  • Display skills in applying research to global health policy and practice