Global Health Area of Concentration
Students should indicate their interest before March 31 of their third
year in order to have enough time to develop a plan. We encourage students
to consider the AoC a continuum beginning with first year elective and
summer experience. A project plan should be developed in consultation
with the director, Tom Novotny, using the AoC
Project Proposal Form.
For further information, please contact the Office
of International Programs.
This elective course is designed to stimulate interest in global health
issues by presenting a diverse offering of topics including health promotion
and project planning, infectious disease control and epidemiology, tobacco
in developing countries, poverty and health, human and natural disasters
and maternal, child and reproductive health. It is intended to introduce
first- and second-year medical students to the world of global health.
This workshop is offered as part of the Introduction to Global Health
elective in winter quarter, and will be offered again each spring. The
session includes discussions of cultural sensitivity, case studies of
field experience, practical aspects of traveling such as personal safety,
necessary documents and travelers' health issues as well as panels with
invited guests. The workshop is required for students applying for funding
from UCSF School of Medicine for any international projects. Look for online version in the future.
(summer)
This optional international experience is intended for the time period
between the first and second years of medical school with the broad goals
of learning another language, experiencing a different culture, joining
an ongoing research project, shadowing physicians and learning about different
health care delivery systems.
Students will be encouraged to identify a faculty mentor who may assist
the student in finding a suitable senior elective project in global health.
Research activities are emphasized, and OIP can provide referrals to faculty
who may be approached with mentorship requests.
(Summer Block II)
This is an intensive four-week summer course
covering a variety of topics in much greater detail than the introductory
elective and focusing on case discussions and integration of the many
issues that influence global health such as, poverty, politics and the
development process in addition to the clinical aspects of health care
in developing countries. The course is intended for fourth-year students
prior to undertaking the international practicum experience, as well as
third-year students who are taking a year off to complete an MPH degree
or international work. For UCSF students pursuing an MPH degree from UC
Berkeley who elect to complete an Area of Specialty in global health,
the UCSF course will satisfy the international health core course requirement
at UCB. Although the course will not carry any units of credit toward
the MPH degree at this time, we intend to propose the plan to the curriculum
committee in the School of Public Health.
It is highly recommended that students pursuing a concentration in Global
Health extend their medical education by a year in order to incorporate
in-depth opportunities in International Health. This experience should
be arranged in cooperation with a mentor and could take the form of an
MPH program, and NIH or CDC fellowship emphasizing Global Health, or an
individual project designed by the student and a mentor.
Compared to the international experience during
the summer between first and second years of medical school, the practicum
is intended to be a much more focused project (either clinical or research)
lasting three to six months. The student will be expected to produce a
project report and give a presentation at the AoC Symposium during the
spring of their fourth year. It is also expected that some students will
expand their research project reports enough use them as the basis for
an MD with thesis.
|
