Course Focus
International Health Focuses on poverty-related health problems in low and middle income countries. It includes the promotion of health, prevention and treatment of disease, palliative care and rehabilitation. Studies of health systems, health economics, health policy, and management of health services are central. A cursory view of diverse aspects of health in many developing countries shows a need for improved health policy, more efficient organisation and management at all levels of health systems, and sustainable financing. In order to make health services accessible to the people who need them most, reforms are urgently needed both at the policy-making level and on the delivery side. The MScIH was developed with these factors in mind. Teaching Approach Participatory teaching and learning methods are the underlying didactic concepts of the course. Participants are expected to take an active part throughout the course, e.g., small group work, individual study time and assignments, presentations based on their own working experience, case studies and group discussion. Structure The course has three distinct parts, each accounting for 20 ECTS (European Credit Transfer System). In this system, credit points are given on the basis of Student Investment Time, i.e., how much time a student “invests” in a given topic (including lecture time, group work and individual learning time). The three parts of the MScIH are: A three-month core module, providing a basic overview on essential topics in International Health. Advanced modules, offering more in-depth learning on selected topics. A thesis module, allowing for guided individual research work with a personally flexible choice. The course covers the diverse aspects of international health and may be taken either as part-time study within the TROPED network or as a compact one-year residential programme at Heidelberg (for details please see: http://www.ukl-hd.de/ph/MSCIH). DAAD scholarships are available for the residential programme. Quality Assurance The programme is accredited at the national level. All taught parts (Core Course, Advanced Modules) are additionally accredited in the TROPED network. An international standard is further ensured by faculty members of other Institutes of Public Health acting as lecturers and external examiners. A maximum of 25 students are accepted into the programme, which guarantees an intensive personal contact with lecturers and academic supervisors throughout the programme.
Target Group
The MScIH is intended for physicians and other health-related academic professionals with at least two years’ work experience. Its focus is to provide students with a solid foundation in international public health principles and competency with the tools and methods necessary to initiate programmes that would improve health services in an efficient, sustainable and equitable way. Career Perspective Graduates are expected to take up policy, planning, management or teaching positions in, for example, international organisations, ministries of health, national health programmes, non-government organisations and universities.