Abstract
Background:Health professionals must be academically and experientially prepared regarding the social determinants of health to reduce health disparities at the global level. The emerging literature reflects a trend for incorporating global health competencies for health care. Specifically, recommendations from the Consortium of Universities for Global Health, National Academy of Medicine, and multiple nursing organizations encourage the inclusion of a global health curriculum.Objectives:To describe the development of an undergraduate global health certificate program and provide recommendations for the development of future global health programs.Findings:At the completion of the certificate program, students felt better prepared to apply course content to culturally diverse populations in low resource settings.Recommendations:Before developing a global health program, preconceived ideas about study abroad experiences and faculty concerns associated with course overload should be dispelled through evidence-based, educational sessions. Curricular time constraints in content-laden programs should be mitigated through an appropriate mix of e-learning formats. Last, a strong value must be placed on interprofessional education to facilitate capacity building through a bi-directional flow of knowledge and resources between the educational institution and the host country.
Highlights
Global health opportunities to work in low resource countries or settings and the influx of immigrant populations necessitate that health professionals be prepared to deliver health care with a global perspective; yet, the content-laden programs of health-related disciplines frequently have a limited curriculum related to global health
The purpose of this paper is to describe the development of an undergraduate global health certificate program and provide recommendations for the development of future global health programs
This study found that study abroad (SA) students graduated sooner, which may result from greater academic planning
Summary
Global health opportunities to work in low resource countries or settings and the influx of immigrant populations necessitate that health professionals be prepared to deliver health care with a global perspective; yet, the content-laden programs of health-related disciplines frequently have a limited curriculum related to global health. Recommendations from the Consortium of Universities for Global Health, National Academy of Medicine, and multiple nursing organizations encourage the inclusion of a global health curriculum. Many departments within universities provide embedded study abroad (SA) programs (experiences which are embedded within a discipline-specific course) While this is an effective approach for the individual department, it encourages working in “silos” and limits students’ exposure to the role of interdisciplinary teams required for successful global work. While the GHCP is spearheaded by a School of Nursing, faculty from other d isciplines are encouraged to participate in the SA component This shared responsibility has the potential to decrease fiscal burdens by sharing the course workload associated with implementing a SA course, while providing interprofessional education
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