Certificate Program in Global Health
The Vanderbilt University School of Medicine announces the new Graduate Certificate in Global Health. The program will fulfill an unmet need for a formalized global health educational curriculum for medical, nursing, graduate and professional students at Vanderbilt.

The need for this graduate-level certificate program in global health reflects the fact that global health has become an inextricable component of modern-day medical, public health, and nursing practices. There has recently been an increase of global health interest across academic, business, and government sectors, and as a result of this there is a demand for health professionals who can function completely and appropriately in the global market.

The objectives of this certificate program are:

1. to equip students with analytic and problem-solving skills that can be applied to current and emerging global health challenges;
2. to prepare students for internationally-focused careers in academia, government agencies, non-governmental organizations, immigrant health agencies, philanthropic foundations, and industry;
3. to help them assess public health challenges within international cultural and socioeconomic contexts;
4. To instruct students in the fundamental principles of research, planning, and management methodology in resource-limited settings;
5. to facilitate student synthesis and analysis of global health data from existing de novo sources;
6. to ensure student acquisition of core competencies in global health care and prevention, including the mastery of basic vocabulary in these disciplines.

The certificate program comprises an 18 credit-hour course of study that is open to all degree-seeking graduate level students and professionals at Vanderbilt. The requirements of the program are:

1. One 3-credit hour course: “Foundations in Global Health”
2. Three one-credit hour courses in core competencies: “Global Health Research Ethics,” “Informatics for Global Health Professionals,” and “Grant Writing, Leadership and Management for Global Health Professionals”
3. Six to nine credit hours of electives, with specific focus areas that include but are not limited to: epidemiology, biostatistics, clinical trials, research study design, program and policy evaluation, decision analysis and econometrics, environmental health, research ethics, health behavior, and scientific communication
4. Three to six credit hours of a practicum, which includes 8-12 weeks of field work

This certificate program will ensure that the Vanderbilt University students of Medicine and Public Health are adequately prepared to work successfully in the field, and furthermore meets the growing demand for expertise in global health due the emergence of infectious diseases as well as the rising chronic diseases in countries undergoing economic transitions.