A snapshot of global health education at North American universities

Glob Health Promot. 2014 Mar;21(1):63-7. doi: 10.1177/1757975913514464. Epub 2014 Jan 23.

Abstract

Global health education is becoming increasingly prominent in North America. It is widely agreed upon that global health is an important aspect of an education in the health sciences and increasingly in other disciplines such as law, economics and political science. There is currently a paucity of studies examining the content of global health courses at the post-secondary level. The purpose of our research is to identify the content areas being covered in global health curricula in North American universities, as a first step in mapping global health curricula across North America. We collected 67 course syllabi from 31 universities and analyzed the topics covered in the course. This snapshot of global health education will aid students searching for global health content, as well as educators and university administrators who are developing or expanding global health programs in Canada and the United States.

Keywords: curriculum; education; global health.

Publication types

  • Review

MeSH terms

  • Canada
  • Curriculum / standards
  • Curriculum / trends
  • Global Health / education*
  • Health Behavior
  • Health Status Disparities*
  • Humans
  • Internet
  • Legislation as Topic
  • Politics*
  • Social Determinants of Health*
  • Social Justice / education*
  • United States
  • Universities / statistics & numerical data