Courses, Plan of Study, & Advising

Plan of Study | Descriptions | Advising | Shady Grove

Plan of Study

The Certificate in Global Health is an academic program requiring completion of four courses (12 credits), three of which are required and a fourth of which is an elective. A minimum 3.0 GPA is required to maintain good academic progress towards graduation. Students are responsible for keeping track of their progress and should review their academic record to ensure accuracy. The core curriculum includes foundational aspects of global health, communication and promotion, and program planning and evaluation. The elective topics include history, diplomacy and/or social marketing in Public Health. The course breakdown is as follows:

For semester/term dates, click here.

Course Descriptions

Required Courses

SPHL600: Foundations of Global Health. (3 credits)
Exploration of theoretical frameworks and practical perspectives on issues shaping the global health panorama. Determinants examined through: biological and epidemiological; social, cultural and economic; environmental and geographic; multi-section; legal and institutional perspectives with synopsis of how these issues are addressed by international and community organizations in developing countries. This course has been offered as a special topics course, is under development for approval with a permanent course number.

SPHL610: Global Health Program Planning and Evaluation. (3 credits)
Development of health program and evaluation plans to address health problems in international settings. Linking a tactical program plan to overall health problems of a nation, including policy issues involved in assessment, budgeting, and evaluation to determine effectiveness.

SPHL620: Global Health Communication and Promotion. (3 credits)
Critical components involved in developing, implementing, and evaluating health/population promotion and communication interventions. Emphasis given to various approaches and theories as well as how to incorporate those dimensions into practice. Techniques for developing and evaluating health/population communication strategies that include formative and quantitative research.

Elective Courses (one)

SPHL401: History of Public Health. (3 credits)
History of public health in the western world from antiquity to the present. Examines the development of public health institutions, policies, and methods. Specific attention given to the history of major infectious diseases and epidemics, as well as to the evolution of public health’s concern with the effect of environment, nutrition, lifestyle behavior, and other factors on health and disease. Attention devoted to the connection between public health in the Western world and that of developing countries.

SPHL630: Global Health Diplomacy. (3 credits)
Focus on the interplay of health assistance and foreign policy from a broad range of perspectives including economic, historical, political, social, and cultural. Development of skills to understand and deal with globalization, resource inequities, health disparities, and post-conflict health crises.

SPHL640: Social Marketing in Public Health. (3 credits)
Examine public health communication theory broadly with specific emphasis on public health, including social marketing campaign design, best practices for implementation, and evaluation methodology. Includes applied techniques for domestic and international markets as well as proper tools for optimal health impact through study design, message development, media campaigns and supplemental case reviews.

Advising

Students are urged to consult with the program Academic Director, Dr. Colleen Farmer, to obtain more information about the Global Health Certificate. The e-mail contact is: cfarmer@umd.edu.

Shady Grove

Seminar-style, face-to-face instruction is offered at the Universities at Shady Grove (USG) campus. For more information on USG, including campus map, directions, and parking, click here.