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Centre for International Health

Global Health Course for Medical Students

This course offers interested students the opportunity to focus on global health issues through exciting lectures and an eight-week field visit to a hospital in a low-income country. Here you will find information on admission requirements, application forms, application deadlines and contact persons.

Main content

The course begins with a series of lectures over six weeks, most of which are also given to master students at CIH. Students are given an introduction to Global Health, and the topics presented include public health, major global diseases, ethical issues as well as topics such as the interaction between health, politics and poverty.

It is also possible to take only the 6-week theoretical part GLOBALTHEORY.

Information about admission to the Global Health course

-Who can apply for this course:

Medical students at University of Bergen in elective term (finished 3 years), or students with similar background, can apply for this course. Students in the Medical Student Research Programme may apply, but will have to demonstrate that the course is relevant for their research project and must have a recommendation from their supervisor. The number of students selected depends on the number of vacancies in the field sites. If there are more applicants than can be accommodated, there will be drawing lots.

-Application deadline: March 1

Application forms can be found here (Under "Søknad om global helse")

-Contact persons:

Exam

Students report that the course exam is one of their best exam experiences. The exam is interactive with students being both examinee and examiner for each other's dissertations.

Fieldwork

After the 6-week theoretical part in Bergen, the students travel to the field to visit a partner institution, e.g India, SriLanka, Tanzania, Malawi or Uganda. This part of the course consists of observations and practical training in hospitals or clinics. Other activities may be visits to village health centres, mobile clinics and mother-child clinics. During weekends the students have time off, and often have excursions on their own initiative to other places.

More on fieldwork and student experiences.

Field visits Global Health (preliminary) 2023:

  • India: CMC Vellore (10 studenter)
  • Sri Lanka: Ruhana University, Galle (2-4 studenter)
  • Uganda: Makerere University (2-8 studenter)
  • Tanzania: Haydom Lutheran Hospital (2-4 studenter)
  • Malawi: Mzuzu regional hospital (2-4 studenter)
  • Pakistan: Gulab Devi hospital, Lahore (2 studenter)

Poster with course highlights