PROGRAM IN GLOBAL HEALTH STUDIES

Global health is a popular field of work and study for Americans, with an increasing number of medical trainees and practitioners, as well as people without medical training, going abroad to volunteer in areas where there are few health care practitioners or resources. In addition, college undergraduates, as well as medical trainees and practitioners, are going abroad in increasing numbers to conduct research in areas with few health care resources. But all of these endeavors, though often entered into with the best of intentions, are beset with ethical questions, concerns, and dilemmas, and can have unintended consequences. In this course, students will assess these ethical challenges. In so doing, students will examine core ethical codes, guidelines, and principals – such as solidarity, social justice, and humility – so they will be able to ethically assess global health practices in a way that places an emphasis on the core goal of global health: reducing health inequities and disparities. 

This course is an introduction to community-based participatory research (CBPR). The W.K. Kellogg Foundation states CBPR is a collaborative research approach that “begins with a research topic of importance to the community and has the aim of combining knowledge with action and achieving social change to improve health outcomes and eliminate health disparities.” We will explore the historical and theoretical foundations, and the key principles of CBPR. Students will be introduced to methodological approaches to building community partnerships; community assessment; research planning; and data sharing. Real-world applications of CBPR in health will be studied to illustrate issues and challenges. Further, this course will address culturally appropriate interventions; working with diverse communities; and ethical considerations in CBPR.

The first objective of this course is to introduce students to the many ways that water impacts our world. We will discuss what the international recommendations for safely managed water are and the health and social consequences of water insecurity. The second objective is explore why there is such variety in water insecurity worldwide. These discussions will be guided by the socio-ecological framework, in which dimensions ranging from the individual to the geopolitical are considered. Influences on access to water will be broadly considered; we will draw on literature in global health, ethnography, the life sciences, and public policy. The third objective is to develop critical thinking and writing abilities to reflect on the multi-dimensional causes and consequences of water insecurity and the appropriateness of potential solutions.

An examination of the intersection of technology and the delivery of health care in resource-poor environments, especially in Africa. Engineering and the application of technologies are important in delivery of health care. This is true in the developing world as well as in the developed world, however health care technologies often fail to work as intended when solutions from wealthy countries are used in poor countries. Differences in burden of disease, infrastructure, economic and social structures are examined in the context of developing practical ways to improve health in specific parts of the developing world. Students work with the instructor to develop ideas a term paper examining a particular intervention. 

Field Studies in Public Health was developed for students interested in health-related fields, including public health, medicine, and health policy. In this course, students will learn the broad definition of Public Health and its history, and will explore the complexity of this field by examining current public health issues such as food safety, gun violence, and healthcare reform. The course will provide students an opportunity to consider how the theory and ideology of public health square up with the practice of this field at their internship sites.

This is a survey course designed to show how organic chemistry plays a major role in the design, development, and action of drugs. Although concepts of biology, biochemistry, pharmacy, physiology, and pharmacology will be discussed, it is principally an organic chemistry course with the emphasis on physical interactions and chemical reactions and their mechanisms as applied to biological systems. We will see how drugs are discovered and developed; how they get to their site of action; what happens when they reach the site of action in their interaction with receptors, enzymes, and DNA; how resistance occurs; how the body gets rid of drugs, and what a medicinal chemist can do to avoid having the body eliminate them before they have produced their desired effect. The approaches discussed are those used in the pharmaceutical industry and elsewhere for the discovery of new drugs.