Global Health Education

In recent years there has been an unprecedented increase in global health interest among students and faculty across university campuses, including the University of Chicago. The Center for Global Health is committed to increasing opportunities for students on campus, particularly in the College, both in the classroom and the field. CGH advocates for expanded course offerings that include global health content, and was integral in launching “Introduction to Global Health” and “Topics in Global Health” in the College. The college also offers the Global Health Specialization, a program of study under the Biological Sciences major with a transdisciplinary emphasis on epidemiology and population health, as well as anthropology, psychology, environmental studies, economics, and policy. Students wishing to specialize in global health sciences are required to take the foundational series of courses either in Chicago (offered as a year-long sequence every year) OR at the University of Chicago Center in Paris (offered every year during Winter Quarter).

The Global Health in Paris program will feature a sequence of three courses focused on epidemiology, microbiology, and the broader social, political, and economic forces that shape global health issues.

For all courses, classroom work will be complemented by laboratory exercises and field trips to Parisian locales that will enhance students’ understanding of the course topics. All participants will take a “practical” French language course (beginning, intermediate or advanced) running at a normal pace through the ten weeks.

The Center in Paris is the University of Chicago's research and teaching arm in Europe, an intellectual community of faculty, graduate and undergraduate students representing our traditionally strong ties to European thought and culture. The Center is located in the 13th arrondissement, between the newly expanded campus of the University of Paris VII and the French National Library. Nearly half of the undergraduates who travel abroad from the University of Chicago campus study in Paris, in programs that range from the humanities to the social sciences to the natural and physical sciences. A dozen doctoral students are currently in residence at the Center, and faculty visit regularly for research, conferences, and teaching.

Over the summer, promising undergraduate and graduate students to take part in a 10-week internship where they will benefit from first-hand experience working in a research setting in Chicago and one of our partnering sites abroad, which offer a strong local mentoring infrastructure as well as longitudinal and well-defined projects.

Learn more at CGH Summer Research Fellowship

UChicago undergraduate students should email globalhealth@uchicago.edu for more information on ways to engage in international opportunities with CGH. Also, check out GlobeMed, MedLife, Global Brigades, and other global health RSOs on campus. 

GlobeMed is a student RSO that aims to strengthen the movement for global health equity by empowering students and communities to work together to improve the health of all people around the world. Each chapter is partnered one-to-one with a grassroots health organization in Africa, Asia, or the Americas. hroughout the year, GlobeMed chapters strengthen long-term partnerships through frequent communication, fundraise through innovative initiatives for projects that help partner organizations achieve their mission, educate students about global health issues through a signature curriculum, and intern on-site with partner organizations. Learn more and get involved with our Chicago chapter at: https://www.globemedatuchicago.org/

Global Brigades is an international movement of students and medical professionals working alongside local communities and staff to implement sustainable health systems. We work in remote, rural, and under resourced communities in Honduras, Panama, Nicaragua and Ghana who would otherwise have limited to no access to health care. Each community receives a brigade every 3 to 4 months where hundreds of patients are provided access to healthcare and volunteers deliver public health workshops. 

Health LEADS (formerly Project HEALTH) work to bring innovative solutions to healthcare and patients. Learn more at and get involved at https://blueprint.uchicago.edu/organization/healthleads

MedLife

Team HBV

This comprehensive, four-year curriculum is part of the Scholarship and Discovery curriculum at the Pritzker School of Medicine. Because global health is a multidisciplinary endeavor, the Global Health Scholars Track draws upon disciplines throughout the University and exposes students to fields that are essential to the pursuit of global health, including epidemiology, biostatistics, economics, sociology, anthropology, law, ethics, and human rights. The track combines didactic, seminar, clinical, and research components to foster the development of the diverse skills needed to work successfully with patients, health systems, and institutions around the world. Click here to read more about the Pritzker Global Health Scholars Track.

The Summer Research Program (SRP) is an eleven week medical research opportunity available to first year medical students. Students develop a well-defined project and work with faculty mentors throughout the summer to conduct research. CGH works to increase the number of global health SRP projects available, and offers support to the student cohort and faculty sponsors throughout the entirety of the program.

Training abroad allows students to develop clinical and research skills that are vital to a career in global health. Therefore, the Center for Global Health has formed partnerships with institutions across the world that offer supervised training opportunities. Students should contact the Center for Global Health directly at globalhealth@uchicago.edu to apply. 

Below is a list of student organizations at Pritzker for students interested in global health. Click here for a full list of student organizations at Pritzker.

• REMEDY UChicago is a student-run philanthropic organization at the Pritzker School of Medicine. Their goal is to collect medical supplies from donor institutions and using monetary contributions and to deliver the supplies to international communities who need them most.
• The International Medicine Interest Group (IMG) was established as a forum for students interested in international health care issues. In the spring, IMG distributes information about the Global Health Scholarship, which helps fund medical students involved in international experiences.