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Module Overview


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SPH2105 

INTRODUCTION TO GLOBAL HEALTH
   2018/2019, Semester 1
   Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health (Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health)
Modular Credits: 4
  Tags: --

Synopsis

TopOver the past decade global health has evolved from buzzword to discipline, attracting interest from governments, academic institutions and funding organizations. But, what is “global health”? Although we have made enormous progress in improving health status over the past 50 years, the progress has been uneven. Why? By examining major global health challenges, programs and policies, students will analyze current and emerging global health priorities, including communicable and non-communicable diseases, health inequity, health systems, and major global initiatives for disease prevention.

Through assignments, students will delve deeply into five major domains of global health:
  1. Emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases
  2. Non-communicable diseases
  3. Occupational and environmental health
  4. Humanitarian aid and relief
  5. Maternal and child health
Assignments will also provide students opportunities to gain practical public health skills, including synthesis of global health research and programs, and translation of global health knowledge into various media such as infographics, public seminars, and oral presentations.
 
The module will end with insights and personal reflections on how to apply these public health skills in a career in Global Health.

Learning Outcomes

Top

By the end of this course, students will have gained an overview of the global health issues, not only in terms of disease burden, but also in terms of the structural underpinnings that drive risk of ill health, health behaviors, and access to care.

Upon completion of this course, you will be able to:

  1. Describe key public health concepts related to global health, including the health transitions and measures of health status
  2. Synthesize the social determinants of health and risk factors for conditions of major importance to global health
  3. Apply a framework for reducing disease burden in various regions of the world through case studies
  4. Identify key organizations and institutions, their roles in global health, and the manner in which they can cooperate to address key global health issues
  5. Tackle global health challenges with realistic, evidence-based solutions and recommendations
  6. Gain insights into career pathways in Global Health

Teaching Modes

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The module will be taught on Thursday mornings from 10AM – 12PM over 13 weeks. There will be a total of 3 tutorial sessions that will occur every 2 weeks, commencing during week 3 for odd group and week 4 for even groups. Tutorials will take place on Tuesdays and Fridays.
 

Lecture venue: Tahir Foundation Building MD1-08-01E-Seminar room 1 at level 8

There will be a total of 3 tutorial sessions, commencing during week 3/4. Tutorial sessions are:
T1: Tuesdays (Odd Weeks) 10AM to 12PM, start from week 3. Venue: Tahir Foundation Building MD1-09-01A-Tutorial room 1 at level 9
T3: Fridays (Odd Weeks) 10AM to 12PM, start from week 3. Venue: Tahir Foundation Building MD1-09-01A-Tutorial room 1 at level 9
T4: Fridays (Even Weeks) 10AM to 12PM, start from week 4. Venue: Tahir Foundation Building MD1-09-01A-Tutorial room 1 at level 9 
Please see lesson plan for exact tutorial dates. 

Module Coordinator
Ms Clare Whitton
Email: ephcw@nus.edu.sg 

Ms Clare Whitton is a Public Health Nutritionist with a background in dietary assessment of populations. She has experience of developing instruments for measuring usual dietary intakes and is interested in how the environment around us affects our food choices. She holds a Masters degree in Public Health Nutrition (MSc) from Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh.

Module Policy
Late Work: All assignments are due on the dates provided. If students are unable to complete assignments, they must communicate with the instructors before the day of the deadline to avoid penalties.

Attendance/Participation. Active participation is encouraged during lectures, tutorials, and all group based assignments. Students are expected to contribute to the discussion through their questions, comments and personal insights.
 
Academic Integrity
Please review the University’s policy on academic integrity, located at
http://www.nus.edu.sg/registrar/adminpolicy/acceptance.html#NUSHonourCode
All graded work must be completed in accordance with The National University of Singapore’s Honour Code. Academic dishonesty is defined as any misrepresentation with the intent to deceive, or failure to acknowledge the source, or falsification of information, or inaccuracy of statements, or cheating at examinations/tests, or inappropriate use of resources.  There are many forms of academic dishonesty and plagiarism is one of them.  Students should adopt this rule - You have the obligation to make clear to the assessor which is your own work, and which is the work of others. Otherwise, your assessor is entitled to assume that everything being presented for assessment is being presented as entirely your own work.

Paper Formatting and References
References should be cited (no exceptions) in the Harvard or Vancouver style.

  • Information on citations can be found here: http://libguides.nus.edu.sg/citation

All references must be scholarly publications or online references (journals - printed or electronic, periodicals – magazine or newspaper article, article in edited volume, book, personal communication, report); Wikipedia references or similar online sources are not acceptable.

Required and Recommended Readings
You are not required to buy a textbook for this module. Both required and recommended readings will either be uploaded to IVLE or posted as a link within the IVLE lesson plan.  Required readings for a particular session must be completed before coming to class.
In addition, there is a recommended reference textbook: Skolnik, R. L., & Skolnik, R. L. (2016). Global health 101. Burlington, MA: Jones & Bartlett Learning. Any relevant chapters will be announced for each lecture under lesson plan. This book can be purchased online from Amazon at https://www.amazon.com/Global-Health-101-Essential-Public/dp/1284050548, it is about USD$72.00 per book. If you required our assistance to purchase the book, a deposit is required upfront and you may need to top up additional money if the exchange rate fluctuates Please email to UGHelp_SPH@nus.edu.sg if you require assistance. Besides, a print copy of this book will be available in the Medical Library RBR section.

 

Syllabus

TopPlease note that the schedule below is subject to change. 
 
Week No. Topic Lecturer
Week 1 Global Health Landscape / Course Overview Clare Whitton
Week 2 Important Concepts in Global Health I: Global Burden of Disease, Epidemiological and Demographic Transitions Suganthi Narayanasamy
Week 3 Tutorial 1 for odd groups
Important concepts in Global Health II: Social Determinants of Health (Women’s Health)

Suganthi Narayanasamy
Week 4 Tutorial 1 for even groups
Capacity Building: Experiences from Timor-Leste and Sierra Leone

Natarajan Rajaraman
Week 5 Tutorial 2 for odd groups
Non-communicable diseases: Obesity

Mary Chong
Week 6 Tutorial 2 for even groups  
Global Perspectives on Occupational Health

Jeff Hwang
Week 7 Tutorial 3 for odd groups
Humanitarian Aid

Sri Chander Tikamdas Nebhr
Week 8 Tutorial 3 for even groups
Global Health and Ethics

Voo Teck Chuan
Week 9 Tutorial 4 for odd groups
Global Health and the environment: Air Pollution

Erik Velasco
Week 10 Tutorial 4 for even groups
Emerging Infectious Diseases

Liow Chee Hsiang
Week 11 Careers in Global Health Sri Chander Tikamdas Nebhr
Week 12 Maternal and Child Health Marianne Ravn Knop
Week 13 Wrap-up lecture Clare Whitton

Assessment

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The module is assessed 100% by continual assessment. There is no final exam for this module.

Continual assessment has the following components:

 

1. 40% Infographic Project. This project will be scaffolded onto all 4 tutorials.  Student groups will be formed in each tutorial group; each group will be assigned to one of five Global Health domains. Each group will design an infographic that will highlight a global health problem within the assigned domain. There will be 4 components to this project, which will be a combination of individual and group effort, as shown in the table below.
Note: All group work for this project will be moderated based on a peer review score as described in class.

 
Infographic Project Component Week Due Individual (I) or Group (G) Effort Assessment
1. IHME screenshots Tutorial 1 (week 3/4)                                I 10%
2. Annotated Bibliography Tutorial 2 (week 5/6)                                I 10%
3. Infographic Sketch/ Feedback Tutorial 3 (week 7/8)                               G 10%
4. Final Infographic presentation Tutorial 4 (week 9/10)                               G 10%

2. 20% In-class Group Exercises
. Six guest lectures from weeks 4-12 will be simulated with class exercises based on lecture content. The purpose of this exercise is to actively engage you in active participation and give students an opportunity to role play on effective scenarios specific to the domains. 
Groups will be graded based on the following criteria:

Logical reasoning (50%)
Presentation style (10%)
Plausible Recommendations (40%)


​4. 40% Global Health Career Reflection Paper (Individual Final Assignment) Each student will be presented with a case based on a realistic Global Health challege that was covered in lectures. Final submission deadline: TBA

Prerequisites

Top

NIL

Workload

Top2-1-0-3-4

Workload Components : A-B-C-D-E
A: no. of lecture hours per week
B: no. of tutorial hours per week
C: no. of lab hours per week
D: no. of hours for projects, assignments, fieldwork etc per week
E: no. of hours for preparatory work by a student per week

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