As the new academic year kicks off this week, more than 250 students from all levels of study are enrolled in global health programs at Duke.
This is the second year the global health major and minor will be offered by DGHI and the Trinity College of Arts and Sciences. The new undergraduate degrees are gaining popularity with 86 majors and 89 minors currently enrolled. It’s projected that the number of graduates this year will increase by 63 percent compared to the first graduating class.
“Each day, our students are learning how to leverage their intellect, spirit, and creativity to contend with our most pressing global health challenges,” said Gary Bennett, director of undergraduate studies at DGHI and professor of psychology and neuroscience, global health and medicine. “The major's success this year bodes well for the future of global health education at Duke.”
At the graduate level, DGHI welcomes its largest Master of Science in Global Health class this fall. The class is made up of 35 students representing 12 countries and 25 undergraduate majors. They come from a variety of backgrounds, from environmental health to engineering, to psychology and political science. The class also includes four physicians, with several others planning to combine medicine and global health in the future. Five students have a prior degree from Duke, and one student will pursue the joint JD/MSc-GH at Duke. Graduate courses this semester run the gamut, from global health and genomics and global environmental health to non-communicable diseases to quantitative methods for global health research.
It’s also a milestone year with the first class of Master of Science in Global Health students beginning the program at Duke Kunshan University. MSc-GH student Ginny De La Cruz delivered the convocation speech at the campus opening last week.
Several other students are involved in global health at the graduate and professional level: Three medical students in the Doris Duke Global International Clinical Research Fellowship at Duke, 17 doctoral students in the Doctoral Certificate and Doctoral Scholars programs, and three clinicians in the Global Health Residency/Fellowship Pathway.
As interest in global health continues to grow on campus, it’s an exciting time to get involved at DGHI.
Want to get involved?
- Enroll in a global health course
- Apply for global health fieldwork, including Bass Connections in Global Health (3 projects now recruiting) and Student Research Training Program
- Attend Global Health Exchange and Undergraduate Breakfast Club events
- Attend Global Health Journal Club events, beginning September 23
- Learn about and apply to Master of Science in Global Health
- Get involved in the DGHI Student Council and other global health student groups on campus
