Duke Trustees Approve Master's Degree In Global Health

Published December 5, 2008, last updated on March 7, 2013 under Education News

The Duke University Board of Trustees on Friday approved a new master’s degree program whose goal is to educate future leaders in fields that address global health challenges.

The new Master of Science in Global Health degree, to be offered through the Graduate School and administered by the Duke Global Health Institute (DGHI), will draw upon the expertise of faculty in all of Duke’s graduate and professional schools.

“Understanding how to reduce health disparities requires an interdisciplinary perspective, yet the study of health in academic institutions is traditionally confined within disciplinary boundaries,” said DGHI director Michael Merson. “We are proud to be one of the first universities in the country to offer a Master of Science in Global Health that will prepare health professionals, policy makers, researchers and others to approach global health from many perspectives.”

The program will include instruction in disease causation and prevention, global environmental health, global health policy and management, and population sciences. It will involve faculty from Arts & Sciences and the schools of medicine, nursing, environment, business, divinity, engineering and law, as well as from the Terry Sanford Institute of Public Policy. The degree will require an international fieldwork experience of at least 10 weeks.

“Many schools of public health offer a global health track or certificate within their Master of Public Health programs, but these are generally more practice-oriented,” said Lisa Croucher, assistant director of education and training at DGHI. “We expect our program to attract medical students, global health residents at Duke and others who want a research-oriented master’s degree.”

Duke’s latest strategic plan, “Building on Excellence,” lists addressing real-world issues as one of the university’s priorities.

In recent years, Duke has created a Certificate in Global Health for undergraduates and graduate students, a Global Health Focus Cluster for first- and second-year undergraduates, a Global Health Third Year Study Program for medical students, a postdoctoral fellowship in Global Health, and the Global Health Residency offered jointly by the Hubert-Yeargan Center for Global Health and DGHI.