Hosted by the Gillings School’s Departments of Environmental Sciences and Engineering, Health Behavior, Maternal and Child Health, and Public Health Leadership Program, the Global Health concentration is designed for a broad range of professionals from a variety of disciplines who are interested in working on public health problems in resource-constrained settings outside the United States, or with foreign or vulnerable populations who face challenges to health because of similar resource constraints in the U.S. and other wealthy nations. Graduates in this concentration will be equipped to make immediate contributions to government agencies, nonprofits, private sector companies, research institutes, universities and international organizations. Both residential and online students can take advantage of the many global health organizations located in the Research Triangle Park area bordering the University of North Carolina. We have close partnerships with organizations such as FHI360, RTI and IntraHealth International in addition to broad contacts with health departments in North Carolina and relationships with diverse research and practice institutions worldwide. Through these connections, we will provide you with opportunities to apply knowledge gained in the classroom to real-world problems.
What You'll Learn
As a student in the Master of Public Health (MPH) concentration in Global Health, you will enhance the foundational skills from your MPH core with additional focus on the planning, implementation and evaluation of global health programs.
- Use quantitative and qualitative data to analyze the challenges to achieving health outcomes in low resource settings;
- Develop programs to deliver evidence-based interventions to address these challenges;
- Analyze barriers to implementation and sustainment of programs and strategies in order to overcome these barriers;
- Monitor the quality of program implementation and evaluate program outcomes; and
- Engage in interdisciplinary problem solving with multinational teams.
This program will empower you with the knowledge and skills to achieve the following core competencies:
- Analyze how the roles, relationships, and resources of entities influencing global health policies and practices affect disparities in health outcomes.
- Develop methods to select, recruit and engage a diverse range of stakeholders to advance research, policy and practice in global health and to achieve sustainable results in resource-constrained settings.
- Develop skills for monitoring and evaluating the processes and outcomes of global health programs and policies.
- Apply strategies to work effectively in diverse local and global sociocultural and political settings.
- Apply ethical approaches in global health research and practice.
Required Courses & Sample Plan of Study
In addition to the interdisciplinary, 14-credit Gillings MPH Core, students in the Global Health Concentration take eight concentration-specific courses covering topics such as cultural humility, monitoring and evaluation, implementation science and global health ethics.
PUBH 711: Critical Issues in Global Health
HBEH 780: Program Planning for Global Health
MHCH 780: Cultural Humility
HBEH 784: Implementation Science for Global Health
HBEH 782: Professional Development
MHCH 723: Introduction to Monitoring and Evaluation
PUBH 710: Global Health Ethics
ENVR 992: Integrated Learning Experience
Lein Soltan
I chose UNC Gillings because of its amazing faculty, welcoming environment, and its reputation for being a leader in public health both locally and globally. Now that I am here, I get to experience UNC Gillings' dedication to students firsthand. We have the opportunity to learn from world-class faculty who value their students and always make themselves accessible to us.
Hosted by the Gillings School’s Departments of Environmental Sciences and Engineering, Health Behavior, Maternal and Child Health, and Public Health Leadership Program, the Global Health concentration is designed for a broad range of professionals from a variety of disciplines who are interested in working on public health problems in resource-constrained settings outside the United States, or with foreign or vulnerable populations who face challenges to health because of similar resource constraints in the U.S. and other wealthy nations.
Career Opportunities
Hosted by the Gillings School’s Departments of Environmental Sciences and Engineering, Health Behavior, Maternal and Child Health, and Public Health Leadership Program, the Global Health concentration is designed for a broad range of professionals from a variety of disciplines who are interested in working on public health problems in resource-constrained settings outside the United States, or with foreign or vulnerable populations who face challenges to health because of similar resource constraints in the U.S. and other wealthy nations.
99% of Gillings graduates have a job or continue their education within one year of graduating.
Learn more about the opportunities that await you with an MPH from the Gillings School.
Students fund their education through a combination of sources, including loans, fellowships and awards, assistantships and grants. Several awards and scholarships are supported by generous contributions to the School and University who value the current and future contributions of our students.
Contact: Sarah Kitchens, Funding and Awards Coordinator, sarah_kitchens@unc.edu
