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Postgraduate
Master's programme in
International Health (M.Sc. IH)
Course focus
Focuses on health problems in low- and
middle-income countries. It includes the
promotion of health, prevention and treat-
ment of disease, palliative care and rehabi-
litation. Studies of health systems, health
economics, health policy, and management
of health services are central. A cursory
view of diverse aspects of health in many
low- and middle-income countries shows
a need for improved health policy, more
efficient organisation and management at
all levels of health systems, and sustainable
financing. In order to make health services
accessible to the people who need them
most, reforms are urgently needed both at
the policy-making level and on the delivery
side. The M.Sc. IH was developed with these
factors in mind.
Teaching Approach
Participatory teaching and learning methods
are the underlying didactic concepts of the
course. Participants are expected to take
an active part throughout the course, e.g.
small group work, individual study time and
assignments, presentations based on their
own working experience, case studies and
group discussion.
Structure
The course has three distinct parts, each
accounting for 20 ECTS (European Credit
Transfer System). In this system, credit
points are given on the basis of student
investment time, i.e., how much time a
student "invests" in a given topic (including
lecture time, group work and individual
learning time). The three parts of the M.Sc.
IH are:
›› A three-month core module, providing
a basic overview on essential topics in
international health.
›› Advanced modules, offering more in-
depth learning on selected topics.
›› A thesis module, allowing for guided
individual research work with a personally
flexible choice.
The course covers the diverse aspects of
international health and may be taken
either as part time study within the tropEd
network or as a compact one-year residenti-
al programme at Heidelberg.
DAAD scholarships are available for the
residential programme.
Quality Assurance
The programme is accredited at the national
level. All taught parts (core course, advan-
ced modules) are additionally accredited in
the tropEd network. An international stan-
Postgraduate teaching in international
health has a long-standing tradition at our
institute. About 20 years ago the English
Master's course was started, initially with
a focus of training future leaders from low-
and middle-income countries. More than 35
years ago, Professor Diesfeld founded the
"Entwicklungshilfekurs", a course to prepare
mainly German doctors and non-doctors for
their service in resource limited settings.
Our institute is also one of the hosting
institutions for the tropEd network (see
page 79).
The 13th 'Humanitärer Kongress-Theorie und
Praxis der Humanitären Hilfe' with the theme:
'Ideals, reality and compromises: do we meet
humanitarian needs?' was held in October
2011 in Berlin, Germany, where we presen-
ted our teaching. Furthermore, our ideas on
global health teaching were presented at
the World Health Summit in Berlin, October
2011, and at the 7th European conference
on tropical medicine and international health
in Barcelona, October 2011. Currently we
offer the following postgraduate courses:
Master's programme in International Health,
Advanced short courses, and preparatory
courses for working in developing countries.