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Global Health (Certificate)

The certificate program in Global Health is a 5-course curriculum that provides new training, research, and career opportunities for doctoral students in the social sciences, humanities, and biomedical/health sciences.   Northwestern University is recognized as a leader in Global Health, fostering inter-disciplinary training and research in this domain for over 20 years.  Global Health training at Northwestern is distinctive, spanning across colleges and disciplines rather than being contained within a Medical School or School of Public Health, as is the case at most universities. 

The goal of the certificate program is to provide students with the tools necessary to articulate their research and scholarly work to the emerging inter-disciplinary domain of Global Health, working collaboratively to address long-standing problems of health disparities and inequalities.

Students in the certificate program are required to take a total of five (5) courses. The curriculum provides a grounding in global health concepts, bioethics, and qualitative and/or quantitative methods. Additionally, the diverse set of methods and elective course options ensures that this certificate program is accessible to students from a wide range of PhD disciplines.

Programs and events

In addition to the formal coursework, students are encouraged to attend and participate in the Global Health Seminar Series. Students in the certificate program will also have opportunities to serve as Teaching Assistants for undergraduate classes in Global Health Studies (GHS).  Those students in the certificate program who have been Teaching Assistants in GHS courses will be eligible to teach their own evening or summer classes in GHS through the School of Professional Studies (SPS).

Who should apply?

Doctoral candidates from any field are eligible to apply to join this intellectual “home” outside their department.

How to apply

Enrolled PhD and Master's students in The Graduate School may pursue this certificate with the permission of their program. In order to petition to have a Graduate Certificate awarded and appear on the transcript, students must submit the  Application for a Graduate Certificate  once all Graduate Certificate requirements have been completed, but no later than the time that the student files for graduation (in the final quarter of study). 

Who to contact

Please contact the program director, listed below, with questions about this program.

William R. Leonard
Professor, Anthropology
Email: w-leonard1@northwestern.edu

The following requirements are in addition to, or further elaborate upon, those requirements outlined in The Graduate School Policy Guide. 

Students in the certificate program are required to take a total of five (5) courses, three (3) core requirements for all students (Public Health 390, Global Health 302, and a Methods Course) and two (2) elective courses on advanced topics.

Required Courses

  1. Public Health 390: Introduction to Global Health
  2. Global Health 302: Global Bioethics
  3. Methods Course: One class from the list below:
    1. ANTHRO 386-0 Methods in Human Biology Research
    2. ANTHRO 389-0 Ethnographic Methods and Analysis
    3. ANTHRO 390-0 /GBL_HLTH 390-0 Methods in Global Health & Anthropology: Turning your Numbers into a Story
    4. Civ_Env 398-1: Community-Based Design
    5. DGP 484: Statistics and Data Analysis for Life Scientists
    6. GH 320: Qualitative Research Methods in Global Health
    7. PH 302: Introduction to Biostatistics
    8. PH 304: Introduction to EpidemiologyElective Courses

Elective Courses

  1. Two classes from the list below:
    1. ANTHRO 430-0 Integrative Seminar in Society, Biology, and Health
    2. ANTHRO 485-0 Seminar in Mind, Body, & Health
    3. ANTHRO 486-0 Evolution & Biological Anthropology
    4. ANTHRO 490-0 Topics in Anthropology: Human Population Biology
    5. BMD_ENG 380-0 Medical Devices, Disease & Global Health
    6. CHEM_ENG 373-0 Biotechnology and Global Health
    7. CIV_ENV 361-2 Public & Environmental Health
    8. ECON 425-1 Development Economics
    9. ECON 425-2 Development Economics
    10. MHB 405-0 Social Science and Medicine
    11. PUB_HLTH 391-0 Global Health Care Service Delivery
    12. PUB_HLTH 412-0 Infection Disease Epidemiology and Prevention
    13. PUB_HLTH 421-0 Intermediate Biostatistics
    14. PUB_HLTH 422-0 Intermediate Epidemiology
    15. PUB_HLTH 448-0 Introduction to Maternal Child Health
    16. PUB_HLTH 490-0 Advanced Global Public Health
    17. SOCIOL 476-0 Topics in Sociological Analysis: Sociology of Health, Illness, and Biomedicine