Health and Disease : A Global Perspective
This 2 credit course offered in the fall semester, provides foundation and pre-medical students with basic knowledge and information necessary to understand basic concepts related to health and disease, disease causation and prevention, global and public health, health problems of developing and developed countries, health care delivery and its challenges, international health agencies and research in medicine and public health. The course builds upon concepts and issues in natural science courses taught during high school education and personal experiences of the students.
Global Health Education and Research Program
The Institute for Population Health will select up to three Weill Cornell Medicine-Qatar students to help them gain educational and research experience for 8 weeks at Weill Bugando School of Medicine in Mwanza, Tanzania during their summer break (at the end of first year of medical school).
Only first year medical students enrolled at Weill Cornell Medicine-Qatar are eligible to apply for the program.
Global Health Internship Program
To strengthen and augment WCM-Q's, relationship with the local and international community, the Institute for Population Health offers an innovative internship program for undergraduate students. Talented high school students who have exhibited a strong interest in health care are also considered. The program introduces students to the basic core concepts of global and public health with a view to optimize their awareness and knowledge in these areas. The program is open to students from around the world.
For more information, please contact iph@qatar-med.cornell.edu
Population Health and Primary Care Perspectives Elective
The Institute for Population Health offers a four-week global health elective course for senior medical students. In this elective students are introduced to various global health topics with a special focus on population health and primary health care. This information is provided in the context of global health. The elective provides information and experience related to public health practice and policy, primary care and public health research. Discussion on health care delivery systems and specific programs from countries in the Middle East and other nations from around the world will be used to complement the information provided in the course. Field/ hospital visit opportunities in Qatar will also be made available. The experience provided will be commensurate with the student’s qualification and background.
More detailed information regarding the elective offering can be found here
Certificate in Clinical Nutrition
Clinical nutrition has emerged as an important discipline in modern medicine. Healthcare professionals are increasingly using nutrition strategies to prevent disease, manage illness and promote health. Research has shown that diet and eating habits play a major role in the development of certain chronic diseases like heart disease, obesity, cancer, and diabetes. Making changes to diet can help prevent and treat these conditions. For example, lowering intake of certain fats and cholesterol, and adding whole grains to your diet can help prevent atherosclerosis, heart disease and stroke. Eating fewer calories helps manage weight. Cutting down on simple sugars can help prevent diabetes, and diets high in fiber can help in multiple ways.
The Institute for Population Health (IPH) offered a Certificate in Clinical Nutrition in April 2016. The course provided health practitioners with an understanding of how nutrition affects physiological and biochemical systems in the human body. The course also provided relevant clinical information and skills to the participants.
The total duration of the course was 50 hours. The onsite unit (32 hours) comprised of lectures and interactive discussions by WCM-Q faculty and other international experts from the field. The Self- Study Unit (18 hours) located on a cloud-based learning management system called Canvas, consisted of modules complementary to the onsite lectures.
The inaugural course was very popular and was full within the first week of opening registrations. The course was well appreciated, evident from the feedback received during the course wrap up session on the final day as well as in the online course evaluation that followed. Based on the overwhelming response to this short-term certificate course, IPH plans to offer other certificate courses to cater to the needs of healthcare practitioners in the region.
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Building Capacity in Healthcare Professions Symposium
Transformative pedagogies in medical education and healthcare professions have changed the traditional approach to building and enhancing health careers, and acquiring skills relevant to healthcare delivery, professions and policy. The last decade has heralded the urgency for capacity building in all domains of education and learning ranging from school, undergraduate and graduate education and beyond. Building such capacity will require interdisciplinary and interprofessional collaboration.
Capacity building aims to nurture and build upon resources and strengths available within the communities leading to the ultimate development of the people. It has been widely recognized that building social capital leads to improved health outcomes among communities. We must embrace lifelong learning, which is at the core of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 4 – “Ensure inclusive and quality education for all and promote lifelong learning”. This will ensure sustainable development and lifestyles for a healthy future; and facilitate knowledge exchange leading to further strengthening and development of human capital to meet the evolving health and wellness needs of the 21st century.
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Critical Issues in Global Health Symposium
Globalization has led to the emergence of the term ‘global health’. As described by Koplan et al “Global health is an area for study, research, and practice that places a priority on improving health and achieving equity in health for all people worldwide. Global health emphasizes transnational health issues, determinants, and solutions; involves many disciplines within and beyond the health sciences and promotes interdisciplinary collaboration; and is a synthesis of population-based prevention with individual-level clinical care”.
Global Health is a powerful interdisciplinary intellectual synthesis aimed at understanding and productively intervening in processes of health, illness, and healing across the globe. It integrates the knowledge across cross-disciplinary fields like epidemiology, medicine, economy, and the behavioural sciences. Currently, population health worldwide is impacted by a wide range of societal and environmental factors in addition to the behaviours of individuals.
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