Outline: International Health
PLEASE NOTE
Information on this site pertains to MD students who matriculated in 2006-07 or later. All other students should refer to their Guide to the Scholarly Concentrations for more specific information.
Director
Julie Parsonnet, MD
Co-director
Robert Siegel, MD, PhD
Objectives and Goals
The goals of this application are to:
- Give students an understanding of the spectrum of challenges—from political to sociological to biomedical—that limit provision of health care to the world’s poorest people.
- Provide students with insights into problem-solving for complex international health issues.
- Foster mentored hands-on experience in the field that applies knowledge attained in this application to real world problems of the world’s poorest people.
Requirements
Coursework
Students who pursue International Health in conjunction with a foundation area, such as Community Health, are required to complete 6 units including:
MED 230 Rethinking International Health (2-3 units)
The remainder of the coursework should be selected in consultation with the application and foundation directors. There are many courses relevant to IH at Stanford. Examples are listed in the Course work section. In some instance (with Foundation directors’ approval), these courses also meet requirements for specific Foundation areas. Courses that meet both foundation and application requirements provide students with the opportunity to expand their International Health coursework without taking an overwhelming course load. Language classes to not meet requirements for the IH Application.
Research
All students in the Application must complete one quarter of overseas research; 4 quarters are preferred. It is important to note, however, that students do not need to be in the IH application to conduct overseas work; students can apply for traveling scholarships directly outside the application.
Other
Participation in Application break-outs, where students will present their ideas for projects, faculty will be available to discuss opportunities, and students completing projects will present their work, its pros and cons, and future opportunities in their research site.
