Course Outline:
The Global Health Course is organised by the Finnish Medical Society Duodecim, Finnish Medical Association, the National Public Health Institute of Finland (KTL), Finnish Medical Students’ International Committee (FiMSIC), the five Medical Schools of Finland, The Finnish Society for International Health and some other non-governmental organisations. The course has a part-time employed project co-ordinator, but most of the work is done on a voluntary basis.
The course is offered once a year. In 2004 the theoretical part of the course will be held in Finland from the 2nd week in May to the 2nd week in June. The students coming from developing countries will carry out their field assignments in Finland the following 4-8 weeks and the students from Finland will carry out their field assignments (4-8 weeks) in August and September in the partner countries.
The course is 8-12 weeks long. The theoretical part is 4 weeks and the field assignment is 4-8 weeks. Passing the course will give 10 credits = 15 ECTS
Aims
1. To increase the participants’ awareness of global health problems, their geographic distribution, and factors associated with ill health
2. To increase the students’ knowledge on ways to assess health on the population level
3. To orient the students about selected international health-related organisations and about alternative national strategies for health care provision.
4. To teach basic facts about selected public health priorities, e.g.
a. sexual and reproductive health
b. childhood vaccinations, child morbidity and mortality
c. over- and under nutrition
d. tuberculosis and other respiratory infections, malaria, HIV and AIDS
e. tobacco-related morbidity and other life-style -associated chronic diseases
f. mental health, environmental health, rational use of drugs, health and human rights, health in emergency situations
5. To establish and broaden an international network of students, teachers, and scientists interested in global health issues
Most of the course expenses have been covered by a grant from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Finland. Smaller contributions are made by the participating universities, institutions and non-governmental organisations. For the non-Finnish students, the course budget will cover the course fee, travel to and accommodation in Finland, meals during the course and a modest per diem in Finland. The Finnish students have paid a participation fee which roughly equals to the air fare for their field assignment.

Entry Requirements:
Thirty participants will be able to attend the course each year, 15 from Finland and 15 from other countries. The foreign participants will be accepted from the nominated 5 partner countries for each course (in 2002 four countries: Nigeria, The Philippines, China and Chile).
The course is offered to medical students and recently graduated young doctors. To fulfil the eligibility criteria of the Selection Committee, the applicant must have completed four years of medical studies, but not graduated more than two years prior to the start of the course, good knowledge of written and spoken English, submitted an official Application Form, complete with all required attachments.

Course Modules:
The Global Health Course is an 8-12 weeks long course, consisting of two parts. The course begins with a 4 weeks long theoretical part that includes lectures, seminars, group work and case studies. The GH-2002 theoretical block of the course consisted of lectures (85 h), group work (28 h), general discussions (27 h), field visits (11 h) and other education (10 h). Teachers include Finnish and foreign experts on the various topics. For each week there is invited at least one facilitator from each partner country to facilitate the group works and hold some lectures. Preferably the facilitator is a person who has previously taken part in the global health course.
The Course will include the following subjects, among others:
1. Health indicators
2. Demographics and population growth
3. Obesity as a problem
4. Smoking and health
5. Declaration of human rights
6. The refugee question
7. Education and health
8. Global economy and health
9. Pros and cons of user fee system in health care
10. Family planning
11. Infertility
12. Child health
13. Global distribution of morbidity and mortality
14. Vaccinations – EPI
15. Measles
16. Roll back malaria -programme
17. Treatment of HIV and AIDS
18. Economic impact of HIV-pandemic
19. Amnesty International
20. World Bank and IMF
21. United Nations Organisations and health
22. Treatment of HIV and AIDS in South Africa
23. The role of medical doctor in ensuring human rights (case study)
24. Health of nations - age pyramid and major health problems (group work)
25. How to manage the global HIV emergency (group work)
26. What to do with tobacco industry (panel discussion)
A 4-8 week practical period will follow the theoretical part. The students from developing countries will stay in Finland and the Finnish students will travel to the partner countries. During the practical part of the course, students will work in hospitals, health-related organisations or research institutes and concentrate on a specified topic in health care, selected jointly by the student and the teaching staff. The aim of the field assignment is to get acquainted with general and some specific aspects of the health care system at the location.
The practical field projects for GH-2002 covered a wide range of topics such as cervical cancer control in Nigeria and Finland, vaccination programme design and performance in the Philippines and Finland or the aetiology of community acquired pneumonia in different settings. Each student had 1-2 personal supervisors, in best case scenario from both the sending and receiving country, who facilitated the project.
The participants take an exam at the end of the theoretical part. They are also required to submit a written report on their activities during the practical field assignment. A passed exam and a submitted report are requirements for passing the course.

Contact:
gh@fimsic.org
+358 40 836 8668