Global Health Policy & Society (Taught)

Our Masters in Global Health Policy & Society responds to the huge challenges we face in the fast-changing environment of population health and wellbeing. From climate change and geopolitical conflict to global inequality, you will be well prepared to offer to solutions to these most challenging issues and be an asset within the workplace.

WHY THIS PROGRAMME

• This programme will enable you to develop a critical understanding of what determines whether people are healthy or not. You will explore what drives health inequalities, by examining health policies and societies through a comparative lens across high, medium and low-income countries.

• You will develop knowledge and understanding of a diverse range of issues related to health policy and practice. This will include health systems, and the social, cultural, political, commercial, economic and environmental determinants of national and international health.

• This programme offers a dynamic and flexible structure designed to empower you as both a thinker and a changemaker. You will benefit from an interdisciplinary approach, with optional courses available from the School of Social & Political Sciences and the School of Health & Wellbeing, both research leaders within respective fields.

• You will have opportunities to expand your learning outside the classroom through our connections with local authorities, non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and international health organisations. These include the Scottish Government, the NHS, Public Health Scotland, local health boards and health improvement partnerships (eg Greater Glasgow and Clyde), WHO, UNAIDS, Unitaid, StopTB, Global Health Fund, and Gavi.

• You can gain key workplace skills and experience by taking advantage of some of our optional experiential learning opportunities. These include undertaking a collaborative dissertation to solve a real-world problem, or diving into your research potential through a Glasgow Changing Futures Fellowship, supporting research teams tackling global challenges related to healthy and equitable futures.

• You will join a diverse student cohort and meet people from all around the world, allowing you to build an international network to take into your career and life after university.

• Our optional field trip to a European city lets you see global health policy in practice and make memories with your classmates.

PROGRAMME STRUCTURE
You will take four core and two optional courses, enabling you to tailor your learning journey to match your personal interests and career aspirations. The programme is carefully crafted to equip you with the interdisciplinary skills and tools needed to tackle current and future global health challenges.

Courses are delivered over two semesters, followed by an independent research project, where you will identify a pressing global health issue and explore it through critical, in-depth analysis.

Semester 3 includes an exciting opportunity to join a week-long international field trip, visiting leading Global Health organisations such as those based in Geneva. It’s a chance to connect theory with practice, expand your professional network, and gain insights from the heart of global health policy.

Core courses
Contemporary Global Challenges
Global Health in Social Context
Researching Public Policy
Understanding Health Policy

Recommended optional courses
Global Development and Human Rights
Health and Culture
Improving Health and Society: Programme Development and Evaluation
International Organisations
Skills for Development
Studies In The History Of Medicine From 1850 To 2000
The Disabling Society
The Wellbeing Economy

Other optional courses
Communicable Diseases
Geography of Health and Health Inequalities
Mental Health and Disability: International Law and Policy
Mental Health Promotion Across the Life-span
Planetary Health
Sexual Health and Wellbeing

Research project
Independent Research Project