The proposed addition to the curriculum will be the establishment of an AOC in international health (AOC-GH). The AOC-GH will be a student-focused, faculty-guided program of study in international health over the course of all four years of medical school. Major program goals and objectives include:
- Increase understanding of international differences in health and health care at the policy, economic, cultural, public health, and direct health care delivery levels.
- Students should be able to discuss international health care economics; compare and contrast the health systems of other nations with that of the U.S.; discuss the efforts of other countries to finance and provide health care services, prevent disease, promote health, and train health care providers; and discuss the process and development of health policy.
- Understand and be able to use basic research methods in epidemiology and public health.
- Students should be able to demonstrate the ability to think creatively and analytically through completion of an independent, mentored scholarly project, of publication or presentation quality, in the area of global health
- Understand and be able to discuss the global burden of disease, global disease patterns, and the impact of highly prevalent diseases (including major established infectious and tropical diseases) on public health and social policy.
- Students should be able to select a disease and/or a region of the world and prepare an analysis of the potential impact of the illness on the public health and social policy of the selected region.
- Appreciate the local relevance of global health issues.
- Students should be able to analyze the effects of global health patterns as they affect the U.S. For example, how do immigration patterns affect the spectrum of diseases seen in the U.S.? How does the rise in immigrants from certain regions of the world affect health care delivery in the U.S.? What cultural issues need to be considered?
Minor objectives of the AOC include:
- Appreciate the diverse social and cultural differences of the populations studied
- Obtain skills in a new language at the level of conversational fluency (recommended)
- Understand and be able to apply the principles of working effectively with an interpreter
- Demonstrate increased physical examination skills
- Improve educational and teaching skills