Learning the fundamentals of public health clearly play a role in the work that we do. In global health, you’re always thinking about how the programs you design can improve outcomes for individuals in a challenging environment.

Kaakpema Yelpaala, MPH '06

CEO and Co-founder, InOn Health

What’s Different About Global Health at Yale?

The Global Health Concentration is available to students from any YSPH department enrolled in the traditional two-year M.P.H. or five-year BA-BS M.P.H. programs. Students in the one-year Advanced Professional M.P.H. program may enroll in the Global Health Track. Coursework is offered throughout the University to encourage creativity and innovation, while fostering a global perspective.
YSPH faculty is on the front lines of global health response, from zika to health systems to food insecurity.
Access to faculty led multidisciplinary centers across the University including the Yale Institute for Global Health (YIGH)

About the Concentration

The Yale School of Public Health is a leader in Yale University’s commitment to improve health across the globe through research, education and community engagement. The School uses science to foster health, promote innovation, train leaders and make a difference in the world. Faculty research spans a variety of fields including chronic and infectious diseases, implementation science, environmental health, behavioral determinants of health, policy and administration.

The Global Health Concentration builds on all these experiences and emphasizes an integrative problem–solving approach to global health issues and to diseases and conditions that afflict developing and developed countries.

Students who complete this concentration will be well prepared for positions in a variety of organizations—public and private, national, bilateral and multilateral—dedicated to global health challenges.

Our Alumni

The Yale School of Public Health has more than 6,100 alumni working around the world in virtually every facet of public health. Many have become leading figures in global health and are an active part in providing internship and professional opportunities for students. They include:

Unni Karunakara, MPH ’95, Dr.PH, former international president of Médecins Sans Frontières, and now a senior fellow at Yale’s Jackson Institute for Global Affairs.
Dechen Wangmo, MPH ’07, Minister of Health, Bhutan.
Vandine Or, MD, MPH ’96, director, Department of International Cooperation, Ministry of Health of Cambodia.
Juan Lubroth, DVM, MPH, PhD ‘95, chief veterinary officer of the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization.
Jacob Creswell, MPH ’00, team leader, Innovations and Grants at Stop TB Partnership, UNOPS.
Elisabeth Schauer-Kaiser, PhD, MPH ’96, director, Vivo International.
Susan Michaels-Strasser, MPH ’95, MSN ’95, PhD, former country director, Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation in Zambia, now assistant professor of epidemiology at Columbia University Medical Center.
Lawrence Meagher, Jr., MPH ’76, retired executive director and CEO, Hospital Santa Catarina, Sao Paulo, Brazil.

Requirements

2024-25 Matriculation

Students pursuing the Global Health Concentration must fulfill the requirements of their respective departments or programs. In addition, the Global Health Concentration requires the student to complete the following courses. As part of the Global Health Concentration, it is strongly encouraged that students focus their Master’s Thesis (if applicable) on a global health issue as determined by their department/program.

Students pursuing the GHC may also propose courses not listed here as potential GHC electives. In this case, students must complete the required approval form which is available on the GHC YaleConnect page. Requests must be approved before the YSPH add/drop deadline. Upon receiving this form, the YSPH GHC program will let you know if this course meets GHC elective requirements.

GHC Course Requirements (5 course units)

EPH 591 Global Health Seminar - 0 units (taken first semester)
EPH 595 Global Health Foundations: Principles and Applications - 1 unit (taken 2nd semester)
EPH 521* Applied Practice Experience (Please note that all APEs must meet the Office of Public Health Practice APE guidelines**) - 0 units

*This requirement does not apply to AP-MPH students pursuing the GHC.

**All traditional 2-year and joint degree MPH students must complete a global health focused applied practice experience in a low to middle income country. If the student has already had 10-12 weeks of global health experience, they can complete an applied practice experience based in the United States or another high-income country as long as it is pertinent to global health; otherwise, they must do an applied practice experience abroad. This alternative option must be approved by the GHC office prior to the start of the applied practice experience. All GHC students conducting an international applied practice experience must complete the International Pre-Departure Preparation Workshops held in the spring semester of their first year.

One of the following capstone courses:

EPH 557 Evidence-Based Decision Making in Global Health - 1 unit (taken final semester; can be taken as an elective if HPM 575 is taken as capstone)
HPM 575 Evaluation of Global Health Policies and Programs - 1 unit (taken final semester; can be taken as an elective if EPH 557 is taken as capstone) - not offered in 2025

Three courses from at least two of the perspectives of public health from list of previously approved courses. Please note that all courses listed may not be offered each term.

Applied Practice Experiences

All traditional 2-year and joint degree MPH students must complete a global health-focused applied practice experience in a low—to middle-income country. If the student has already had 10-12 weeks of global health experience, they can complete an applied practice experience based in the United States or another high-income country as long as it is pertinent to global health; otherwise, they must do an applied practice experience abroad.

Past Thesis Topics

2023: Decolonizing Humanitarian Aid: Addressing Racism and Health Inequities in the Context of Africans Displaced from Ukraine

Exploring the Perceptions of Genetics, Genetics Testing, and Science in People of African Descent

“So We Create Happy Synergies” How An Overall Enabling Environment Helped Lao PDR Legislate the WHO Code on Breastmilk Substitutes: Lessons Learnt

Integrating Spiritual Tools and Practices in Mental Health Care: A Scoping Review of Spiritual Healing from the African Continent

Cleft lip and depression in adults: A multi-ancestry Mendelian randomization study

Perceptions of HIV Pre-exposure Prophylaxis and Correlates of Interest among Women at Shebeens in Rural South Africa

Barriers and Facilitators for Implementing the WHO Safe Childbirth Checklist in Mozambique: A Qualitative Study using the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research (CFIR)

Prevention of Mother-to-Child Transmission of HIV(PMTCT) Efforts in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa: Lessons from Botswana

Drivers of Global Waterborne Disease Transmission Following Extreme Precipitation Events: A Systematic Review

Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practices (KAP) About Lassa Fever Prevention and Control: a Survey of Three Rural Communities in Central Liberia

Cost-Effective Analysis of Rotavirus Vaccination in Dhaka, Bangladesh using a Dynamic Model of Rotavirus Transmission

A Deeper Dive into Food Insecurity Among Women Involved in the Criminal Justice System

From Theory To Practice: Zoonotic Spillover, One Health And The Role Of Local Indigenous Communities

Intersectoral responses to climate change and waterborne diseases in the Caribbean region: current actions and pathways forward using the One Health framework
2022: Cumulative Disaster Exposure and Hypertension Among Mothers Who Survived Hurricane Katrina

“I Still Have My Sorrows with Me.” A Qualitative Study Exploring How Nepali Adults Engage in -Making Following Suicide Experiences

Impact of COVID-19 on the Mental Health of Resettled Refugee Children

Operationalizing the UNESCO Universal Declaration on Bioethics and Human Rights Through a Trans-Cultural Lens: A Qualitative Study with Students in South Korea and the United States
2021: An Exploration of Race Differences in Network Exposures to Mass Incarceration

Exploring Toddler Sleep Disparities Using Spatial Analytic Methods

Assessing Changes in the Epidemiology of Cutaneous Leishmaniasis in Southwest Colombia Following the Peace Accord with Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia (FARC)

Healthcare Provider Perspectives on the Influence of Cultural Beliefs on Infant and Young Child Feeding Practices within Ghanaian Refugee Camps: A Qualitative Analysis

Caesarean Delivery among Women of Color is Associated with Risk of Early Childhood Developmental Delays in Brazil

Racial and Ethnic Disparities in COVID-19 Vaccine Hesitancy Among a Diverse Community-Based Population in Connecticut

Global Routine Immunization Policies for Refugees

The Impact of Economic Intimate Partner Violence on Women’s Sexual and Reproductive Health in Asia & the Pacific

Longitudinal Serological Responses to SARS CoV-2 in Healthcare Workers
2020: Treatment Outcomes for Tuberculosis and Diabetes Co-morbidity in Bangladesh

Surveillance of Infectious Diseases among Drug Users in Cyprus, 2016

Relative Social Status of Older Adults Predicts Long-Term Cognitive Decline: A Multi-National Longitudinal Cohort Analysis

Correlates of HIV Viral Suppression and ART Adherence Among Men Who Have Sex with Men (MSM) and Transgender Women (TGW) in Lima, Peru

Maternal Risk Factors and Perinatal Outcomes Among Pacific Islander Subgroups in California

ACA Medicaid Expansion and Mental Illness Among Young Adults in the United States

Modeling Influenza in the United States Through a Real-Time National Surveillance Network Dataset on Influenza Test Results

Prospective Assessment of Risk Factors of Incident TB in High Burden South African Communities

Sex Work Decriminalization at the State & Municipal Level

Environmental Mastery and Mental Distress in Refugees Resettled to the United States

Epidemiology and Response-to-Treatment of Hookworm Infection in Kpandai District, Ghana

Pilot Study to Test the Efficacy of a Handheld Auto-Injection Device to Deliver Benzodiazepine (the "Loraza-pen") Outside the Healthcare Setting to Abort Seizures and Avoid the Sequelae of Prolonged Status Epilepticus

SocialCare: Rethinking the Poverty-Health Linkage

The Microbiome Composition Associated with Childhood Asthma Exacerbation

Soil-Transmitted Helminthiasis and Growth: A Case-Control Study Among Guatemalan Preschool Age Children

WHO Core Components of Sexual and Reproductive Health: Factors that Influence Access for Young Pregnant Women

The Effect of Environment on Rat Population Metrics in Association with Urban Health

Household and individual level factors associated with fruit and vegetable purchasing among customers on Navajo Nation
2019: The Association Between Self-Reported Violence and Mental Health Outcomes Among Urban Refugees and Asylum Seekers in Malaysia
(Chronic Disease and Epidemiology)

Evaluating the feasibility and effectiveness of self-monitoring of health: a pilot study among Samoan women
(Chronic Disease and Epidemiology)

The extent and phenotypic impact of genetic variation in Plasmodium falciparum VAR2CSA: the leading vaccine candidate for malaria in pregnancy
(Epidemiology of Microbial Diseases)

The Effects of Sewer Closure on Pathogenic Leptospira Concentrations in Soil in Urban Slums
(Epidemiology of Microbial Diseases)

The Co-infection of HIV and Syphilis Among Men Who Have Sex with Men in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
(Epidemiology of Microbial Diseases)

Effect of Routine TB Education and Counseling on TB Knowledge Among Patients with Active TB in Kampala, Uganda
(Epidemiology of Microbial Diseases)

Intensive Case Finding for Tuberculosis & HIV Integrated with Non-Communicable Diseases: Strategies for Reaching Vulnerable Populations
(Epidemiology of Microbial Diseases)

Substance Use Among Incarcerated Individuals Living with HIV in Jakarta, Indonesia
(Epidemiology of Microbial Diseases)

Average time to negativity of new Alere ultra-sensitive rapid diagnostic tests following 3-day vs 5-day anti-malarial therapy in HIV positive and negative individuals
(Epidemiology of Microbial Diseases)

Determining the Effect Displacement Has on HIV Prevalence Among Displaced Populations, a Scoping Review
(Epidemiology of Microbial Diseases)

Cancer Treatment in Low- and Middle-Income Countries: Sociopolitical Lessons from the HIV Epidemic
(Health Policy and Management)

Scaling Up Group Prenatal Care: Lessons Learned from the Diabetes Prevention Program
(Health Policy and Management)

History of Medicine
(Health Policy and Management)

Understanding the Effects of Transformational Refugee Policy Reform on the Health of Migrant Populations
(Health Policy and Management)

Health Inequality over the Life Course between USA and China: Comparative Evidence from Machine Learning and Conventional Methods
(Health Policy and Management)

Estimating Mortality in natural disasters in low- and middle-income countries: a systematic review
(Social and Behavioral Sciences)

Sociodemographic Predictors of Participation in Group Well Child Care
(Social and Behavioral Sciences)

Beyond the Data: The State of Public Health Research and its Impact on the Sexual and Reproductive Rights of Women with Disabilities
(Social and Behavioral Sciences)

Assessing Managerial Accountability in Ethiopia's Primary Healthcare System
(Social and Behavioral Sciences)

Maternal Health and Rights in Uganda
(Social and Behavioral Sciences)
2018: Harm Reduction Strategies and the HCV Epidemic in the United States

Policy Solution to Address Breastfeeding Rate Disparities by Race

Hookworm Infection Across Age Groups in Kintampo North Municipality, Ghana: Eight Years and a Mass Drug Administration Program Later

The World Health Organization Code and Exclusive Breastfeeding in China, India, and Vietnam

Community Health Worker Perceptions of CommCare and Mobile Tablets in Kampala, Uganda

Gender Differences and Nutritional Factors in Key Body Composition Outcomes Among Young Samoans

The Right to Health and Quest for Universal Health Care

Powassan Virus Review

Challenges to Hypertension and Diabetes Care in Rural Uganda: Perspectives of Patients, Village Health Team (VHT) Members, and Healthcare Professionals. A Qualitative Study

Linking In Vitro Pneumococcal Growth Phenotypes with Serotype Invasiveness

A Review of Gender-Based Violence After Natural Disasters

Comparison of Simultaneous Capillary and Venous Parasitemia and Genotyping Results from Children and Adults with Uncomplicated Malaria: A Prospective Observational Study in Uganda

NSAID and Acetaminophen Use and Its effects on Time to Conceive

Sources of Influence on Food Intake and Nutrition during Pregnancy in Villa Guadalupe, Managua, Nicaragua

How Senegal's Legal Frameworks and Policies on Maternal-Child Health (MCH) Affect the Health, Survival, and Development of Children

Epidemiology of Human Infections with Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza A(H7N9) Virus in China