The focus of our International Health Programme is on poverty-related health problems in low and middle income countries. In order to make health services accessible to the people who need them most, there is a need in many developing countries to improve health policy, to make organization, planning and management more efficient at all levels of the delivery system, and to ensure sustainable financing. For all of this, generating reliable information through applied research is essential. The Master of Science course in International Health (MScIH) at Heidelberg University was developed with these factors in mind.
The overall aim of the program is to provide students with a solid foundation in international public health principles and with competency in using the tools and methods necessary to initiate and run programs that improve the health of poor populations in an efficient, sustainable and equitable way.
The MScIH is a modular programme consisting of three parts, each accounting for 20 ECTS (= European Credit Transfer System): •Core Course -providing a basic overview on essential topics in International Health •Advanced Modules -offering more in-depth learning on selected topics •Thesis -allowing for guided individual research work with a personally flexible choice. The MScIH programme can be completed in a one-year Residential Track (full-time), with a fixed set of Advanced Modules taken at Heidelberg, or from one to five years in the European Track (tropEd: the European Network for Higher Education in International Health), allowing for part-time studies and an individual choice of Advanced Modules offered within the tropEd network. Before entering the programme, the candidate must decide which track to follow.
Core Course: The Core Course is taken by all students. It introduces the student to the vast field of International Health and aims at providing the student with a solid foundation.
Learning Objectives Core Courses: After the completion of the core course, students should be able to • Critically collect, analyse and appraise qualitative and quantitative data relevant for the improvement of health and health care in low and middle income societies. • Identify and analyse interrelated determinants of health and major health problems of populations in a cross-disciplinary perspective in low- and middle income societies. • Plan sustainable improvements of health systems considering the diverse intercultural settings as well as social and ethical responsibilities. • Clearly communicate and work professionally in a multi-disciplinary team Residential track: After successful completion of the core course, residential track students immediately enter a fixed set of Advanced Modules (six compulsory modules and one elective): Compulsory Modules • Reproductive Health Services and HIV/AIDS – New Evidence and Strategy • Disease Control: Policies and Strategies • Proposal Writing Targeting International Donors • Advanced Research Methods in International Health • Improving the Quality of Healthcare Services • Leadership and Change Management
Plus one of the following modules: • Financing Health Care – Principles of Insurance • Medical Anthropology as a Tool for Public Health • Evaluation of Health Programmes and Projects European Track( tropEd)
European track students select a number of advanced modules, which may be taken at various partner institutions and in total are equivalent to at least 20 ECTS (about 4 months of full-time study). To comply to tropEd rules, from these 20 ECTS • a maximum of 5 ECTS may be gained at Heidelberg • a maximum of 5 ECTS may be gained by distance learning • a minimum of 10 ECTS have to be gained outside of Germany. This attribute of the programme provides students with extensive exposure to other students and researchers in the field of IH, the possibility to study at renowned institutions worldwide and facilitates future networking. The advanced modules are individually selected by participants based on their interests and needs. The choice is tutored and guided by the MScIH management team. The thesis is done with Heidelberg.

Full time: EUR 14.095; Part time: Core course, thesis and final exam EUR 7.863 + fees for advanced modules at tropEd partner institutions (average total cost ca. EUR 6.000; different fees for modules apply within the network)

Contact University of Heidelberg Department of Tropical Hygiene and Public Health Teaching Unit Im Neuenheimer Feld 324 D-69120 Heidelberg, Germany
MScIH Administration & Registration:
Sandra Dannenberg
Tel: +49 (0)6221 5649 05
Fax: +49 (0)6221 5649 18
Email: MSc_IH@uni-heidelberg.de
Internet: Click here or here

At the end of the course the participants will
1. have demonstrated a solid understanding of the impact of culturally constructed ideas on concepts of health and illness in different social settings
Specific objectives:
1.1. locate the impact of cosmology on ideas of health and illness
1.2. examine how different concepts of the body lead to a different evaluation of health care measurements
1.3. employ the impact of gender, hierarchy and class on health care matters
1.4. define the cultural matrix of ritual healing
1.5. recognise biomedicine as a cultural system

2. be able to use ethnographic methods in order to identify culturally constructed ideas on health, illness and the body
Specific objectives:
2.1. Conduct structured and semi structured interviews and abstract different culturally informed explanatory models (EM) of health and illness.
2.2. Collect illness narratives
2.3. Combine qualitative methods (ethnography) with quantitative methods.

3. know how to apply the collected data and information to gain a better understanding of specific health care problems and apply the results in health care management issues
Specific objectives:
3.1. Define the relationship between culturally informed explanatory models and health seeking behaviour and define strategies for a better health care management
3.2. Utilise information on illness beliefs and concepts of the body to contextualise health care problems and apply them in practice.

Content:

• Medical Anthropology and Public Health
• Medical systems as cultural systems
• The body as a cultural construct
• Explanatory models and health seeking behaviour
• Methods in Medical Anthropology: combining qualitative and quantitative methods
• Medical pluralism
• Indigenous and traditional medicine; patients and healers; health and cosmology, ritual and religious healing
• STDs and HIV/AIDS culturally contextualised

The course uses ethnographic case studies from the field of Medical Anthropology in order to create an understanding of culturally constructed concepts of illness and disease. Drawing on a range of sources from different countries, including Europe, the manifold connections between culture and health are explored. On the basis of these case studies the methods of Medical Anthropology are explained and their usefulness and applicability for health care issues are demonstrated.

Natascha Petersen Programme Manager Short Courses in International Health Department of Tropical Hygiene and Public Health
Tel: +49 (0)6221 56 50 48
Fax: +49 (0)6221 56 49 18
E-mail: petersen@uni-hd.de
Internet: http://www.klinikum.uni-heidelberg.de/MedAnthro.107501.0.html

After successful completion of the course, participants should be able to:

• Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of the principles of improving and assuring quality in health care systems and services globally and locally
• Describe a global overview of quality management activities in different regions of the world with different stakeholders
• Understand trends of quality promotion and evaluation models in Europe and critically analyse their transferability
• Describe the basic principles and processes for evaluating health services’ quality including accreditation, certification and licensing
• Describe key aspects of implementing quality management within an organization or in a national health system including strategic management of change
• Apply relevant theories and tools to an identified quality issue within a specific area.

Natascha Petersen Programme Manager Short Courses in International Health Department of Tropical Hygiene and Public Health
Tel: +49 (0)6221 56 50 48
Fax: +49 (0)6221 56 49 18
E-mail: petersen@uni-hd.de
Internet: http://www.klinikum.uni-heidelberg.de/QualManagement.8021.0.html

Tel: +49 (0)6221 56 70 65
Fax: +49 (0)6221 56 49 18
E-mail: Natascha.Petersen@URZ.Uni-Heidelberg.de
Internet: http://www.klinikum.uni-heidelberg.de/UnstablePop.8020.0.html

• Identify the internal and external drivers of change for health care organizations,
• Assess organizational barriers to change, and
• Plan and implement organizational change strategies, while ensuring essential services are maintained.

Natascha Petersen Programme Manager Short Courses in International Health Department of Tropical Hygiene and Public Health
Tel: +49 (0)6221 56 50 48
Fax: +49 (0)6221 56 49 18
E-mail: petersen@uni-hd.de
Internet: http://www.klinikum.uni-heidelberg.de/Leadership-and-Change-Management.9185.0.html

• The course begins with the history of reproductive health along its historical development.
• It includes an overview on the concept of sexual and reproductive health and the changes and adaptations it has undergone from Cairo to the Millennium Development Goals and their impact on the international development agenda in sexual and reproductive health.
• This is followed by the implemental issues related to safe motherhood, family planning and STI program in developing countries.
• The particular focus will be given to operational strategy of VCT, PMTCT and ART services.
• The core of the course is devoted to methods for improving and managing reproductive health in the health system with a particular focus on appropriate indicators, planning process and service provision. Considerable attention is also given to the role of PMTCT and ART in relation to SRH.

Natascha Petersen Programme Manager Short Courses in International Health Department of Tropical Hygiene and Public Health
Tel: +49 (0)6221 56 50 48
Fax: +49 (0)6221 56 49 18
E-mail: petersen@uni-hd.de
Internet: ttp://www.klinikum.uni-heidelberg.de/ReproHealth.108374.0.html

• die Ursachen und Auswirkungen von HIV/AIDS auf das Individuum, die lokale Gemeinschaft und spezifische Zielgruppen in ihrem Arbeitsumfeld sowie die Gesellschaft insgesamt analysieren,
• die spezifische Vulnerabilität von verschiedenen Gruppen der Gesellschaft erkennen,
• unterschiedliche Zielgruppen bei der Entwicklung von sinnvollen, effizienten und nachhaltigen Antworten unterstützen.

Spezifische Lernziele zu: HIV/AIDS – Kontrolle in der Entwicklungszusammenarbeit:

• Elemente eines Projektantrages in HIV/AIDS formulieren,
• internationale Informationsquellen systematisch erschließen,
• die Bedeutung der multisektoralen AIDS Kontrolle erläutern,
• die internationalen Mechanismen der Zusammenarbeit und Förderung erläutern.

Dr. Florian Neuhann
Email: EH.Kurs@URZ.Uni-Heidelberg.de

Hilde Gold-Feuchtmüller
Abteilung Tropenhygiene und Öffentliches Gesundheitswesen
EH-Kurs
Im Neuenheimer Feld 324
D-69120 Heidelberg
Tel: +49 (0)6221 56 29 04
Fax: +49 (0)6221 56 49 18
Email: EH.Kurs@URZ.Uni-Heidelberg.de
Internet: http://www.klinikum.uni-heidelberg.de/Multisektorale-Arbeit-in-HIV-AIDS.9212.0.html

Erfolgreiche Teilnehmer können nach Abschluß:
- An der Entwicklung von Gesundheitssystemen und der Organisation von Gesundheitsdiensten bewusst und gezielt mitwirken.
- An der lokalen Anpassung des Gesundheitsdienstsystems bewusst und gezielt mitwirken.
- An der Entwicklung und Durchführung von Präventionsprogrammen bewusst und gezielt mitwirken.
- Zur effizienten Kontrolle Endemischer Erkrankungen unter erschwerten Bedingungen bewusst und gezielt beitragen.
- Als Erwachsene effizient lernen (und lehren).

Der 5 wöchige Kurs findet zweimal pro Jahr (Februar/März und August/September) statt:
2009:
10 August - 11 September 2009
2010
8 Februar - 12 März 2010
16 August - 17 September 2010

Hilde Gold-Feuchtmüller
EH-Kurs
Tel: +49 (0)6221 56 29 04
Fax: +49 (0)6221 56 49 18
Email: EH.Kurs@URZ.Uni-Heidelberg.de
Internet: http://www.klinikum.uni-heidelberg.de/Entwicklungshelferkurse.7086.0.html
or Click here

Content Overview:

• The historical evolution of the Evaluation of Health Projects and Programmes in the respective country
• The landscape of international agencies and national actors in the health sector • Effective writing techniques
• Principles and processes of health care sector evaluation
• Basic skills of an evaluator as a team member
• Important considerations in the design of a consultancy unit
• Peer assessment of evaluation

Objectives At the end of the course the participants will be able to:

• Evaluate a health service project or programme and write an evaluation report for a Ministry of Health and a funding agency
• Describe the health care sector of the country in which the evaluation takes place
• Apply the principles of effective writing on evaluations
• Describe the basic principles and processes for the evaluation of health projects and programmes
• Explain basic skills to evaluate a project or programme as a team
• Demonstrate knowledge about the important steps to set up a consultancy unit

Natascha Petersen Programme Manager Short Courses in International Health Department of Tropical Hygiene and Public Health
Tel: +49 (0)6221 56 50 48
Fax: +49 (0)6221 56 49 18
E-mail: petersen@uni-hd.de
Internet: http://www.klinikum.uni-heidelberg.de/CS-I.107898.0.html

Content Overview

• The historical evolution of the health sector in the respective country
• The landscape of international agencies and national actors in the health sector
• Effective proposal writing techniques
• Planning methodologies and instruments
• Case studies from low income countries for the different group exercises
• Peer assessment of project proposal documents

Objectives At the end of the course the participants will be able to:

• Develop and write a project proposal targeting international donors.
• Describe the health sector of the country in which the proposal will be developed
• Describe different approaches to planning
• Define and apply the principles of effective writing of a project proposa
• Describe the principles of assessment and evaluation of proposals

This course of study covers the general concepts and principles of human rights, their relationship to, and impact within the health sector. The course will use case studies from numerous countries, with a focus on low and middle-income countries, and the experiences of those within the course, to examine the vital role of human rights within the health sector. Participants will have the opportunity to practice incorporating human rights into policies, strategies, monitoring and evaluation.

The overall objective of this module is to learn experiences and lessons learnt from different countries in the area of financing health care, which can then be applied to different contexts. In addition, discussion of cases will enable the students to develop an analytic approach to problem solving and apply theoretical knowledge to a real life context.
Content:
The course includes the following topics:
1. Options for financing health services
2. Evaluation tools for financing health services
3. Social health insurance: case studies from Germany, Thailand
4. Technical aspects of social insurance in other European countries
5. Field trip: visits to several German health insurances
6. Traditional risk sharing schemes in West Africa: classification, tasks and functions
7. Community based insurance (CBI): rationale, conepts and implementation
8. CBI case study: CBI in Burkina Faso
9. From CBI to universal coverage: re-insurance

Learning Objectives: Focusing on practical tools and methods, this course provides participants with skills to improve healthcare services in low and middle income countries. It will assist participants to adapt current quality improvement tools, methods and techniques to national and local settings with a special emphasis on managing and motivating people.
This course will enable participants to:

• Identify and strengthen linkages between health sector reforms and improving quality
• Use quality improvement concepts in managing health services
• Manage quality circles and other quality improvement groups
• Use quality improvement tools and methods in the design, management and improvement of healthcare services
• Critically analyse strengths and weaknesses of using these methods and tools in low and middle-income countries

Content: The course includes the following topics:

• Overview of quality terminology and concepts
• Health sector reforms with an emphasis on linkages between quality improvement and reforms in healthcare organisation systems & structures, policies & planning, and contracting & financing
• Developing and implementing standards, guidelines and indicators in a healthcare service
• Designing and implementing quality assessments using audit, accreditation and supervision
• Personal skills development for managing teams in improving quality
• Designing and managing quality improvement teams including quality circles, clinical guideline working groups, clinical audit, and quality improvement committees
• Quality improvement tools such as affinity analysis, flow chart, mind mapping, fish-bone diagram, force-field analysis, prioritization matrix, Gantt chart, control chart, and radar chart
• Case studies of quality improvement in low and middle-income countries

Natascha Petersen
Programme Manager
Short Courses in International Health
Tel: +49 (0)6221 56 50 48
Fax: +49 (0)6221 56 49 18
Email: petersen@uni-hd.de
Internet: http://www.klinikum.uni-heidelberg.de/ImprQuality.8057.0.html

This course aims to bridge the gap between research and practice in both directions and thus contributing to an evidence based practice in the field of International Health. First - building on basic knowledge of qualitative and quantitative research methods - the course aims to equip students with the skills to systematically assess and critically appraise existing information (literature, reports, websites, databases) to provide evidence for their own managerial decision-making, but also for communicating and translating such evidence into the process of changing and improving policy and practice. Secondly, the question on how to make research meaningful for the implementation level with a focus on poor and/or disadvantaged populations is being addressed by looking at the possibilities to influence the research agenda and to incorporate research into health planning and management at local level.

Content Overview:

• Introduction to concept of evidence based health policy and practice
• Retrieving existing information, e.g.: literature search, websites, databases, reports or guidelines
• Appraising existing information for evidence based policy and practice
• Synthesis and presentation of evidence based information
• Methods and tools that increase research relevance for practice, e.g.: involving decision–makers and communities, using effective communication strategies, action research
• International initiatives to support health research with a focus on poor/disadvantaged populations
• From research to practice: strategies to implement evidence based change & situation analysis: hindering and enhancing factors at local/national level
• Case studies (examples: Using action research to improve maternal health, Cape Verde; Acceptance of a Community based health insurance scheme, Burkina Faso; Using evidence to develop a quality management policy in NWFP Pakistan - Analytical presentation of ‘lessons learnt’ by case studies - Panel discussion (representatives of research, policy and practice level)

Objectives At the end of the course, students will be able:

• to effectively retrieve existing information on a given public health problem
• to critically analyse information as a basis for evidence
• to review and critically appraise the methods and results of existing research, and understand the implications for policy and practice;
• to synthesise research information for improving public health practice
• to reflect how social, political, environmental and economic factors act to influence health behaviour and health outcomes
• to identify stakeholders influencing health policy and practice
• to use evidence based information to work towards improving health for poor and disadvantaged populations.

Natascha Petersen
Programme Manager
Short Courses in International Health
Tel: +49 (0)6221 56 50 48
Fax: +49 (0)6221 56 49 18
Email: petersen@uni-hd.de
Internet: http://www.klinikum.uni-heidelberg.de/Advanced-RM.108378.0.html

Content Overview: The course includes the following topics
1. Physico-chemical basis of anthropogenic climate change and its dynamics;
2. Environmental impact of climate change
3. Climate-sensitive diseases
4. Health outcome linked to climate change and environmental impact
5. Methods for assessing health impact
6. Mitigation and adaptation strategies
7. Policies for mitigation and adaptation and their evaluation

Learning Objectives: Climate change has become a reality which the health community is only slowly taking into account. The potentially far-reaching adverse health effects, sometimes of irreversible nature, need to be understood by researchers, practitioners and public health institutions in order to develop and implement practices and policies to counter them. In low- and middle-income countries especially, the issues are poorly studied and understood.

The objective of this course is to provide participants with the ability to recognize the linkages between climate change and health and provide them with methods and tools to manage the impact of climate change on health. Examples will be drawn, whenever possible, from both developed and developing countries and cases studies will serve as a basis for learning.

Natascha Petersen
Programme Manager
Short Courses in International Health
Tel: +49 (0)6221 56 50 48
Fax: +49 (0)6221 56 49 18
Email: petersen@uni-hd.de
Internet: http://www.klinikum.uni-heidelberg.de/Climate-Change.9186.0.html

Contents Overview: - Building on basic knowledge of major diseases and specific experience in their control and quantitative and qualitative research methods, this course deepens the understanding of principles and strategies in disease control and equips students with the skills to successfully establish, strengthen or to systematically review disease control programmes.
- The course has a strong focus on disease control in disadvantaged populations of developing countries. Global, regional and local examples are being used to analyse strengths and weaknesses of existing policies and strategies.
- Special emphasis is placed on how to strengthen multi-disciplinary and inter-sectoral collaboration and how to involve communities and patients effectively in disease control programmes.

Topics include:

• Global and local burden of disease
• The role of major risk factors for disease and death
• Disease eradication programmes
• Principles of communicable disease control and the role of policies and health strategies
• Local examples of communicable disease control through case studies
• Principles, policies and strategies for prevention and control of chronic diseases using the example of cardiovascular diseases
• Local examples of non-communicable disease control through case studies
• New strategies in disease control using examples of successes and failures in AIDS control programmes
• Design of AIDS control model programmes in different epidemiological settings
• Health promotion as an instrument for disease control
• Integrated Management of the Sick Child Initiative (focussing on skills training)
• Financing disease control programmes in resource-poor countries

Learning Objectives: After successful completion the student will be able to:

• Explain the composition, distribution, determinants and future projections of the global and regional burden of disease
• Examine the role of surveillance in disease control
• Explain the differences between control of diseases and eradication of diseases
• Critically analyze the application of disease control principles using different strategies and approaches such as Primary Health Care, inter-sectoral collaboration, multi-disciplinary approaches & community participation
• Identify strengths and weaknesses of recent policies and developments in the control of a number of endemic and epidemic diseases
• Explore policies and developments in the eradication of selected diseases
• Critically apply new strategies for health promotion and disease control
• Analyse the role of formal and informal healthservices in disease control

February 9 - 20, 2009

Natascha Petersen
Programme Manager
Short Courses in International Health
Tel: +49 (0)6221 56 50 48
Fax: +49 (0)6221 56 49 18
Email: petersen@uni-hd.de
Internet: http://www.klinikum.uni-heidelberg.de/Disease-Control.8022.0.html

Eine erfolgreiche Planung und Durchführung medizinischer Forschungsprojekte verlangt von Biometrikern neben methodischen Kenntnissen auch umfangreiches medizinisches und bereichsübergreifendes Wissen und die Fähigkeit, diese beiden Wissenschaftsbereiche zusammenzuführen.
Weltweit besteht ein großer Bedarf an wissenschaftlich ausgebildeten Biometrikern, der insbesondere in Deutschland nicht gedeckt werden kann, weil entsprechende grundständige Ausbildungen fehlen. Auch in anderen Ländern der EU kann derzeit der Bedarf in diesem Beruf nicht gedeckt werden, jedoch bestehen in den meisten anderen EU-Ländern Ausbildungsgänge für dieses Berufsbild (meist Biostatistician genannt).

Inhalte des Studiums:

• Modul Biometrie: Biometrie I / Biometrie II / Spezialthemen der Biometrie / Versuchsplanung
• Modul Statistisches Verfahren: Allgemeine Lineare Modelle / Verallgemeinerte Lineare Modelle / Überlebenszeitanalyse / Multiplizität / Nichtparametrische Verfahren
• Modul Studien: Ethische, regulatorische und gesetzliche Anforderungen / Präklinische Studien / Klinische Studien I und Klinische Studien II / Diagnostische Studien
• Modul Datenmanagement: Datenmanagement I und Datenmanagement II
• Modul Epidemiologie: Methodische Grundlagen der Epidemiologie
• Modul Medizin: Grundlagen der Medizin / Fachgebiete der Medizin I und Fachgebiete der Medizin II / Molekulare Medizin / Methoden der klinischen Pharmakologie / Evidence Based Medicine

Der Studiengang richtet sich an Absolventen der Statistik, Medizin, Mathematik, Psychologie und anderer Studiengänge (mind. 6 sem. Bachelor) mit Vorkenntnissen in Statistik.

Herr Andreas Deckert
Tel: +49 (0)06221 56 41 49
Fax: +49 (0)6221 56 41 95
Email: deckert@imbi.uni-heidelberg.de
Internet: http://www.klinikum.uni-heidelberg.de/index.php?id=100254#c2188