Global Health Minor

Global Health is influenced and determined by factors as diverse as gender, race, ethnicity, political priorities, social determinants of health, climate, geography, accessibility and acceptability of care and cultural and religious traditions. The Global Health Minor educates students about these factors and the inter-disciplinary response to addressing global health challenges.

The Global Health Minor is congruent with the Mission and strategic plan of the University and the Fitzpatrick College of Nursing’s goals to emphasize a curriculum with a global perspective and respect for differences among peoples and cultures  and to educate individuals for service to a diverse society including all sectors and strata of the population.

Eligibility

The Minor is open to all Villanova University undergraduate students in their sophomore, junior and senior years and is meant to expose students to a basic understanding of global health issues drawing upon the expertise that the University has to offer. 

All students who want to participate in the Global Health Minor must meet with their Academic Advisors to discuss their course of study to assure the student is able to meet all requirements. Once you and your Academic Advisor have agreed you are able to meet all requirements of the Minor, 

1. Complete the Global Health Minor Application.
2. Submit application via e-mail to the Director of the Center for Global and Public Health, Dr. Catherine Curley, at catherine.curley@villanova.edu, and she will meet with each applicant to discuss course progression.

No more than one elective transferred from another university can be applied toward the Global Health Minor. Transfer credits from a study abroad semester while a student was enrolled at Villanova University will be evaluated on a case-by-case basis. 

Minor Requirements

The minor consists of 15 credits which includes required and elective classes.  There are no specific prerequisites other than those specified for some of the elective courses.

REQUIRED: Select three (3) of the following courses to meet the minor requirements. Each course is 3 credits. 

Elective Courses: 2 courses (3 credits each)

Elective courses come from a range of disciplines across the University.  Students may choose any 2 courses from the Approved List. The 2 courses may not come from the same department. Students are encouraged to tailor the elective courses toward their professional interests and goals. Electives require approval of the Global Health Minor Director.

In addition, a student may choose to do a guided study (3 credits), in lieu of one of the elective credits and work with a designated populations domestically or internationally.  Students are encouraged to pursue a study in their professional field.

It is the student’s responsibility to develop an independent study in collaboration with an advisor who will guide their study. The experience must be approved by the Global Health Minor Director  before it commences.  Students may use projects they are already working on in their field of study as long as it addresses a global health issue and is pre-approved by the minor’s advisor.

Independent Study Requirements

All independent studies require the following:

1. Written set of objectives before the experience commences done in collaboration with and approved by their advisor and Center Director  for the experience.
2. A demonstrated outcome of the experience is expected and is determined by the Director and advisor. Presentations may be a written paper, a document for publication, a presentation to fellow students & faculty, or a poster at an conference. Students are encouraged to be creative in their presentation. The presentation must include objectives and statement of problem, population(s) affected, intervention, outcomes, challenges, and other relevant information.   
3. An experience that entails a minimum of 40 hours working on the project.
   
4. An academic advisor who will oversee the student and provide guidance. This advisor should be a faculty member who can most appropriately guide the student in their course of study.  The advisor must approve the project and the style of presentation before the experience commences. The advisor does not need to be the Global Health Minor director
5. Preapproval by the Global Health Minor Director.

The experience may be:

1. Full-time academic study abroad program, internship, volunteer service experience.
2. Local, national or international in nature.
3. Research, clinical, or practice based.

The student must register for an independent study to receive credit. For example:

• NUR 7087 Field Study in International Nursing or NUR 4902 Guided Study in Nursing.
• Independent study within the student's academic department.