Earn your BS in global health studies

The Bachelor of Science in global health studies is designed for students who desire to enter professional programs in the health sciences. The academic curriculum builds upon the humanities, social sciences, and health sciences to help students understand underlying forces—such as history, culture, gender and sexuality, economics, politics, race and ethnicity, the environment, law, and technology—which lead to health disparities worldwide.

Learning outcomes

• Apply interdisciplinary perspectives drawn from the social sciences and humanities to local and global health issues;
• Understand core areas of global health such as infectious and non-communicable diseases, maternal and child health, food sovereignty, environmental health, disability studies, and health disparities;
• Analyze health and disease from biomedical, sociocultural, and environmental perspectives;
• Understand how health issues affect domestic and international communities;
• Recognize the ethical and practical challenges involved in interventions designed to improve health and health equity across cultural and geographical boundaries.

Requirements

The BS with a major in global health studies requires a minimum of 120 semester hours, including at least 47 semester hours of coursework for the major. Students must maintain a grade-point average of at least 2.00 in all courses for the major and in all UI courses for the major. A minimum of 18 semester hours of major coursework must be earned at the University of Iowa. 

A maximum of 6 semester hours in GHS:4990 Independent Project in Global Health may be used toward the major. Students must also complete the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences GE CLAS Core requirements.

Students who earn the major in global health studies may earn the major in interdepartmental studies as long as they select an emphasis other than the global health emphasis in the health science track.