GWSPH Summer Institute
GWSPH Summer Institute
Enroll now in the 2024 Milken Institute School of Public Health Summer Institute and empower yourself to shape a healthier tomorrow. The classes for the 2024 schedule will be held online from June 3-14, 2024.
Experience a unique blend of graduate-level short courses designed to address critical and contemporary public health issues. This immersive five-day program, taught by esteemed public health researcher experts and practitioners at the forefront of public health research and practice, offers an unmatched opportunity to gain practical expertise, refine your analytical skills, network with like-minded global professionals, and broaden your understanding of pressing health challenges.
Our flexible learning format ensures that you can participate in these engaging courses from anywhere in the world. Delve into key topics and cutting-edge approaches that will empower you to contribute effectively to the global public health landscape. With a curriculum crafted to accommodate the busy schedules of international professionals, you can access valuable insights without interrupting your career.
Below are the courses being offered in Summer 2024 online!
June 3 - 7, 2024
8:30 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.
PUBH 6420 Understanding Commercial Determinants of Health, 1 credit
Instructors: Nino Paichadze (Primary and contact) and Adnan A. Hyder
Prerequisites: None
The goal of this course is to explore the relatively new concept of commercial determinants of health, their drivers and channels and focus on conceptual understanding and frameworks for commercial determinants as key to improving public health. This course will allow participants to explore the concept, appreciate how commercial determinants impact global health, analyze them by applying conceptual frameworks and discuss effective approaches for addressing them.
PUBH 6699 Topic in Life Cycle Nutrition, 1 credit
Instructor: Karina Lora
Prerequisites: BISC 1005 The Biology of Nutrition and Health or an introductory course on biology of human nutrition
This course covers nutrition correlates of normal growth and development of pregnancy, breastfeeding, childhood, and adulthood. Sociological and environmental factors affecting life stages are also covered.
June 3 - 7, 2024
1:00 p.m. - 4:30 p.m.
PUBH 6421 Responsible Conduct of Research, 1 credit
Instructors: Paul Ndebele (Primary and contact) and Adnan A. Hyder
Prerequisites: None
The main goal of this course is to increase participants’ awareness about responsible conduct of research including strategies for preventing irresponsible research practices inclusive of unacceptable research practices as well as research misconduct. The course meets the requirement for individuals engaged in NIH and NSF funded research and focuses on a conceptual understanding of responsible conduct of research as key to human and societal development.
June 10-14, 2024
8:30 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.
PUBH 6299 Reproductive Epidemiology, 1 credit
Instructor: Heather Young
Prerequisites: PUBH 6003 or introductory epidemiology course
This course focuses on current research, controversial issues, and methodological problems in the epidemiology of perinatal health including complications of pregnancy, adverse pregnancy outcomes, infections in pregnancy, and adverse birth outcomes.
PUBH 6399 Lessons Learned From Latin American Social Medicine for the US Health System, 1 credit
Instructors: Jonatan Konfino
Prerequisites: None
This course will provide you with an in-depth analysis of the Latin American Social Medicine and Collective Health (LASM-CH) ‘Social determination of the health-disease process’ approach and the lessons that could be learned for the US health system. The LASM-CH “SDOH-disease process” is proposed as an alternative approach to the well-known WHO Commission on Social Determinants of Health approach (CSDH), strongly influenced by European Social Medicine. We will discuss the concept of “structural violence” as a deep root of health inequities. The course will focus on exemplar Latin American health experiences that could be adopted and/or adapted to the US health system.
PUBH 6422 Injury and Global Public Health, 1 credit
Instructors: Katherine Douglass and Nino Paichadze
Prerequisites: None
Injury is a complex issue that involves competing interests between the need for economic development in communities and the health and safety of populations. This course will provide a snapshot of different injury topics, both domestic and international, through a public health lens. We will explore different public health aspects of injury, including surveillance, evaluation strategies, and policy implications.
PUBH 6499 Accountability and Ethics in Humanitarian and Disaster Setting, 1 credit
Instructor: Ramin Asgary
Prerequisites: None
This course examines the practice and practical implications of humanitarian ethics and accountability. It aims to provide a general background on accountability in aid, an insight onto underlying challenges and positive and negative impacts of accountability processes through the lens of organizational and social ethics, an overview of quality assessment and standard setting in humanitarian practice and disaster response, a discussion of major ethical challenges in aid operations, a discussion of tripartite accountability processes and exploration of more feasible ways to strengthen them.
June 10-14, 2024
1:00 p.m. - 4:30 p.m.
PUBH 6299 Perinatal Epidemiology, 1 credit
Instructor: Heather Young
Prerequisites: PUBH 6003 or introductory epidemiology course
This course focuses on current research, controversial issues, and methodological problems in the epidemiology of reproductive health including conception, infertility, reproductive health care, puberty, and reproductive senescence.
PUBH 6423 Ethics in Public Health Practice and Policy, 1 credit
Instructors: Paul Ndebele (Primary and contact) and Adnan A Hyder
Prerequisites: None
The main goal of this course is to increase participants’ awareness about public health ethics. The course provides training on the basics of public health ethics and the process of ethical analysis and describes tools and resources for addressing ethical challenges that commonly arise in the practice of public health. It also explores the complementary nature of public health law and public health ethics, reviews approaches to implementing public health ethics, and presents case studies to illustrate the steps of applying an ethical analysis to real-life case scenarios.
PUBH 6499 Preparation and Response to Epidemic, Pandemic, Mass Health Emergencies and Disasters, 1 credit
Instructor: Ramin Asgary
Prerequisites: None
This course will introduce students to crucial elements of detection, prevention, and response to the epidemics, pandemics, and other mass health emergencies from both national and international/global perspectives. It will cover not only the theoretical and practical aspects of an effective public health response but also logistical, management, and organizational learnings and best practices needed to successfully work within the spectrum of health and social systems.
Adnan Hyder, MD MPH PhD
Director GWSPH Summer Institute
Professor and Senior Associate Dean for Research & Innovation
Professor of Global Health
Nino Paichadze
Associate Director GWSPH Summer Institute
Assistant Research Professor
Department of Global Health
Karina R. Lora
Assistant Professor & Director of Public
Health Nutrition MPH Program,
Department of Exercise and Nutrition
Sciences
Paul Ndebele
Professorial Lecturer & Assistant Director
Office of Research Excellence, Department of
Global Health
Heather Young
Professor and Vice Chair
Department of Epidemiology
Katherine Douglass
Associate Professor,
Emergency Medicine
Department of Global Health
Ramin Asgary
Professor & Director of Humanitarian
Health MPH Program,
Department of Global Health
Jonatan Konfino
Universidad Nacional Arturo
Jauretche and Ministry of Health of
Buenos Aires Province
Non-GW/Non-degree Students
To register for an online Summer Institute course as a non-degree student, please complete registration information at the link below.
Full payment is required at the time of registration. Once registration and payment has been received, you will receive additional information from the summer institute representative with additional information about your GW profile and other course information.
Current GW Students
If you are a current GW student enrolled in a degree or certificate program, please register through Banner just as you would for regular-term courses.
Current GW Staff
If you are a GW staff member and would like to register for any of these courses, please register through Banner just as you would for a regular-term course. Then, follow the instructions for obtaining tuition remission benefits here.
How can I get confirmation of completing a course?
Upon successfully completing a course, the course instructor will award students a certificate of completion. If requested, the University Registrar's office can also confirm course completion. However, individuals who register for the course but do not attend the full course or fail to meet all requirements will not receive credit. As a result, they will be considered ineligible for confirmation of attendance or transcripts.
Can I receive tuition reimbursement/scholarship funding if I’m a GW faculty member, staff, or student?
GW employees eligible for tuition remission may apply this benefit to these courses. Other student scholarship funding is not available for GWSPH Summer Institute classes.
What is the tuition rate?
Students who opt to take one or more of the GWSPH Summer Institute courses for one credit will be charged at the regular tuition rate. GWSH 2024 tuition rate is $1,835 per credit.
Other professionals may enroll in these courses for zero credit option at 50% of the rate per credit, which is $917.50 for each course in 2024.
Are there prerequisite requirements I have to fulfill to be eligible to take these courses?
Most classes offered in the Summer Institute do not have prerequisites and can be taken regardless of other coursework. Please check the course descriptions on the overview page.
Will these courses be graded?
Students who select the one-credit option will be graded based on the grading scale outlined in the syllabus.
Students who choose the zero-credit option will not receive a letter grade, but they must fulfill all course requirements to obtain confirmation of completion.
Where will classes be held?
All 2024 Summer Institute classes will be held entirely online.
What are expectations of students?
These courses are offered at the level expected of graduate education. Students will be expected to fulfill all requirements. Workload includes:
- Participation in all class activities, discussions, assignments
- Pre-class reading assignments to be prepared for first day of class
- Reading assignments for each session
- Independent and/or group work assignments most evenings; may include preparation for quizzes
- Submission of a final paper one week after class has ended
What is your refund and cancellation policy?
Courses dropped prior to the start of the semester (before the first day of classes) will have 100% of the tuition charges canceled.
Will my institution accept this course for credit?
Students are responsible for ensuring that their respective institutions for higher education will accept this course for credit. GWSPH is unable to confirm that determination for other institutions. If you are in a GWSPH program or other GW program please confirm with your program director, in advance, that any course you enroll in will be accepted as an elective credit to your program.
If I am interested in a degree program at the Milken Institute School of Public Health, where do I get more information?
The GW School of Public Health has an array of degree programs that may interest you. Please learn about these programs on our website by following this link.