Interdisciplinary master's program in global health and pandemic control

07.04.2022 11:39

With the new master's degree program Global Health M.Sc. In the future, the Akkon University of Human Sciences will train experts for medical and health policy issues in an international context. The interdisciplinary Master's program Global Health M.Sc. is based on the third goal of the 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, which is to enable everyone around the world to live a healthy life. The course was developed at the Chair of Global Health and Development Cooperation under the direction of Prof. Dr. med. Dr. PH Timo Ulrichs in collaboration with the Institute for Global Health Berlin (IGGB).

Previously, the Akkon University's cooperation with the think tank in Berlin and in collaboration with numerous international experts in global health resulted in the first German-language non-fiction and textbook "Global Health", which was published by De Gruyter in 2021.

The coronavirus has brought the need to analyze and combat health policy issues in an international context and, at best, completely prevent pandemics, to the focus of our attention. But diseases that have long since become chronic worldwide, such as AIDS, tuberculosis and hepatitis, are still spreading globally at pandemic levels. In addition, wars, climate changes, natural disasters and humanitarian crises affect the health of people worldwide. Therefore, the complex political, societal, social and medical developments and effects of an increasingly globalized world on health are the focus of the new master's degree program at the Johanniter-Unfall-Hilfe University

Prof. Dr. med. Dr. PH Timo Ulrichs, Vice President of the Akkon University of Human Sciences and Head of the Global Health M.Sc. program:

“Global health cannot be achieved with purely human medical approaches. Rather, strengthening the health of the entire world population also depends on successful cooperation in various sectors such as the environment, nutrition, development and economy. The so-called One Health approach promotes interdisciplinary collaboration between human medicine, veterinary medicine and environmental sciences. But we go even further in our interdisciplinary master’s curriculum and also include social, political and economic approaches.”

Dr. med. Mathias Bonk M.Sc., Chairman of the Institute for Global Health Berlin (IGGB):

“Global health in our polylateral world requires, above all, an interdisciplinary overview of theory and practice. Graduates of the Master's program Global Health M.Sc. At Akkon University, the holistic curriculum prepares you optimally for the complex tasks in this demanding field of activity and therefore has particularly good prospects for a career in the field of global health.”

The new master's degree program at the Akkon University of Human Sciences is full-time over four semesters and is designed in German. Due to the practical block teaching model at the Johanniter University, the master's program is also particularly suitable as part-time further training. The teaching model, which also enables students to participate in the courses digitally, also makes the master's program attractive for those interested from other federal states or abroad.

Experts in the field of global health are already in high demand on the job market. With the interdisciplinary master's degree, graduates can, for example, pursue career paths in international organizations and institutions, with health care authorities and ministries at home and abroad, with non-governmental organizations (NGOs) but also in commercial companies or research institutions. The Global Health M.Sc. degree program under the direction of Prof. Dr. Dr. Timo Ulrichs will be offered for the first time at the start of the winter semester in October 2022. Applications are already possible for the study places, which are allocated on an ongoing basis after the admission requirements have been checked.

Further information and study advice

Those interested can find more information on the Akkon University website https://www.akkon-hochschule.de/master/global-health-m-sc.

Ms. Linda Platzek is available at the student advisory service via email linda.platzek@akkon-hochschule or at +49 30 809 2332-21 for questions and individual consultations.