The Global Health Certificate requires the completion of 16 credits of approved courses. Approved courses are those which relate to global or immigrant health. Below is a list of previously offered courses at UCLA that satisfy the criteria. If there is a course you wish to take for credit towards the certificate that is not on this list, email globalhealth@ph.ucla.edu with the syllabus and request a review of the course material.

UCLA offers a wide range of courses on global and immigrant health issues for public health, nursing, dental and medical students as well as any students with an interest in global and/or immigrant health. Many of these courses are offered through the School of Public Health, with an additional selection from departments such as Urban Planning, Sociology, Biology, Nursing and Law, among others. For a listing of the days and times that a course is offered during a specific quarter, or to verify the course units and description, please consult the UCLA Schedule of Classes. 

 

Approved Courses for the Global Health Certificate:

The following courses are those that have been offered in the two most recent academic years: 

 

Community Health Sciences Department

COM HLT 132. Health, Disease, and Health Services in Latin America (4 units, Fall)

Introduction to health, disease, and health services in Latin America, with emphasis on epidemiology, health administration, medical anthropology, and nutrition.

COM HLT 205. Immigrant Health (4 units, Winter)

Overview of key topics in public health for documented and undocumented immigrants and refugees in U.S. Demographics, health status, behavioral risk factors, and social determinants, health and human rights, and access to healthcare and prevention services. Analysis of public policy across topics. Builds skills necessary to develop integrated approach to health of immigrant populations.

COM HLT 207. Global Health Problems (4 units)

Overview of health profile of world in 20th century. Global health problems and methods by which they have been dealt in context of Alma Ata goal of health for all by year 2000.

COM HLT 224. Social Determinants of Nutrition and Health (4 units, Fall)

Course provides an overview of the literature supporting the relationships among socioeconomic disadvantage, food insecurity and food-related health conditions such as obesity, diabetes, and osteoporosis. Critically examines plausible pathways from the perspectives of multi-disciplines such as agriculture, economics, nutrition, planning & policy, and sociology.

COM HLT 226. Women's Health and Well-Being (4 units, Winter)

Interdisciplinary perspective critically examining research on women's health. Overview of scientific inquiry and methods; gender roles; status attainment and medical sociology. Review of current data on women's health.

COM HLT 229. Policy and Public Health Approaches to Violence Prevention (4 units, Spring)

Examination of violence as a public health issues in the United States (U.S.) and across the globe. Course covers a range of topics, including definitions and characteristics of various forms of violence; prevalence, determinants and health outcomes/correlates of violence; violence-related policy and advocacy initiatives and violence prevention efforts (including education, behavior change, gender-transformative, and restorative justice approaches).

COM HLT 231. Maternal and Child Nutrition (4 units, Winter)

Nutrition of mothers, infants, and children in countries at various levels of socioeconomic development; measures for prevention and treatment of protein/calorie malnutrition; relationship between nutrition and mental development; impact of ecological, socioeconomic, and cultural factors on nutrition, nutrition education, and service.

COM HLT M232. Determinants of Health (4 units)

Designed for graduate students. Critical analysis of models for what determines health and evidence for social, economic, environmental, genetic, health system, and other factors that influence health of populations and defined subgroups.

COM HLT 233. Hunger and Food Insecurity as Public Health Issues (4 units)

Public health aspects of hunger and food insecurity in historical and international perspectives, including measurement and identification of vulnerability, prevention, and options for relieving acute food shortage.

COM HLT 240. Child and Reproductive Health in Communities: Global Environmental Perspective (4 units, Spring)

Examination of global issues of child and reproductive health in relation to environmental factors in interplay with socioeconomic and biological factors. Discussion of impacts of qualitatively different, and potentially modifiable, factors such as access to safe water or urbanization, as well as environmental contribution to high-burden outcomes in childhood and reproduction. Focus on lower income settings and discussion of relevant population-based approaches to assessment and intervention.

COM HLT 246. Women's Roles and Family Health (4 units, Spring)

Rapidly changing roles of women throughout world are having important effects on women's own health and that of their families. Analysis of multidisciplinary research from both developing and industrialized countries to provide basis for in-depth discussion of programmatic and policy implications.

COM HLT 247. Population Change and Public Policy (4 units, Spring)

Examination of international population change, population-related policies, and public health implications of demographic processes.

COM HLT M250. HIV/AIDS and Culture in Latin America (4 units, Spring)

(Same as LATIN AM M262) Exploration of cultural, political, and public health context for people living with and at risk for HIV/AIDS and their families in Latin America. Public health aspects, including epidemiology, comorbidity concerns and community interventions, medical anthropological study of experience of those impacted, and grass-roots responses, as well as political/economic context addressing poverty and structural violence.

COM HLT 254. Intentional Disasters: War and Refugees (2 units, Spring)

Previous international experience strongly encouraged. Overview of intentional disasters, with focus on technically underdeveloped areas and consequent population migration. Principal focus on health consequences of these events and strategies to address health issues.

COM HLT 257. Program Planning in Community Disaster Preparedness (4 units)

Health education and emergency management principles combined to design, plan, implement, and evaluate community disaster preparedness programs, including needs assessment, identification of target population, objective writing, program planning, and process, outcome, and impact evaluation.

COM HLT 258. Cooperative Interagency Management in Disasters (4 units, Spring)

Educates public health, public policy, and medical providers about the laws, techniques, and standards for government and non-government organizations' interaction during health emergencies and disaster events. 

COM HLT M260. Health and Culture in Americas (4 units, Winter)

Health issues throughout the Americas, especially indigenous/Mestizo Latin American populations. Holistic approach covering politics, economics, history, geography, human rights, maternal/child health, culture.

COM HLT M264. Latin America: Traditional Medicine, Shamanism, and Folk Illness (4 units, Spring)

Examination of role of traditional medicine and shamanism in Latin America and exploration of how indigenous and mestizo groups diagnose and treat folk illness and Western-defined diseases with a variety of health-seeking methods. Examination of art, music, and ritual and case examples of religion and healing practices via lecture, film, and audiotape.

COM HLT M294. Social and Behavioral Factors of HIV/AIDS: Global Perspective (4 units)

(Same as Psychiatry M288.) Overview of social and behavioral factors that influence both transmission and prevention of HIV/AIDS throughout world.

COM HLT 295. Overview of Emergency Public Health (4 units)

Overview of issues involved in disaster preparedness and response for public health agencies. Introduction to theoretical and practice aspects of field of emergency public health. Examination of disaster cycle and various natural and human-induced hazards from public health perspective.

COM HLT 296. Advanced Research Topics in Community Health Sciences (2 to 4 units, Fall)

Advanced study and analysis of current topics in community health sciences. Discussion of current research and literature in research specialty of faculty member teaching course.

COM HLT 427. Reproductive Health in Sub-Saharan Africa (4 units, Winter)

In-depth understanding of reproductive health challenges facing sub-Saharan Africa and main programs designed to address them. Topics include family planning, STIs, abortion, adolescents, HIV/AIDS, and refugees.

COM HLT 434A. Maternal and Child Health in Developing Areas (4 units)

Major health problems of mothers and children in developing areas, stressing causation, management, and prevention. Particular reference to adapting programs to limited resources in cross-cultural milieux.

COM HLT 440. Public Health and National Security at U.S.-Mexico Border (4 units, Fall)

Exploration of community and environmental health and health services issues that are present along U.S.-Mexico and coastal California borders. Integrated within public health framework are issues and mitigation of national security and disaster/terrorist risks and hazards.

COM HLT 441. Planning and Evaluation of Global Health Programs (4 units)

Theory, guidelines, and team exercise for planning community health/family planning projects in U.S. and in developing countries. Phases include community needs identification; goal setting; budget and work plan development; funding; staffing; evaluation design; data and cost analysis; and project presentation.

COM HLT 446. Nutrition Education and Training: Third World Considerations (4 units)

Problems and priorities in nutrition education and training for families and health workers in Third World countries, including new concepts in primary healthcare services, mass media, communications, and governmental and international interventions.

COM HLT 447. Health and Social Context in Middle East (4 units)

Current health issues and problems of countries in Middle East and implications for socioeconomic development. Review of economic, demographic, and cultural variation of region to provide background for discussion of trends and patterns of health and nutritional status of population in area.

COM HLT 448. Nutrition Policies and Programs: Domestic and International Perspectives (4 units, Spring)

Nutrition programs and policies in the U.S. and developing countries compared and contrasted. Analysis of role of major international, governmental, and nongovernmental agencies. Emphasis on meeting needs of vulnerable populations.

COM HLT 470. Improving Worker Health, Social Movements, Policy Debates, and Public Health (4 units, Fall)

This course introduces students to the field of occupational health and safety as part of the larger public health and social justice arenas. The course also examines current policy debates within the field and considers innovative interventions for promoting the safety, health, and wellbeing of workers and their communities.

COM HLT 451. Post-Disaster Community Health (4 units)

Examination of how public health research and practices can be combined to address post-disaster community health needs. Identification of disaster-related health problems, data collection strategies, and service delivery approaches in post-disaster environment.

COM HLT 452. Management of Food and Nutrition in Major Emergencies (4 units)

Designed for second-year master's or doctoral students interested in humanitarian relief. Basic principles required to design rational and cost-effective food and nutrition emergency relief approaches and programs.

COM HLT 484. Risk Communications (4 units, Spring)

Risk communication theory, research, and practice, including social and psychological bases of population risk perceptions, media theories, and how risk is portrayed in media. Environmental, product safety, food-borne and infectious diseases, disasters, and bioterrorism communications.

 

Epidemiology Department

EPI 220. Principles of Infectious Disease Epidemiology (4 units, Winter)

Ascertainment of infection, transmission, and epidemiological parameters rather than clinical and pathological aspects. Specific diseases discussed in depth to illustrate epidemiologic principles.

EPI 221. Emerging Infectious Diseases (4 units, Spring)

Overview of important emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases globally. Addresses factors associated with disease emergence/re-emergence, research methods, preparedness, disease surveillance, outbreak investigation, and response to EIDs with global perspective. 

EPI M226. Global Health Measures for Biological Emergencies (4 units)

(Same as Ecology and Evolutionary Biology M226.) Mitigation of bioterrorism falls outside traditional public health programs and public health graduate education. Because of seriousness of such threats, it is important that individuals trained in public health understand problems and responses

EPI 227. HIV/AIDS: Methods of Prevention, Treatment, and Cure (4 units, Spring)

Presentation of epidemiologic, biologic, psychological, and clinical characteristics of AIDS and HIV-1 infection. Discussion of policy implications and intervention strategies.

EPI 231. Principles of Control of Infectious Diseases (4 units, Winter)

A comprehensive study of the tools for the control of infectious diseases and the application of these tools in public health programs to achieve an epidemiologic impact on disease reduction, elimination, or eradication.

EPI 232. Methods of Research in Marginalized and Hidden Populations (2 units, Fall)

Introduction to a range of different methodologies used to collect data and conduct analysis on reproductive epidemiology topics, including methods that produce quantitative data and methods that produce qualitative data, with emphasis on use of methods appropriate for challenging and sensitive research topics such as sexual behavior, abortion use, and sexual abuse.

EPI M254. Nutritional Epidemiology I (4 units, Fall)

(Same as COM HLT M251) Review of all aspects of contemporary nutrition sciences that require application of epidemiologic principles and methods, ranging from food-borne outbreak investigation to evidence-based regulatory assessment of health claims for foods. Experience in actual world of collecting, analyzing, and interpreting data related to nutrition and health or disease outcomes.

EPI 266. Global Health and Tropical Medicine (4 units)

Introduction to tropical diseases and global health. How humanitarian health issues, maternal-child health, research in tropics, World Health Organizations, and political/medical constraints all are related with respect to health on worldwide scale.

EPI M273. Responsible Conduct of Research in Global Health (2 units)

(Same as Public Health M273.) Introduction to fundamental principles of public health ethics, current ethical procedures, guidelines, and requirements, and ethical issues facing public health professionals working in developing countries. History of public health issues, unique ethical issues of research in developing countries, analysis of ethical implications of informed consent, responsibility to study community, mechanisms of study approval, role of funders, and role and responsibilities of review boards.

EPI 274. Advanced Epidemiologic Methods for Global Health (2 units)

Study provides global health researchers and epidemiologists with methods that enable access to and utilization of existing data; new methods for collection of new data; and advanced methods for statistical analyses focusing on existing sources of data, surveys, data sharing, and advanced statistical and epidemiologic methods in global health.

EPI 293. International HIV/AIDS Seminar (2 units, Fall/Spring)

Ongoing discussion of worldwide pandemic of HIV/AIDS, with emphasis on problems of surveillance, reporting, and intervention. Discussion of recent literature. Presentations by fellows from other countries.

EPI 412. Public Health Surveillance (2 units)

Overview of public health surveillance methodology, including (1) design, implementation, and evaluation of surveillance systems, (2) analysis and interpretation of surveillance data, and (3) application of surveillance methods to specific health-related outcomes

EPI 415. Practicing Epidemiology in Government Health Agencies (2 units)

Introduction to practice-based concepts for conducting epidemiology in a local or state health agency. Topics include funding issues, data sources, study design concerns, bureaucratic challenges, use of epidemiology for evidence-based decision-making, and communication of findings to lay audiences

EPI 420. Global Health Epidemiology: Study Design and Implementation in Low Resource Settings (4 units, Spring)

Introduction to practical concepts and issues in conducting epidemiologic field research in developing countries, including formulating research questions, study site selection, ethical considerations, and logistics of data and specimen collection. Requisite: course 100, or 200A and 200B. S/U or letter grading.

 

Environmental Health Sciences Department

ENV HLT 216. Planetary Health: Consequences of Environmental Change for Human Health (4 units, Spring)

Interdisciplinary seminar course in which students from Environmental Health Sciences and related fields will learn how to interpret studies from the scientific literature that discuss various aspects of planetary health, from drivers of environmental change to human health outcomes, integrate information across multiple scientific fields, and communicate planetary health research through an oral presentation and a written report. 

ENV HLT 221. Climate Change, Equity, and Health (4 units)

Basic foundation in physical mechanisms of, responses to, and health implications of human-induced climate change. Exploration of variety of epidemiologic, risk assessment, and statistical methods used to understand impacts of climate change on health across diverse demographic groups; including efforts to estimate current and future global burden of disease due to climate change, as well as avoidable and attributable risk. Elaboration of public health implications, positive and negative, of efforts to mitigate and adapt to climate change, including discussions of ethical, political, and economic aspects of these efforts. Emphasis on how adverse effects of climate change are borne disproportionately by vulnerable people and groups. Students are responsible for leading class discussions and presenting poster on their choice of topic related to climate change and health

ENV HLT 296P. Research Topics in Environmental Health Sciences: Global Environmental Change and Health (2 units)

Advanced study and analysis of current topics in environmental health sciences. Discussion of current research and literature in research specialty of faculty member teaching course.

Health Policy & Management Department

HLT POL 207. Addressing Inequalities: Comparative Law and Policy Analysis Tools for Examining Barriers and Paths Forward (4 units, Winter)

Laws and policies in the U.S. and countries around the world often structure into their details inequalities across age, class, disability, gender, gender identity, immigration status, race, sexual orientation, and other human characteristics. Students gain skills to carry out comparative law and policy analysis that enable them to analyze the extent to which laws exacerbate inequalities. Demonstration of series of approaches for examining how laws and policies can reduce inequalities at a national scale, as well as the impact of laws and policies on biased norms. Students select an area for which they would like to develop and analyze comparative data

HLT POL 230A. & 230B. Health Economics: Low- and Middle-Income Countries' Perspectives (4 units)

Development of student thinking on how microeconomic theories help us understand determinants of health and behaviors of consumers and providers in health sector. Offers critical framework in evaluating efficiency of health systems in improving health of populations. Health economics field provides public policy tools to evaluate distributional benefits/penalties of policies such as sin taxes, and to assess extent market failures motivate role of governments in financing, organization, and delivery of health care. Emphasis on low- and middle-income country (LMIC) settings.

HLT POL 240. Global Health Institutions, Policies, and Systems (4 units)

This course will provide an introduction to global health, from a health policy and management perspective. It will examine institutions, from global to local, through lenses including governance, financing, history and agenda-setting.

HLT POL M248. Primary Health Care (4 units, Winter)

(Same as COM HLT M248) Primary Health care (PHC) is considered to be foundation of all health systems and should be able to resolve 80 percent or more of population's health problems. Overview of organization, structure, and functions of primary health care with emphasis on low- and middle-income country settings. Study of history and origins of PHC, roles and functions of PHC in health systems, different organizational and managerial approaches to organizing and delivering health care within PHC framework, and tools for measuring how well PHC programs and services are functioning. Review and critical analysis of evidence-based on PHC effectiveness and impact and present detailed case studies of PHC programs in diverse settings around world.

HLT POL 260. World Health (4 units)

Designed for graduate students. Overview of world health, with emphasis on healthcare outside U.S. Key areas include burden of infectious diseases, health economics, and impact of healthcare policy on healthcare delivery.

HLT POL M274. Health Status and Health Behaviors of Racial and Ethnic Minority Populations (4 units)

(Same as Psychology M274.) Overview of physical and mental health behaviors and status of major racial/ethnic groups in U.S. Where appropriate, discussion of international issues as well.

HLT POL 281. Policy Making amid Health, Economic, and Social Crises: Pandemics and Beyond (4 units, Fall)

In this course students will both learn how to analyze health and social policies comparatively and learn about the differing policy responses across countries to COVID-19. Each student will have the opportunity to select an area they would like to develop a database for, related to the pandemic, and analyze that area deeply. 

HLT POL 284. Gender, the Economy, and Health: Law and Policy Approaches to Reducing Inequities (4 units)

Focus on relationships among gender inequality, restrictive gender norms, and health. Examination of evidence pulled together by World Health Organization (WHO) Commission on social determinants of health and others on how gender inequality and restrictive gender norms impact health across sexes and genders. Examination of evidence on extent of gender inequality in other social determinants of health globally including education, work, and poverty. Focus on policies to improve health. Discussion of examples of policy and programmatic approaches to inequalities in education, work, family, and other spheres. Students have opportunity to dive deeper into area of choice.

 

Education Department

EDU 204E. International Efforts in Education (4 units, Winter)

Critical analysis of complex world of "developing cooperation", with particular reference to bilateral and multilateral efforts in education.

  

Latin American Studies Department

LATIN AM M262. HIV/AIDS and Culture in Latin America (4 units, Spring)

(Same as CHS M250.) Exploration of cultural, political, and public health context for people living with and at risk for HIV/AIDS and their families in Latin America. Public health aspects, including epidemiology, comorbidity concerns and community interventions, medical anthropological study of experience of those impacted, and grass-roots responses, as well as political/economic context addressing poverty and structural violence.

 

School of Nursing

NURSING 200. Health Promotion and Assessment across Lifespan (4 units, Fall)

Review and discussion of research, theories, clinical practice guidelines, healthcare systems, and policies that influence assessment of health and health behaviors, health promotion, and screening of disease across lifespan among diverse populations in multiple settings in communities for advanced practice nurse (clinical nurse specialist and nurse practitioner).

NURSING 209. Human Diversity in Health and Illness (4 units, Fall)

Human diversity in response to illness that nurses diagnose and treat, centering on culture and human belief systems associated with diverse orientations related to ethnicity and gender.

NURSING C255. Globalization, Social Justice, and Human Rights (3 units, Fall)

Exploration of theories, issues, debates, and pedagogy associated with globalization, social justice, and human rights and how these perspectives influence human health and well-being. Provides students with unique opportunity to explore these topics within classroom, via Internet and other technologies, and in other classrooms located around globe. Students, through collaborative projects with peers around world, reflect on how globalization shapes and transforms local communities and national cultures.

 

Division of Oral Biology

Oral Biology 229B. Anthropological Perspectives on Global Health: Implications for Oral Biology and Medicine (2 units, Winter)

What factors determine health, illness, and disease in global context, including political ecology of infectious diseases, child health issues, women's health and reproductive health, global trade in legal and illegal drugs, demography and health transition, structural adjustment, problems associated with globalization of pharmaceutical industry; antibiotic resistance, and globalization and health equity.

 

Department of Sociology

Sociology 236 A/B/C. International Migration (4 units, Fall)

Comprehensive overview of key current theoretical debates in study of international migration, with focus on exploration of possibilities of comparative (historical and cross-national) research program in field, linking North American, European, and other global experiences of immigration.

 

Department of Urban Planning

Urban Planning M258. Transportation and Environmental Issues (4 units, Winter)

Regulatory structure linking transportation, air quality, and energy issues, chemistry of air pollution, overview of transportation-related approaches to air quality enhancement; new car tailpipe standards; vehicle inspection and maintenance issues; transportation demand management and transportation control measures; alternative fuels and electric vehicles; corporate average fuel economy and global warming issues; growth of automobile worldwide fleet; automobile in sustainability debate.

Urban Planning C285. Built Environment and Health (4 units, Winter)

Exploration of important linkages between urban-built environment and public-health outcomes using ecological, urban planning, and community-based lenses through theory and series of case studies. Knowledge of these linkages is used to propose ecological solutions to issues at nexus of built environment and public health.  

 

Archive of Elective Courses for the Global Health Certificate:

The following courses are those that have previously been approved for the Global Health Certificate, but that have not been offered in the two most recent academic years:

COM HLT M222. Understanding Fertility: Theories and Methods (4 units)

Application of demographic theories and methods to describe fertility trends and differentials and social and proximate determinants of fertility, with emphasis on understanding key proximate determinants. For advanced students interested in population, demography of health, and social demography

COM HLT M251. Human Resources and Economic Development

Examination, in context of developing countries, of interactions among economic development, population growth, levels of health and nutritional status, and educational investments.

COM HLT 282. Communication in Health Promotion and Education (4 units)

Design, implementation, and evaluation of health communication strategies for health promotion programs. Equal emphasis on communication theories, models, and empirical research literature and on specific applications in health programs and case studies. 

EPI 222. Arthropods as Vectors of Human Diseases (4 units)

Comprehensive overview of morphology, systematics, natural history, host/vector/pathogen relationships, and spectrum of diseases carried by arthropods for graduate students, public health professionals, and medical doctors seeking information on global prevalence of arthropod-borne diseases.

EPI 223. Biology and Ecology of Human Parasitic Diseases (4 units)

Information on all aspects of parasitic organisms causing human disease, including their morphology, biology, means of diagnosis, and diseases they cause. From epidemiological perspective, special emphasis on way in which parasites maintain themselves in nature, and manner in which organisms are transmitted to people.

EPI 224. Zoonotic Diseases and Public's Health (4 units)

Examination of wide variety of infectious disease agents (viruses, bacteria, and protozoan and helminth parasites) causing diseases in individuals and populations. Emphasis on how these diseases exist in natural environment, how they are transmitted from animals to humans, and methods for their prevention and control.

EPI 229. Foodborne Illnesses (4 units)

Presentation of epidemiologic, biologic, psychological, and clinical characteristics of AIDS and HIV_1 infection. Discussion of policy implications and intervention strategies. 

EPI M418. Rapid Epidemiological Surveys in Developing Countries (4 units)

Presentation of how to do health surveys in Third World countries. Practical assistance for planning and organizing surveys, including use of microcomputers to develop and test the questionnaire, select the sample, process and analyze data, and prepare final report.

ENV HLT 208. Built Environment and Health (4 units)

Interdisciplinary course on built environment and health and breaking down silos. U.S. and other developed, as well as developing, countries are facing increasingly lethal and costly epidemics of acute and chronic diseases related to land use and built environment decisions. While hazards presented by air and water pollution are well recognized for acute, infectious, and toxicological illnesses, there is increasing recognition of hazards presented by building and community designs that fail to recognize human health. Land use and built environment decisions impact every age group and social and racial minority. Impacts range from very acute (motor vehicle trauma) to long term (obesity, cancer, heart disease). Decisions have as their bases economic, financial, insurance, housing, and other factors. Analysis of each factor and related disease endpoints.

Urban Planning 235 A/B. Urbanization in the Developing World I/II (4 units)

Questions of urbanization and planning in first term; rural development in second term. Case studies from Latin America, Africa, and Asia. Lectures, student presentations, and policy debates.

Urban Planning 239. Special Topics in Regional and International Development: Disaster Management and Response (4 units)

This class has two main themes: Service delivery and governance reform in developing countries. The emphases are policy- and practitioner-oriented aspects of urban service gaps brought on by rapid urban growth and intergovernmental reforms associated with greater urban autonomy, with examples from several countries and sectors. The individual/group projects permit you to examine a specific sector in a particular place in more detail.