Certificate Info


If you missed our past Info Session the recording is on our YouTube channel. Our next Info Session will be in October, 2023. 

Awarded through the UCLA Center for Global and Immigrant Health (CGIH) in the Fielding School of Public Health (FSPH), the Global Health Certificate (GHC) program provides the student with broad-based knowledge, professional skills, and cross-cultural understanding of global health issues, policies, and practices. The aim of the GHC is to enhance global health competencies of students to work for organizations providing global or immigrant health services, advocate for global health programs and priorities, and/or to incorporate global health sensibilities in non-global health work settings. In conferring the certificate, the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health recognizes a student’s capacity to work as a public health or health care professional with a global health perspective.

To earn the certificate, students must:

  1. Take 16 units of coursework related to global and immigrant health
  2. Complete a 5-page professional reflection essay (the Capstone Essay)
  3. Attend two global health seminars at UCLA, either in person or online
  4. Complete human subjects research training
  5. Complete an international fieldwork experience and an analytical paper

Further information about the 5 program requirements are below.

 

1. Coursework

Complete at least 16 units with global and/or immigrant health content (see global health courses tab for a list of approved courses)

Students can also petition to count courses not on this list by completing the course exception form found in the Global Health Certificate > Forms tab of the website 

 

2. Professional Reflection Essay (Capstone Essay)

Complete a 5-page professional reflection essay describing how the GHC program integrates with the student’s graduate studies, how it amplifies their understanding of one or more of the global health competencies, and how these competencies are likely to influence their professional career. Additional guidance for writing the essay may be found here under "Additional Reference Materials."

 

3. Global Health Seminars

Attend at least two Global Health seminars. These may be the lunchtime lectures or other lectures sponsored by the UCLA Center for Global and Immigrant Health, the UCLA School of Public Health of the UCLA Center for World Health or a virtual event hosted by a global health organization.

For in-person lectures you will need to complete a lecture forms documenting your attendance. For virtual lectures, you will be asked to provide a screen shot of the event or proof of registration to receive credit for their attendance.

 

4. CITI Training Completion

Complete the Human Research - Biomedical Researchers & Staff OR Social & Behavioral Researchers & Staff course through the Collaborative Institutional Training Initiative (CITI) Program.

Students will have to log on using their UCLA credentials: https://about.citiprogram.org/en/homepage/ to complete the training.

 

5. Fieldwork Experience

Complete a "glocal health" fieldwork experience that amount to at least 10 weeks for a total of at least 400 hours. Students may either accomplish this by working full-time for 10 weeks or by working fewer hours per week for a longer period of time. Fieldwork must be completed within their time as a registered graduate student at UCLA. We will accept any internship that has a global reach to fulfill this requirement. This can include working with refugee or immigrant groups based in the US. We will accept remote-based internships to fulfill this requirement, provided the student submits the Internship Approval Form (found here under "Pre-Application Forms") providing details to CGIH about how the internship has helped or will help them develop skills relevant to global and/or immigrant health.

Students should complete the Internship Approval Form once they identify their fieldwork opportunity so CGIH can confirm that it will meet the requirements of the certificate. 

For Fielding School MPH students: You will need to submit your 400 course paper as your analytical paper.

For non-MPH students: will need to submit a 5-page analytical paper related to the research/project they worked on during their fieldwork experience. This analytical paper is separate from and in addition to the Professional Reflection Essay. This paper can be a manuscript or report that was prepared as part of your internship work. It should showcase the work you achieved during your internship and any relevant global health competencies. For a fieldwork experience to meet the requirements of the Global Health Certificate, students must select a fieldwork opportunity that allows them to develop one or more of the Association of Schools and Programs of Public Health Global Health Competencies (listed below).

CGIH will accept domestic or remote-based internships to fulfill this requirement, provided the student submits and receives approval on the Prospective Internship Interest Form. Generally, any fieldwork experience that will allow the study to develop competencies relevant to global health will be approved. Students are still required to complete 400 hours of work in their internship.

 

Declaring Intent to Pursue the Certificate

In order for CGIH to ensure that all students who wish to earn the Global Health Certificate are making adequate progress in their studies and requirements and receiving the relevant communications from the Center, all students interested in earning the certificate must submit the Declaration of Intent form to CGIH by Week 10 of the Spring quarter of the student's first year of study at UCLA. The form may be found in the Forms tab of this website. 

If you missed the deadline to declare, please email globalhealth@ph.ucla.edu.

Submitting your Certificate Packet

Once you have completed all requirements for the certificate, please submit the following as a single PDF in the listed order:

  1. Completed application form (may be found under the Global Health Certificate > Forms tab)
  2. Copy of Unofficial UCLA Transcript
  3. Copy of your 5-page Professional Reflection Essay (guidelines for writing the essay also found under the Global Health Certificate > Forms tab)
  4. Two proofs of lecture attendance- either the lecture form or a screenshot
  5. Copy of your CITI training certificate of completion
  6. Copy of your final paper/project completed for course credit for your international experience (for FSPH students this will be your 400 report). 

Please submit completed applications for the Global Health Certificate electronically to globalhealth@ph.ucla.edu.

 

Dates

Students who plan to graduate during the Spring quarter:

  • All certificate application materials must be submitted by April 30. 

Students who plan to graduate during the Winter quarter:

  • All certificate application materials must be submitted by November 30. 

 

ALL NECESSARY FORMS MAY BE FOUND AT THE GLOBAL HEALTH CERTIFICATE > FORMS TAB