The Department of Global Healthcare & Population Studies prepares students to understand the history and progress of global health and the policies that come with it. The courses also give students knowledge of disasters around the globe and the responses available to address them.
The missio Dei is God’s movement toward the restoration of humanity and creation, and the health of the nations is part of that restoration. The church’s long history of medical mission shows that care of the sick, attention to the vulnerable, and concern for whole communities have always belonged to its witness. At the graduate level, the department invites students to examine this calling critically. They study how populations are counted, how health systems are governed, how disease and crisis are managed, and how clinical encounters are shaped by culture and by relationships between persons. The department grounds this inquiry in a biblical theology of health and compassionate care. Its aim is leaders who are competent in the science and policy of global health and faithful in its mission.
Students learn the value of Global Healthcare & Population Studies as specialties that every healthcare system in the world needs, with more in-depth and detailed examples from international settings. Graduate study includes advanced demographic analysis, including data sources, survey and population analysis, contemporary trends, and applied models. It also covers public health surveillance, global and environmental health policy, medical responses to disasters and crises, and water, sanitation and hygiene. Courses in ethnophysiology, pathophysiology, family medicine, medical missions, patient-centered care, and clinical research methods round out the program. Students may pursue masters and doctoral degrees as well as certificate programs. Within a biblical framework, graduates are prepared to lead in global health in service of the mission of God.
