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Brighton & Sussex Medical School

Global Health

BSMS > Postgraduate > Global Health

Global Health

Key facts

MSc, PGDip, PGCert 
Full-time: 1 year
Part-time: 2 years 
Eligible applicants: UK, international
Due to visa restrictions, international students requiring a student visa (including EU/EEA who require a student visa) are eligible to apply for BSMS full-time Masters courses only. Part-time Masters courses, all PGDip and all PGCert courses are open to UK and Irish students and international students (including EU/EEA) who have an alternative visa/immigration permission to stay in the UK (such as settled/pre-settled status, Tier 2/work visa, indefinite leave to remain etc).
Location: University of Sussex Falmer campus
Course Leader: Dr Anne Gatuguta 

General enquiries: GlobalHealthTeaching@bsms.ac.uk 

Download our course application handbook here >

This course is validated by the University of Brighton and the University of Sussex. Applications for 2022/23 entry are now open. 

Apply for the Global Health course here >

Watch our video below with staff and current students to find out more about our Global Health course. 

Course delivery statement

Following the changes to delivery necessitated by the Covid-19 pandemic during 2020-2021 the University of Brighton has taken a decision to move to a blended delivery model as the new academic year 2021-22 begins. Whilst the university is opening up, following the easing of restrictions, it is unclear how the pandemic will affect this academic year.  

As a Global Health team, the safety and well-being of our students and staff and delivery of a high-quality learning experience are our top priorities.  The Global Health programme team have thus decided to adopt a blended approach to teaching of the Global Health MSc, PGDip and PGCert programmes for the academic year 2021-22. This maximises opportunities for learning, provides students with the opportunity to plan their studies and builds on the very positive feedback from students who have received online delivery this year.

The Global Health MSc comprises three core modules during the autumn term (Global Health Principles, Global Burden and Management of Disease and Research Practice in Global Contexts, all provided by BSMS) and two optional modules from a choice of six during the Spring term. The dissertation is developed throughout the year with data collection, analysis and writing up taking place during the summer term. 

The teaching for our BSMS modules will be delivered online in 2021-2022 as has been done successfully this year. The course will be a combination of synchronous (live) and asynchronous delivery via Microsoft Teams and the Blackboard Virtual Learning Environment. Emphasis will be primarily on live synchronous sessions. Delivery will include interactive live lectures on Teams, pre-recorded lectures, online tutorials, online group discussions, case studies and independent reading and exercises.  

In addition, we will be offering students opportunities for monthly in-person tutorials during the year and face-to-face dissertation supervision meetings, subject to agreement between students and supervisors and depending upon the prevailing pandemic conditions. Our timetables, teaching methods and course content have all been adapted to make the most of this approach. 

Student contact hours remain the same as outlined in the modules specifications and details will be provided to students in the course and modules handbooks in accordance with the guidelines on student contact hours. The balance of staff-guided learning and independent student study will not change. The learning outcomes of the course remain the same. As most of our assessments are submitted online, this will not change. Assessments for two modules (Global Burden and Management of Disease & Access to Medicines) which are normally in person will move to online submission. 

In the spring term students may choose optional modules from the University of Sussex and the Institute of Development Studies. It is not yet clear whether these will be taught online or in person, so these modules may be unavailable to students studying remotely.

However, at least two online modules will also be offered through BSMS for students to follow during the spring term. This may mean that students’ choice of optional modules is restricted if they prefer to study fully remotely.

It is also possible to study a single module on a stand-alone basis. Download our BSMS Global Health Online modules 2021-22 document below.

Download our BSMS Global Health Online modules 2021-22 >

Find out more about studying a single module >

For international students, engagement with monthly face-to-face tutorials is mandatory, since it is required to fulfil visa regulations. International students are also required to be resident in the UK to study this course. It will not be possible for international students to take this course or single modules from outside the UK.

You can find out more about our online teaching in the video below, featuring Dr Sarah Marshall, Lecturer in Global Health and Course Leader Global Pharmacy at BSMS. 

Please contact the Global Health MSc course team at globalhealthteaching@bsms.ac.uk if you have any queries and for information about how to apply.

Bella Tomsett headshot

"I was a little apprehensive when I was first applying to study Global Health. Although I have always been really interested in the topic and have experience working in healthcare, I have no biomedical background, and was worried this would be a hindrance. However, I am so glad I went for it. The course is structured in such a way that you get an excellent foundation regardless of your prior knowledge, and then you can build on this. There is plenty of scope to really explore your personal areas of interest, and all the lecturers and tutors are so supportive, friendly and approachable. I was especially impressed with how well the team tackled teaching during the pandemic, and although it hasn't been the same as having regular classes, I don't feel that my studies were disadvantaged at all. If anyone is interested in exploring health in the global context (and let's face it, after this year, everyone should!), I would thoroughly recommend the MSc Global Health at BSMS." 

Bella Tomsett, Global Health student 2020

Roohil Yusuf headshot

"The Global Health course has been very well structured to support learning. The lectures have been really interactive and the team have done so well to deliver teaching remotely this year. Learning from experts in the field has made the content so much more interesting and all the lecturers have been very supportive and responsive."  

Roohil Yusuf, Global Health student 2020

Key areas of study

  • Determinants of health and ill-health in a globalised world
  • Global burden and management of disease and injury
  • Access to medicines
  • Neglected tropical diseases (NTDs)
  • Health, poverty and development
  • Global mental health
  • Emerging infectious diseases and antibiotic resistance
  • Conflict and violence
  • Research practice in global contexts

Course overview

The health and wellbeing of people differs widely across the globe. Life expectancy varies from 45 years in some countries to double that figure in others, and similar inequalities exist within countries. 

Many complex factors and processes simultaneously operating from the local to the global spheres affect the health of individuals, populations and nations. As these factors change, so do the challenges and opportunities for improving health locally and globally. The global health programme at the Brighton and Sussex Centre for Global Health Research develops students’ understanding of the complex determinants of health and their potential solutions in order to help them contribute to the improvement of health and the achievement of health equity and social justice worldwide. With this purpose, this programme offers an inter-multi and cross-disciplinary approach to health and ill-health. 

The course brings together experts from the health sciences, pharmaceutical sciences, development studies, anthropology, economics and political sciences among others in order to deliver a stimulating and vibrant programme. We combine traditional didactic teaching with dynamic and interactive methods, using case studies alongside evidence and insights from the various disciplines to facilitate students’ critical understanding of current global health issues, their complex determinants and their potential solutions.

Two workers on the road pushing a coal cart

Dissertation (Research Project)

Our MSc in Global Health has a strong research component. The dissertation or research project allows students to develop an area of expertise through in-depth focus on a topic of their particular interest.

Students can gain first-hand research experience with one of our overseas partner institutions. With the support of a research supervisor, students are expected to learn and work independently, access and critique information from a variety of sources, and competently design and report a research project. Students will be also required to obtain the necessary ethics approvals when needed.

Examples of recent publications from our students:

K Midtbo, CJ Jones, M Kapasa, B Vwalika, H Rabe. Barriers to implementation of placental transfusion of babies at birth in Zambia. www.ajrh.info/index.php/ajrh/article/view/3139.

Banda GT, Deribe K, Davey GHow can we better integrate the prevention, treatment, control and elimination of neglected tropical diseases with other health interventions? A systematic reviewBMJ Global Health 2021;6:e006968. https://gh.bmj.com/content/6/10/e006968.citation-tools

Hannah Masraf, Temesgen Azemeraw, Meseret Molla, Christopher Iain Jones, Stephen Bremner, Moses Ngari, James A Berkley, Esther Kivaya, Greg Fegan, Abreham Tamiru, Abebe Kelemework, Trudie Lang, Melanie J Newport, Gail Davey, 2020 Excess mortality among people with podoconiosis: secondary analysis of two Ethiopian cohorts, Transactions of The Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, Volume 114, Issue 12, December 2020, Pages 1035–1037, DOI: 10.1093/trstmh/traa150 https://academic.oup.com/trstmh/article/114/12/1035/6000683?login=true

Suzie Lane, Sonja Ayeb-Karlsson & Arianne Shahvisi (2020) Impacts of the Global Gag Rule on sexual and reproductive health and rights in the Global South: A scoping review, Global Public Health, DOI: 10.1080/17441692.2020.1840611 https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/17441692.2020.1840611

Emma Robertson, Andrew Bambala, Aubrey C. Kalungia, Sarah Marshall, Patience Mbozi & Derick Munkombwe (2020) Prescribers’ experiences of, and attitudes to, use of morphine for palliative care at a tertiary hospital in Zambia, Hospital Practice, 48:2, 86-91, DOI: 10.1080/21548331.2020.1733318

St Clair-Sullivan, N., Mwamba, C., Whetham, J., Bolton Moore, C., Darking, M., & Vera, J. (2019). Barriers to HIV care and adherence for young people living with HIV in Zambia and mHealth. mHealth, 5, 45. https://doi.org/10.21037/mhealth.2019.09.02

Phillips C, Samuel A, Tiruneh G, Deribe K, Davey G. The impact of acute adenolymphangitis in podoconiosis on caregivers: A case study in Wayu Tuka woreda, Oromia, Western Ethiopia. 'If she was healthy, I would be free.'. PLoS Negl Trop Dis. 2019 Jul 8;13(7):e0007487. doi: 10.1371/journal.pntd.0007487. PMID: 31283763; PMCID: PMC6638979

Course structure

Global Health Msc

Core modules

  • Global Burden and Management of Disease
  • Global Health Principles
  • Research Practice in Global Contexts
  • Dissertation (Research Project)

Optional modules (choice of two)

  • Access to Medicines
  • Anthropological Perspectives on Mind, Madness and Mental Health
  • Anthropology of Fertility, Reproduction and Health
  • Communicable Diseases
  • Conflict, Violence and Health
  • Health and Development

Global Health PGDip

Core modules

  • Global Burden and Management of Disease
  • Global Health Principles
  • Research Practice in Global Contexts

Optional modules (choice of two)

  • Access to Medicines
  • Communicable Diseases
  • Conflict, Violence and Health
  • Cultural Understandings of Health and Healing

Global Health PGCert

Core module

  • Global Health Principles

Optional modules (choice of two)

  • Access to Medicines
  • Communicable Diseases
  • Conflict, Violence and Health
  • Global Burden and Management of Disease

Please note that module availability can change from year to year according to the availability of lecturers and levels of student interest.

BACKGROUND IMAGE FOR PANEL

Career opportunities

Graduates of this programme will have the skills to work as global health practitioners, policy makers, consultants or researchers within international health and development agencies.

Previous graduates have gone into a range of careers, including working for national and international NGOs and Public Health England (PHE). Others are working in national and international-level research organisations and universities, and some have continued for further postgraduate training at PhD level. 

Entry requirements

A first- or upper second-class undergraduate honours degree or equivalent in any global health-related subject (eg, development studies, anthropology, nursing, political sciences, geography, psychology, biomedical sciences, etc) or the successful completion of at least three years’ basic medical science at a UK medical school (having gained at least 360 credits). Relevant global health experience is desirable but not essential.
For international students an IELTS score of 7 or above is required, with no less than 6.5 in each section.

Fees and funding

The fees listed below are the overall costs for full-time courses taken in the academic year 2022/23. Where courses are taken part-time over more than one academic year, fees are usually charged pro-rata for the modules taken during each academic year.  

With effect from 2021/22 onwards, EU nationals starting new postgraduate courses will pay international fees and will not be eligible for student funding from the UK government. However, there are exceptions to this for Irish nationals and EU nationals with settled or pre-settled status under the EU Settlement Scheme. For the latest information, please see gov.uk/student-finance.

MSc

UK £9,500
International £18,975

PGDip

UK £6,336
International £12,654

PGCert

UK £3,168
International £6,327

Scholarships

All BSMS students on Masters courses accredited jointly by the University of Sussex and the University of Brighton are eligible to apply for University of Sussex postgraduate scholarships in 2022/23. 

more about Sussex Postgraduate scholarships  >

Some postgraduate applicants may be eligible to apply for Rotary International Global Grant Scholarships.

more about Rotary International Global Grants >

Check out this handy article from the Institute of Development Studies for tips applying for this and other scholarships >

Other scholarships available to Global Health students are below. Please select one of the options to find out more.

Chevening >

The Commonwealth Masters Scholarships > 

Eramus+ Master Degree Loans >

Snowdon Masters Scholarships >

Get tips for applying for these and other scholarships via the link below.

Get tips on applying for scholarships > 

podo patient receives treatment

Global Health Scholarships

BSMS offers a number of scholarships for students admitted to the full-time Masters degree in Global Health at the Brighton and Sussex Centre for Global Health Research.

BSMS Global Health scholarships are awarded on the basis of academic and/or professional merit and financial need. The scholarship provides one £5,000 award or two £2,500 awards towards tuition fees. UK, EU and International (Non UK/EU) students are eligible and encouraged to apply.

Application procedure

You must first apply for admission to the MSc in Global Health course via our online application process (see 'Apply here' below). You will need your applicant number to complete the BSMS Global Health Scholarship application form.

The completed application form should be submitted as a single Word document saved as a PDF via email to Dr Anne Gatuguta (A.gatuguta@bsms.ac.uk).

The subject of your email should read BSMS Global Health Scholarship. Successful candidates will be notified by the end of July. Unfortunately we are not able to provide feedback regarding unsuccessful applications.