Syllabus

Redesigning Global Health

Description

In an era of unprecedented global health challenges, the need for a new and sustainable approach has never been more crucial. This course offers insights from global health experts on reimagining a new global health model and provides a platform for you to contribute your own ideas on what this new model should look like.

As you navigate through complex global health issues, you’ll be encouraged to share your own thoughts and reflections with peers from across the globe, critique the current global health model, and understand how current global health policies are influenced by historical and structural forces. By the end of the course, you’ll be equipped not only with knowledge but also with an informed perspective, ready to apply what you’ve learned to drive meaningful change.

You can also download the course syllabus.

You are required to take a Course Policy Quiz to ensure you understand policies and grading for this course.

Instructors

Instructor: Melissa Mugambi, MD, PhD
Assistant Professor, Global Health
University of Washington

Melissa Mugambi, MD, PhD, is an innovation advisor who partners with diagnostic developers, global health funders, and health system leaders to design and implement diagnostics and digital tools that are easy to use and improve access to primary care in underserved settings. She brings over 15 years of experience as a medical doctor and implementation scientist, with extensive experience living and working across East and Southern Africa and India. She has collaborated extensively with Ministries of Health and global partners, including the CDC, the Gates Foundation, the African Society for Laboratory Medicine, the Clinton Health Access Initiative, and Villgro Kenya. Her work has focused on designing point-of-care diagnostic tests, developing community-based healthcare delivery models, and evaluating medical innovation ecosystems to support scale and sustainability. Dr. Mugambi previously served as a Program Officer on the Gates Foundation Diagnostics Team, where she helped shape global strategies for diagnostic development and deployment. She is currently faculty in the Department of Global Health at the University of Washington, where she leads research on user preferences and implementation strategies for delivering technologies such as point-of-care diagnostics and prevention treatments through community pharmacies in Kenya.

Instructor: Priyasha Maharjan, MPH, DrGH(c)
University of Washington

Priyasha Maharjan is a public health practitioner with over a decade of experience working across academic institutions, government bodies, and non-governmental organizations in Nepal. She is currently pursuing a Doctor of Global Health Leadership and Practice at the University of Washington. Priyasha is committed to community-oriented, culturally responsive practices. Her work focuses on using qualitative research and human-centered design to implement, evaluate, and scale interventions that improve health outcomes for communities that have been historically marginalized, particularly in maternal, newborn and child health and nutrition, with an emphasis on non-communicable diseases and mental health. She is committed to integrating global insights to local health systems and strengthening efforts through evidence-based policy, inclusive collaboration and ongoing reflection to advance equity and long-term impact.

She is also a former Fulbright Fellow and a recipient of the Philanthropic Educational Organization (PEO) Jean Negus Malmo Endowed International Peace Scholarship.

Student Support

If you have any questions, please reach out to edgh@uw.edu. Our dedicated and knowledgeable staff are ready to assist you promptly.

Course Announcements for System Issues

If you experience broken links or system-wide problems (e.g., videos not playing), please check the course Announcements first. The eDGH support team will post updates and fixes there.

Course Learning Objectives

After completing this course, you will be able to:

• Analyze how history, systems, structures, and ideologies, including colonial legacies, have shaped current global health priorities, models, and inequities.
• Critique dominant global health paradigms and propose equity-centered and decolonial strategies for building more just and locally led health systems.
• Evaluate how resilient health systems can be designed, financed, and governed to adapt to crises while centering community needs and leadership.
• Analyze global health financing and partnership models to identify pathways for sustainable investment, country ownership, and accountability.
• Assess the health impacts of conflict, displacement, and structural violence, and explore community-led, culturally grounded responses in humanitarian contexts.
• Examine the social, political, and health system factors that shape health outcomes for women, adolescents, and children, and identify strategies to promote rights and justice across the life course.
• Analyze how infectious diseases, non-communicable diseases, mental health, pandemics, antimicrobial resistance, and the One Health framework interact with social, political, and economic factors to shape global health systems.
• Investigate the health impacts of climate change and evaluate strategies for improving health-related conditions due to climate.
• Examine the role of technology, digital tools, and artificial intelligence in transforming care delivery, while addressing ethical concerns, equity, and the digital divide.
• Reflect on how emerging trends are shaping global health roles and how to navigate nontraditional paths to impact.

Target Audience

This course is for anyone with an interest in exploring the field of global health. Designed for participants from diverse professional and educational backgrounds, the course welcomes those eager to understand the complexities of health challenges, policies, and interventions on a global scale. No prior experience in global health is required, only a passion for learning and engaging with critical issues that impact health worldwide.

Format

This is a self-paced, online modular course divided into 10 weeks. It will be delivered entirely online. 

Participants are expected to review the pre-recorded weekly lectures, complete assigned readings and activities, and participate in discussion via the discussion forums. Most participants will also meet with a local study group that is led by a site facilitator. This is meant to increase opportunities for discussion about the relevance of the material to the local setting. Completion of a final course evaluation is strongly encouraged for successful completion of the course.

If you have any questions, please look at the course FAQ. If your question isn't answered there, please email edgh@uw.edu.

Materials

All reading materials for this course are provided, in PDF form, or by linking to online sources.

Grading

To be successful in the course you will need to complete all of the learning activities listed.

Activity	Percentage
Discussion Forums (2 points each, 10 total)	20%
Quizzes (4 points each, 9 total)	36%
Podcast assignment Part 1 (12 points)	12%
Podcast assignment Part 2 (12 points)	12%
Podcast assignment Part 3 (20 points)	20%
Total	100%

Submitting Assignments

All assignments for this course will be submitted electronically through Moodle. Assignments must be submitted by the given deadline.

Viewing Grades in Moodle

Points you receive for graded activities will be posted to the Moodle Grade Book.

Quizzes will be graded upon submission. Grades are posted by the end of the day Monday after an assignment is due. If you submit your assignment late (after the due date), please allow at least 24 hours for your grade to be updated. We do not update late submission grades over the weekend.  Participants have access to their course for a defined period, which includes a four-week period after the course ends. During this time, scores on graded activities can be viewed and downloaded from within the course platform. After access ends, grades are no longer available and cannot be retrieved.

Please note:

• eDGH does not retain or provide grade reports after course access ends.
• eDGH does not issue academic transcripts.
• Certificates of completion serve as the official record of participation and include CEUs (Continuing Education Units) earned.

We recommend downloading your grades during the course or shortly after it ends if you wish to retain a personal copy.

Assignments

Podcast Assignment

For the course assignment, you’ll be developing a 10-minute podcast. You’ll pick a topic/problem you like to discuss, identify who is affected by the issue, and describe a solution if there were no constraints and funding wasn’t an issue. 

There are three due dates for this assignment:

• Module 4: Title and outline
• Module 7: Draft script 
• Module 10: Final podcast

We will provide guidance on how to create the podcast in the course. If you permit, we may include your podcast in an eDGH podcast series on Redesigning Global Health.

Discussion Forums

Your participation in the discussion forums is critical for maximizing your learning experiences in this course. Please refer to the information on posting to discussion forums to read about expectations for posting.

Quizzes

Quizzes will open when the module opens. You will have 2 attempts on each quiz. The learning management system will record your highest score. Late submissions will not be penalized. 

Note: there is no final exam.

Certificate of Completion

Active participation is required in order to receive a Certificate of Completion for the course. To receive a Certificate of Completion from the University of Washington, USA, you must pass the course, which means getting a final score of 70% or higher on all graded activities. Certificates will be distributed digitally after completion requirements have been verified. 

If you are a site participant, you must earn a qualifying score and attend 3 of the site meetings your site will hold. Attendance at more, if offered, is encouraged but not required to meet the site participation requirement. After the course, site participant certificates will be sent to site coordinators for distribution.

Late Work Policy

We will NOT accept assignments submitted by email or posted in discussion forums. Additionally, no assignments will be accepted after the course has ended. 

Commitment to Academic Integrity

Commit to Integrity

As a participant in this course you are expected to maintain high degrees of professionalism, commitment to active learning and participation in this class and also integrity in your behavior in and out of the classroom.

Definitions

"Plagiarism is defined as the use of the words, ideas, diagrams, etc., of publicly available work without appropriately acknowledging the sources of these materials. This definition constitutes plagiarism whether it is intentional or unintentional and whether it is the work of another or your own, previously published work. Plagiarism is a very serious offense that the University of Washington's eDGH Program does not tolerate."

Enforcement

Corroborated reports of plagiarism, cheating, or other misconduct will result in no credit on that assignment and may result in suspension from the course and ban from participation in future courses.

Library Resources

The University of Washington offers a comprehensive collection of resources for continuing education participants, providing access to valuable research materials, academic databases, and global health tools. These resources can help expand knowledge, support research, and facilitate lifelong learning.

• Unpaywall: A free, legal browser extension that helps you find open-access versions of research articles. If an article is behind a paywall, Unpaywall searches for an openly available copy in institutional repositories or preprint servers.
• PubMed Central (PMC): A free full-text archive of biomedical and life sciences literature from the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH). PMC provides unrestricted access to millions of peer-reviewed articles.
• PubMed: A widely used search engine for scientific and medical research. To access free articles, use the "Free full text" filter on the left-hand side of the search results page.
• Global Health Toolkit: A UW curated collection of global health resources. Articles and tools without a lock icon are freely accessible to the public, making it a valuable reference for global health professionals and researchers.

Use of AI Tools in This Course

Generative artificial intelligence (AI) tools (e.g., ChatGPT, Google Bard) can be useful for tasks such as clarifying complex concepts or refining your writing for better readability. You are welcome to use AI in these ways to support your learning.

However, using AI to generate or significantly revise responses for course assignments, activities, or discussion posts is not permitted and constitutes academic misconduct. Copying and pasting AI-generated content or feeding assignment prompts into AI tools is not allowed. These practices undermine your learning, as this course is designed to help you develop your own skills and express your own ideas.

Grammar, spelling, and phrasing will not be graded in this course; the focus is on the clarity and depth of your ideas rather than perfect language.

Keep in mind that AI-generated content can contain factual inaccuracies or misinterpretations, particularly in complex scientific discussions. Always verify information before using it.

If you have any questions about the appropriate use of AI in this course, please reach out for clarification.

Watch this video for more information and resources.

Disability Accommodations

Your experience in this class is important to the teaching team. As per the policy and practice of the University of Washington, we are committed to creating inclusive and accessible learning environments in accordance with federal and state law.

If you require accommodations for a disability or have specific accessibility needs, please contact edgh@uw.edu to discuss your requirements.

We are dedicated to working with you to ensure that you have equal access to all aspects of the course and to providing reasonable accommodations as needed. We value your feedback on the accessibility of this class. If you encounter any barriers or have suggestions for improvement, please reach out to us.

Religious Accommodations

eDGH uses the UW's policy on religious accommodations for participants who need to make special arrangements in meeting course deadlines due to reasons of faith or conscience or for religious activities. Accommodations must be requested within the first two weeks of this course by contacting edgh@uw.edu.

Copyright Statement

All content associated with this course is copyrighted. This includes the syllabus, assignments, reading lists, and lectures, as well as any material generated by your fellow students. Within the constraints of "fair use", you may copy these materials for your personal use in support of your education. For example, you may download materials to your computer for study, but you may not copy the materials and distribute or upload to a website. Such "fair use" by you does not include further distribution by any means of copying, performance or presentation beyond the circle of your close acquaintances, student colleagues in this class and your family. If you have any questions regarding any use violates the creator's copyright interests, please feel free to email edgh@uw.edu.