OTS - Global Health Issues in South Africa
The summer program is a four week course which will be offered twice in Summer 2012.
Summer Session I: May 29 - June 28 (fly from US May 28 to arrive 5/29 in JNB)
Summer Session II: July 12 - August 10 (fly from US July 11 to arrive 7/12)
Global Health Issues in South Africa Duke University—Global Health (GLHLTH 173 [GLHLTH 382A] - CCI, EI, SS)
This program focuses on three major themes: the health system in South Africa; the clinical, social, and political aspects of the country’s most prevalent infectious diseases; and the roles of traditional healers. The program employs the lenses of biomedicine, medical anthropology, and public health to provide a critical interdisciplinary perspective on these issues. You will attend lectures, participate in field trips, and engage in
independent studies. As often as possible, the course coordinator and other experts will conduct class in the field, coordinating the material with
visits to appropriate sites so that you can connect theory to experience. Collaborative research projects will give you the chance to work in groups to formulate a question, design a strategy to answer it, carry out three days of field research, analyze the data, and then present the project in the form of a
scientific report. At the end of the program, you will deliver your results at a symposium.
Specific Goals:
In this course you will:
- Observe South Africa’s primary health care system and its priorities, strategies, and efficacy
- Learn about the challenges of providing health care in South Africa, which mixes traditional and modern health care approaches
- Shadow doctors and other health care workers in rural South Africa
- Debate conceptual issues underlying current South African medicine and public health policies
- Understand the issues related to such health problems as tuberculosis, HIV and AIDS, malaria, and water-borne illnesses that medical practitioners in rural versus urban areas face
- Develop leadership skills by organizing a community-based research project
Accommodations
Students will stay in Kruger National Park in groups of two to four in cottages with electricity and hot water. In the village of HamaKuya, students will stay at a small research station and will also live with other students with local families. We stay at a Backpackers lodge in Cape Town.
Admissions
Applicants should be undergraduates. Duke and non-Duke students may apply.
Applications are reviewed on a rolling basis, with priority given to those received prior to April 1. It is important to apply as early as possible to ensure space availability.
For further information about this program, contact the Organization for Tropical Studies at otsadmissions@duke.edu or visit the OTS website.
Last revised: 19 September 2011
