Global Public Health and Policy MSc

The MSc Global Public Health and Policy builds on models of social determinants of health and international health concepts of policy-making at local, national, and international levels.

Social determinants and the consequences for health and wellbeing of inequalities have been an essential part of the understanding of public health doctors when dealing with health issues at population level. Today, with the work of Marmot and most recently Picketty, there is a greater awareness than ever in academia, medicine, and politics of health inequalities. There are, therefore, opportunities at present for those concerned with these issues to make a contribution to addressing global health challenges.

Students can specialise in areas as diverse as trade in health, global burden of disease, evidence based policy making, pharmaceuticals and clinical trials, the anthropology of health, and ethics.

This MSc programme will be of particular interest if you are a medical and clinical practitioner, a civil servant, a public health practitioner, a social or political scientist, a lab scientist, or work for an NGO.

This MSc programme is part of a wider programme of study in global health within the Barts and London School of Medicine and Dentistry. The programmes are directed by Professor David McCoy, and a multidisciplinary team of clinical and non-clinical academics from the Centre for Primary Care and Public Health led by Professors Sandra Eldridge and Chris Griffiths.

Why study Global Public Health and Policy at Queen Mary?

There are a number of distinct features about the course which include: an emphasis on the social determinants of health; a focus on the interface between politics and policy; a concern for social justice; and a stress upon primary care acting as a platform for effective public health action.

The offers an opportunity to develop a pronounced multi-disciplinary analysis that includes sociology, anthropology, economics, law, geography as well as public health medicine. You will therefore learn from a truly multidisciplinary programme, which will give you a genuinely broad education and wide perspective.

Furthermore, the Barts and London School of Medicine and Dentistry is comprised of two renowned and prestigious teaching hospitals: St Bartholomew’s and The Royal London. Both continue to make an outstanding contribution to modern medicine and together have been consistently ranked among the top five in the UK for medicine.

The Global Public Health Unit combines the local and the global in a stimulating and challenging research and teaching environment – we have strong links to the NHS, local authorities, third-sector organisations, policymakers in the UK and elsewhere, and leading international figures in global health.

We integrate different types of teaching delivery including small group seminars and participation in public health conferences. We have collaborations with other universities and organisations from around the world to aid research, teaching, policy development, and community engagement, and we encourage students to get involved in both our local and international work.