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Faculty of Health Sciences

Mary Heersink Program in Global Health

Partnerships and Collaborations

As awareness of globalization has increased so has educational interest in global health as a promising new field for analyzing the multidimensional health threats that cross regional, national and international boundaries and contribute to persistent inequalities.

Overview

In a globalizing world, health must not be seen as the concern of single nation states. Instead, the connections between changing geopolitical trends and health threats at the global level and their solutions at the local level should be the focus.

Recognizing this imperative, three academic institutions from Asia, Europe and North America established an innovative educational model in 2010. From the onset, the intention was to expand the model worldwide and build a global network of partners with equal status, equal contribution and equal benefits. The partnership now consists of seven institutions spanning five continents. It leverages transdisciplinary, transnational collaboration to tackle extant and emerging issues such as migration, healthcare provision and access, climate change and environmental degradation.

There is ongoing dialogue among the institutions and the partners meet annually to discuss and evaluate educational activities to ensure students are provided with an equitable and transformative learning experience. Two jointly developed online courses—Foundations of Global Health 1 and 2—are offered to all students, and an interinstitutional exchange program allows students access to one another’s courses. During the annual learning symposium in Manipal, India, students from all the institutions work together. In addition to creating system maps of various health topics, they investigate how India’s healthcare system is linked with and shaped by its place in the world.

The academic sector is increasingly cited as having the potential to effect significant change. To this end higher education must provide an intellectual and operational arsenal that is broad based, high calibre and accessible.

Global Health Consortium

In 2010, McMaster joined forces with Maastricht University in the Netherlands to create a best practice model of international collaboration in higher education. Since then, the MSc Global Health program has evolved, and is now delivered in co-ordination with a network of partner universities.

Global Health Consortium

Partnerships and Collaborations

As awareness of globalization has increased so has educational interest in global health as a promising new field for analyzing the multidimensional health threats that cross regional, national and international boundaries and contribute to persistent inequalities.

In a globalizing world, health must not be seen as the concern of single nation states. Instead, the connections between changing geopolitical trends and health threats at the global level and their solutions at the local level should be the focus.

Recognizing this imperative, three academic institutions from Asia, Europe and North America established an innovative educational model in 2010. From the onset, the intention was to expand the model worldwide and build a global network of partners with equal status, equal contribution and equal benefits. The partnership now consists of seven institutions spanning five continents. It leverages transdisciplinary, transnational collaboration to tackle extant and emerging issues such as migration, healthcare provision and access, climate change and environmental degradation.

There is ongoing dialogue among the institutions and the partners meet annually to discuss and evaluate educational activities to ensure students are provided with an equitable and transformative learning experience. Two jointly developed online courses—Foundations of Global Health 1 and 2—are offered to all students, and an interinstitutional exchange program allows students access to one another’s courses. During the annual learning symposium in Manipal, India, students from all the institutions work together. In addition to creating system maps of various health topics, they investigate how India’s healthcare system is linked with and shaped by its place in the world.

The academic sector is increasingly cited as having the potential to effect significant change. To this end higher education must provide an intellectual and operational arsenal that is broad based, high calibre and accessible.

Global Health Consortium

In 2010, McMaster joined forces with Maastricht University in the Netherlands to create a best practice model of international collaboration in higher education. Since then, the MSc Global Health program has evolved, and is now delivered in co-ordination with a network of partner universities.

Global Health Consortium

Global Health: Arctic Health Hub

Arctic Health, also referred to as Circumpolar Health, is an emerging and growth field of interest within our Global Health offerings at McMaster University.

Read more within our Arctic Health Hub pages below. If you have any questions or wish to collaborate or connect, please email our Arctic Coordinator, Professor Alex Drossos, at drossos@mcmaster.ca.

Despite documented health disparities between the circumpolar north and other regions, the Arctic remains an underrepresented area in global health scholarship, which the global health program has been eager to explore.

The graduate course, Circumpolar Health: A Global Health Perspective, explores interdisciplinary perspectives on global health issues in the circumpolar north.

Throughout the course, students have the opportunity to examine key health issues relating to the Arctic through the lens of health equity and the social determinants of health. Through a series of guest lectures from a range of experts, the course provides students with diverse perspectives and knowledge relevant to the Arctic. Topics such as include climate change in the north, social determinants of health in circumpolar communities, and Arctic governance and development are explored.

The course builds on the speaker series hosted by the Global Health Office in 2021, which brought together professionals from Norwegian and Canadian universities, the Arctic Council’s Sustainable Development Working Group, and the Canadian Northern Development Agency.

Activities

Collaborations

Information Box Group

Global Security and Arctic Geopolitics and Autonomy

Partnership with UiT, the Arctic University of Norway

Arctic Health

Partnership with the UiT, the Arctic University of Norway and the Qaujigiartiit Health Research Centre (Iqaluit)