Niigata University students join the Global Health Program to learn real-world skills while engaging with an international team

The Global Health program, unique in its transcontinental approach and the immersive learning environment, fosters internationalization and builds career skills for a globalized world.

The Foundations courses, as a core component of the MSc in Global Health program, are designed to teach competencies such as the ability to work in an international team and develop an understanding of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in the context of global challenges.

These courses provide students with the opportunity to experiment with ways of addressing and responding to local and global health challenges. Throughout course, students engage in weekly virtual meetings with their team, learning the practical skills of managing multiple time zones, languages, and cultures that exist within an international team. The international teams formed during the program for courses such as the Foundations courses include students from our partnership universities in the Netherlands, India, Colombia, and the Sudan.

This year, for the first time, Nursing and Midwifery students from Niigata University’s School of Nursing located in Japan participated in the Foundations courses.

Earlier this month, the students from Niigata were able to travel to McMaster University to meet Global Health faculty and their peers as well as to participate in a Foundations course lecture. A lecture presented by Jim Sutherland, former Depute Director from Global Affairs Canada, focused on developing a project proposal that contributes to alleviating poverty and improved health outcomes for vulnerable and excluded individuals around the globe — an aim that is not far from the SDGs that serve as a pillar for many real-world global health innovation funding institutions.

The lecture encouraged students to consider the balance between their own values as well as the views of their stakeholders, beneficiaries, and project funders while collaborating with an international team.

“The success of the UN’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals depends on collaboration and partnerships with other universities and networks” explains Andrea Baumann, McMaster’s Associate VP, Faculty of Health Sciences (Global Health), “this provides an students an opportunity to explore pressing issues from different cultural contexts.”

We are excited to continue offering this opportunity in partnership with Niigata University, which enhances experiential learning opportunities with our international partners and is core element of McMaster University’s Global Engagement Strategy.