menu icon
Book your open day visit nowClick to book open day
Global Health and Mental Health MSc

Different course options

Full time | St George's, University of London | 1 year | 09-SEP-24

Study mode

Full time

Duration

1 year

Start date

09-SEP-24

Key information
DATA SOURCE : IDP Connect

Qualification type

MSc - Master of Science

Subject areas

People With Mental Health Problems: Social Work Health Studies

Course type

Taught

Course Summary

About this course

Mental health disorders, such as depression, anxiety and substance use, affect millions of people - estimated to be at least 10% of the world’s population - negatively impacting their quality of life or leading to premature death. Although mental health is increasingly recognised as a global concern, it remains a neglected, long time overlooked aspect of healthcare in many societies - often not even acknowledged as a ‘health’ problem or viewed as taboo. Developing appropriate mental health services requires greater awareness of the attitudes to these disorders within individual communities, as well as the social and economic factors that cause them.

If you are looking to make a real difference in the pursuit of health equity and global justice, our stimulating suite of MSc's in Global Health will help you better understand global health issues, policy and practices in the 21st century. Reflecting contemporary concerns and areas of research excellence at St George’s, we offer five specialist pathways in Global Health - in Conflict, Humanities, Mental Health, Ethics and Law, and Infection and Immunity - as well as the broad-based general degree.

Highly practical in nature, drawing on experiences of our own faculty and the many practitioners we have links with, these courses will be of particular interest to those who already work or wish to pursue an internationally focused career in development, policy, education, research or humanitarian relief. This includes policymakers, doctors, other health professionals and anyone with a strong interest in governance, management, law, politics, economics, policy, science, anthropology, philosophy and ethics.

Course overview

In many societies around the globe, experiences related to the mind are not always conceptualised as a health issue - at the extreme, orthodox healthcare practitioners and policymakers have found themselves confronted with phenomena such as spirit possession, accusations of child witchcraft, curses and forced exorcisms.

This specialist pathway explores some of the ethical questions raised when balancing human rights and the need to address treatment gaps in global mental health experiences with an appreciation of diverse cultural and traditional understandings of mental illness, often historically linked to societies’ identity, customs and symbols.

Global health is a fascinating, broad and multidisciplinary field that is underpinned by the desire to improve people’s health worldwide, reduce inequality and protect communities from global threats, such as conflict, economic crises or preventable diseases which, as coronavirus has demonstrated, do not respect national borders.

Careers

Graduating with a master’s degree in Global Health from St George’s opens up a world of opportunities - quite literally. The breadth of practical experience and insight, coupled with the international connections you will make, prepare you to make impactful change and positively influence the health of people anywhere in the world.

Careers in global health are often divided into clinical and non-clinical with opportunities in both addressing issues of public or global health, or working in leadership, consultancy or research roles in either government or the private sector, as well as national and international agencies, such as WHO, Unicef or Save the Children, for example.

Career options include policy development, advocacy, health systems administration and management, education, research, community outreach, community healthcare planning, infectious disease management, programme planning and evaluation.

Modules

You will conduct an independent research project in an area of interest to you. If you are intending to take an MSc Global Health themed award, the research project must be on a topic related to that theme. Dissertation projects will involve the assembly, analysis and interpretation of data. The project covers preparation and planning for the research as well as the analysis, discussion and presentation of the outcomes. You will be supervised by an experienced academic based at St George’s and, if you complete your research project abroad, will also receive local support. Previous projects have included a comparative analysis of suicidality and mental health of university students in Spain, the UK and US, for example, and a critical literature review of therapeutic mental health interventions in rural South Africa and the challenges in developing a comprehensive mental health intervention programme.

Tuition fees

UK fees
Course fees for UK students

For this course (per year)

£13,150

International fees
Course fees for EU and international students

For this course (per year)

£25,200

Entry requirements

You should have or be expected to achieve, a minimum of a second class degree (2:2). For healthcare graduates, a pass is required. All degrees must be awarded before 1 August on the year of entry. We welcome applications from individuals from a range of backgrounds, including humanities, science and healthcare. Alternative professional qualifications, or previous related experience, may be considered and we encourage you to apply. You will be expected to have experience of working in global health (e.g. for non-governmental organisations) and you may be required to submit supplementary details (e.g. transcripts).