Syracuse University Comparative Health Policy Program
http://suabroad.syr.edu/programs/program.html?id=240
What You Need to Know
At its core, the field of health policy represents the bridge between the "real world" of health as it is and what observers determine it should be. That determination is grounded in the perspective of each individual observer based on his or her particular training, experience, role in the economy and society, and, ultimately, values. With travel to Geneva, Amsterdam and Morocco the goal of the course is for students to develop their own individual point of view regarding the role of health policy in contributing to the improvement of the health and well being of populations in the United States and international communities.
Through a variety of learning modalities students will have the opportunity to examine problems in providing adequate access to medical services for everyone, controlling rising healthcare costs, and assuring the provision of good quality health care. Equally important students will also examine the factors beyond the delivery of health services such as the nature of health risks and their prevention, various strategies to promote health education and promotion, organizational and political factors, and social and demographic trends that play a critical role in shaping health policies and how countries provide health care to their populations.
Eligibility and Requirements
Admission to the course will be based on academic qualifications and seriousness of purpose. Applications are especially encouraged from those studying or intending to study medicine, law, health policy, sociology of medicine, health economics, public administration, health communication, nursing, social work, or other related fields. Enrollment will be limited.
Each student must attend the entire course to receive academic credit. Grades will be based on intensity of participation, a short paper written during the course, and a longer research paper completed after the traveling portion of the course.
Travel and Living
Intercity air travel in Europe is arranged by SU Abroad and covered in the program fee. Students will arrange and pay for their own flight to Europe. Students should plan on flying into Amsterdam- arriving May 26 and depart from Casablanca Airport, Morocco-departing June 22nd.
Students are housed in shared rooms in hotels rented by Syracuse University in Amsterdam and Geneva. Meals are not included, except for breakfast and some group meals. In Morocco, housing is with host familes. All meals are included in the program fee for the Morocco part of the trip.
Courses
Students are required to take the following course:
Comparative Health Policy
(HTW 400/600, 6 credits, undergraduate or graduate)
This course will use a variety of modalities for students to learn about comparative health policies. Students will visit Geneva, Amsterdam, and Morocco to fully immerse themselves in settings that take different policy approaches to health problems. They will have the opportunity to visit important health care institutions (e.g., the World Health Organization in Geneva) and participate in discussions with health care leaders in each country which will provide first hand insight into health policy making process. Against this stimulating background, assignments and class-wide discussions will be undertaken for course topics that focus directly on different approaches to the delivery of health care and extending beyond to the social and demographic factors that shape the making and implementation of health policies across nations.
Faculty
Sandra D. Lane, Ph.D., MPH is a professor of public health and anthropology at Syracuse University and a research professor in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Upstate Medical University. She received her Ph.D. in medical anthropology from the joint program at the University of California at San Francisco and Berkeley, and an MPH in epidemiology from the University of California at Berkeley. Her work has been funded with 17 external grants, from the CDC, HRSA, EPA, DHHS and private foundations. Lane has published 30 peer reviewed journal articles, 19 book chapters and a 2008 book, “Why Are Our Babies Dying? Pregnancy, Birth and Death in America.” She was the founding director of Syracuse Healthy Start, an infant mortality prevention program, in Syracuse, New York. She has been a consultant to the World Health Organization for operational research on tuberculosis, UNFPA and UNICEF for Rapid Assessment Procedures, and the Joint Commission on the Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO) for qualitative methods in hospital evaluation. She conducted program evaluation through hospital ethnography with the USAID-funded Healthy Mother/Healthy Child program to reduce maternal mortality in Upper Egyptian hospitals. From 1988-1992, she was the Child Survival, Reproductive Health and Population Program Officer in the Ford Foundation’s Cairo, Egypt field office, with grant-making responsibility for Egypt, Sudan, Jordan, Lebanon, Yemen, and the West Bank and Gaza. In the Ford Foundation, she was responsible for 40 grants totaling over $4 million and provided technical support to indigenous scholars to write proposals, develop programs and conduct effective evaluations. At Case Western Reserve University in 1996 she was awarded the Carl F. Wittke Award for Distinguished Undergraduate Teaching and the John S. Diekhoff Award for Distinguished Graduate Teaching.
Dates
Program begins in Amsterdam: May 26, 2011
Depart for Geneva: June 3, 2011
Depart for Malaga, Spain: June 10, 2011
Depart for Morocco: June 12, 2011
Program ends in Morocco: June 22, 2011
Application Deadline: March 1*
* Applications received after March 1 will be considered if there is still space in the program.
Costs
UNDERGRADUATE (6 credits)
Tuition $5,796
Program Fee $3,470
Total $9,266
GRADUATE (6 credits)
Tuition $7,236
Program Fee $3,470
Total $10,706
Please note: Program fee is estimated and subject to change.
Additional Financial Information: We estimate that students should budget accordingly for the following expenses:
Books & Supplies: $30
Flight: $1,400
Personal: $500
Meals: $500
These figures are for expenses not covered in the tuition or program fee and are paid out-of-pocket.