The Division of Public Health (DPH) has a 20-year history of active global engagement through faculty led learning abroad programs and the development of lasting global and local collaborative partnerships. Since the early 2000's, student demand for global health and global public health education in the U. S. has skyrocketed and so has faculty interest. The DPH philosophical approach to learning abroad and the underlying requisite of global engagement has been heavily influenced by Community Based Participatory Research (CBPR) principles, including equal partnerships.
The Division of Public Health (DPH) experienced a period of expansion in global engagement from 2002 – 2018 with notable milestones. In 2003, the DPH formalized the Barekuma Community Collaborative Development Project with academic and community partners in the Central region of Ghana. A CBPR partnership was also formalized in India in 2011 called the Bassi Pathana Community Collaborative Development Project with local academic and community partners.
The Division offers a Master in Public Health Degree through the Utah Campus in Salt Lake City and the Division lead the establishment of the Ensign College of Public Health in Ghana where several faculty have had involvement in graduate teaching, research and practice collaborations. The Division has adjunct appointments with faculty in Ghana. The Division offers an MPH concentration and graduate certificate in global health and many faculty teach global health and/or mentor students. Public Health faculty are highly involved in developing partnerships or formal collaborations, often with CBPR approaches.
The Division has well-established faculty-led short term learning abroad programs in Ghana & Amsterdam, India (Himalayas), Peru and South Korea and faculty interest in expanding to Bhutan and South Africa. The Division has a 20 year history of non-clinical faculty-led learning abroad programs for undergraduate and graduate students. The learning abroad sites have created community-based public health field research opportunities resulting in student and faculty publications and dissemination of scholarly work. The Division’s longest international partnership is with the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) in Ghana. Not all interested faculty participate in learning abroad programs, rather, they collaborate with international research partners and participate in professional societies. Several faculty are involved in CUGH (Consortium for Universities in Global Health).