Global Health

Graduate Certificate in Global Health

Through the Vanderbilt Institute for Global Health, VUSN students can earn the Graduate Certificate in Global Health. The certificate requires 12 additional hours of course credit, including one of the three core courses: Fundamentals of Global Health (NURS 8072), Foundations of Global Health or Foundational Skills in Global Health, a variety of elective courses (including independent study opportunities), and/or a practicum. Learn more about the Graduate Certificate in Global Health.

If you are interested in completing the certificate, please contact Dr. Carol Ziegler at carol.c.ziegler@vanderbilt.edu. 

Since its inception, two VUSN students per year have earned the Global Health Certificate.

Global Health Courses

All count towards the Global Health Certificate

  • NURS 8072. Fundamentals of Global Health: Addressing Global Health Disparities (Summer)

    Modified Distance Format

    This is a 3 credit hour elective course designed for graduate students interested in global health and will consist of seven units: Introduction to Global Health, Health Disparities, Health Care Delivery Systems, Evidence-based Practice, Non-communicable and Communicable illnesses, Trauma and Violence and Effective, Ethical Models for Global Health Engagement. The course will focus on best practices for allocating scarce resources and engaging in interdisciplinary global health work with diverse communities from a cultural, ethical and clinical perspective. Students will engage in learning through readings, synchronous and asynchronous discussions, case studies and written assignments. This course is designed for students interested in caring for and empowering underserved populations locally and abroad.

  • NURS 6084/UNIV 5315. Planetary Health, Policy and Social Justice

    This is a 3 credit hour elective course designed for students interested in exploring the intersections between primary care, climate change (according to WHO, currently the greatest threat to global health), health, social justice and policy. The causes of climate change and the resulting primary, secondary and tertiary impacts on people and communities will be examined through the lens of global health and policy. Students will develop evidence-based and targeted adaptation and mitigation strategies as well as policy-based solutions, all incorporating science and engineering, political science and policy, law and economics as well as nursing and medicine to address healthspan disparities related to climate change and social vulnerability.

Meet Program Liaison

Carol Ziegler

Vanderbilt Institute for Global Health

The Vanderbilt Institute for Global Health (VIGH) maintains a website of resources for students participating in global health (and other international) experiences. The site’s pre-departure travel modules on cultural competency and other information about international health insurance, free VU evacuation services (ISOS), and the State Department’s STEP program for travel alerts might be useful for some of your students who are traveling abroad this summer. Students can find this all of this information and more on VIGH’s student travel portal (VUnetID login required). Additionally, the pre-departure modules and project development and educational resources may be helpful as well.

Independent Studies in Global Health

Students interested in completing independent studies can submit an idea to Dr. Carol Ziegler or another faculty mentor of their choice. Students can register for an independent study and gain credit towards the global health certificate, as well as complete a local practical and meaningful project in a community of their choice. Students completing independent studies are expected to engage in mentored scholarship and disseminate their work within and outside of the VUSN community. 

Global Health and Environmental Justice Club (GHEJC)

We are a group of advanced practice nursing students who believe that justice in health care extends beyond the walls of our hospitals, clinics, or the borders of our country.

  • We recognize climate change as one of the largest singular threats to health and quality of life globally and acknowledge the urgent need to act.
  • We believe that the protection of the natural environment is inextricably tied to human health.
  • In order to achieve a mission for global health, we must prioritize access to clean water, breathable air, and sustainable conservation of natural resources to provide the most basic necessities for human life.

The Global Health and Environmental Justice Club meets monthly to host speakers presenting current topics in global health. These announcements are sent out through the global health listserv.

Please email carol.c.ziegler@Vanderbilt.Edu if you are interested.

Faculty Advisor

Student Leadership

  • President: Brianna Schnuelle
  • VP: Kaelyn Carroll 
  • Secretary: Ericka King
  • Graphic Designer: Emily Stuart

Our Mission

  • To enable advanced practice nursing students to become leaders in issues of global and environmental health justice
  • To provide learning and discussion forums in areas of global health and global environmental justice, providing a platform for faculty, students, community members, and guest lecturers to disseminate ideas that enlighten, inspire, and challenge VUSN students
  • To bring together a network of students and leaders looking to address broad areas of global health and climate change, to encourage camaraderie in the field, and to develop scholarly, academic, and interprofessional collaboration
  • To exhibit broad opportunities for APRN involvement in local and global and environmental health justice
  • To engage in global-as-local service learning opportunities that address inequities in community and environmental health
  • To act as a liaison to interdisciplinary global health groups around campus, and to share and disseminate student opportunities.

The VUSN GHEJC was started by Dr. Ziegler in 2013 as the VUSN Global Health Journal Club, and served as a forum for students to read about and present on a topic related to global health issues or their own experiences. Student interest and leadership has transformed this group over the years from a scholarly journal club, to a student-led interest club. In 2018, an environmental subgroup was established, and in 2019, the groups merged into the GHEJC.  

Membership

This group is open to any VUSN student. Interested students can email club student leadership to be added to the GHEJC email list as well as the GHEJC Brightspace Course.

Resources

Resources can be found on the group’s Brightspace page.

The group meets on the third Monday of each month from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. and on the third Friday of the month hosts “Climate Fridays” from 12:20-1:10 p.m. This is a nurse-led community meeting where local impacts and adaptations related to climate change and carbon mitigation are discussed. Presently all meetings are held via Zoom.

Diversity and Inclusion

The Nursing Student Global Health Club has hosted two open discussions on diversity and inclusion and more are planned. These pithy sessions allow students and faculty a safe space to openly and honestly discuss how to build meaningful relationships in the current environment. Students and faculty share stories, and work to build empathy and meaningful dialogue to foster long-term change and relationship building. Hard questions around the topic of race in America, and across the globe, are addressed and discussed.

External Funding Available for Student Global Health Activities

VUSN students may compete for funding from the Friends in Global Health: Frist Award program and the VU Nichols Humanitarian Fund program. These were suspended recently, but will likely resume in the future. Students are made aware of these opportunities via the newsletter. VUSN has had awardees each year that these funds were offered.

FAQs

  • Are the Clinical Sites Available Outside the US?

    There are core competencies students in advanced practice nursing programs must meet. If there is a site outside of the US at which you can receive the experiences necessary to meet your course objectives and with an approved preceptor, it is possible to do this. However, there are several other steps that are necessary before an international site can be approved. The first step is to discuss your interest with your specialty program director.

  • Can I Go on a Short-Term Service or Volunteer Medical Mission Trip (Not Supported by Vanderbilt) and Count It for Clinical?

    Whether a volunteer trip can count toward a clinical course is up to your specialty program director. It will primarily depend on whether you are seeing the population specific for your specialty, supervised by an approved preceptor, obtaining experiences needed for the course objectives, and functioning in the advanced nursing practice student role. Taking the time during a semester to provide service like this may impact completion of your required courses in a timely way. It is possible, but you would need to find out what the potential impact would be before making the decision to participate.

  • Are There Courses in Global Health I Can Take?

    Yes, VUSN offers NURS 470 as an elective for doctoral level credit and this course may count towards the global health certificate. Also may be taken as an elective for Doctoral students and MSN students. Additionally, there are interprofessional courses you can take through Vanderbilt Institute for Global Health as well as Owen School of Business. Some are scheduled in a blocked format, face-to-face, and a few are offered in a distance format. For more information, see the Vanderbilt Global Health site.

  • Why Are Medical Students Able to Take Electives at No Additional Cost, but Nursing Students Are Charged Additional Tuition?

    The method of tuition is different between the two schools. Medical students pay a global tuition fee no matter how many courses they take, and it is very large. Nursing students pay tuition based on credit hours enrolled. Stipends may be available. Please check with the VUSN registrar.

  • Are There Any Study Abroad Opportunities?
    • Project Pyramid is a 3 module interprofessional course offered through Owen Business School with a mission to help alleviate global poverty. It includes a joint seven-week course between Owen and The Vanderbilt Divinity School (in collaboration with the Cal Turner Center for Moral Leadership) culminating in an international trip. Nursing students are encouraged to enroll in this course. See  the Project Pyramid page for more information.
    • There are other courses in development in which credit will be earned. These will be posted and distributed as they become available.
  • Are There Opportunities in the US to Care for Newly Immigrated Populations?

    Absolutely, and we highly encourage you to consider these opportunities. Talk to your program director to express your interest.