MsihMD.org | The Medical School for International Health | Medical Curriculum & Global Health Education

International Health and Medicine (IHM) is integrated within the standard four-year medical curriculum.

Download the MSIH 4-year curriculum with highlighted IHM overview.

The four-week orientation program includes an overview of Israeli cultures and geography with emphasis on the populations and medical services in the Negev region of Israel. Students are also introduced to international medicine, medical ethics and emergency medicine and language skills.

First-year students take the full-year Clinical and Global Medicine course, which includes a formal introduction to international health and medicine via the study of:

1.) Demography and Health Indicators
2.) Health Problems in Lesser Developed Countries
3.) Cross Cultural Health Beliefs
4.) Maternal and Child Health
5.) Primary Health Care
6.) Global Health and Environment
7.) The Cost of Sickness and the Price of Health
8.) Infectious and Tropical Diseases
9.) International Programs and Projects
10.) Health Care Organizations

As part of this course, students also develop their cross-cultural communication skills through weekly visits to health care facilities serving Israel’s diverse communities, such as the Bedouin, Ethiopian and Russian immigrants, and kibbutzim.

IHM modules are taught in a two-year cycle. Four 8-12 hour modules are taught each year. Each student is required to complete four modules of their choice by the end of Year II. Modules offered and planned include:

Aging Around the World
Grant Writing
Disaster Relief
Health Care Systems
Medical Anthropology
Public Health in Papua, New Guinea
Poverty and Health
Nutrition in the Third World
Pediatrics in East Africa
Alternative Medicine
Bio-terrorism
Environmental Health Sciences
Health Education in Less Developed Countries

The IHM Enrichment Lecture Series is presented by distinguished visiting professionals. Recent topics have included:

The Palestinian Health Care System
Medical Plants in Tribal Societies
Cross-Cultural Bioethics.

During Years I and II, IHM is integrated in the standard medical school curriculum of basic science courses and courses in body systems with the insertion of material pertinent to IHM in lesser developed countries and populations.

Clerkships in clinical medicine during Year III include exposure to diverse populations and various medical facilities, such as major medical centers, community clinics, and mobile units serving remote desert communities.

A two-day intensive workshop (developed by students) in cross-cultural medicine emphasizes communications skills and awareness of cultural diversity.

Students also complete an introduction and preparation for the two-month clerkship in International Health and Medicine that takes place in Year IV.

The Clerkship in International Health and Medicine is a required, supervised two-month elective in a lesser-developed region of the world consisting of a one-month clinical rotation (with local students) at a university teaching hospital, one month at a rural primary healthcare center, and completion of a supervised research project that addresses a relevant community health issue. The Clerkship in IHM takes place between mid-January and mid-March of Year IV.

Participants in the teaching and ongoing development of the IHM curriculum

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Faculty from Ben-Gurion University and Columbia University
Visiting faculty from institutions affiliated with Ben-Gurion University and Columbia University
Practitioners in the field of IHM from organizations in international health and relief services
Leaders in health care policy-making and planning from around the world.