South Africa

Approaches to Community Health in South Africa – syllabus
(IPBH3000 / 3 credits)

Students contemplate the pillars and principles of primary health care, casting a critical eye on health promotion, disease prevention, and curative interventions with a focus on coronavirus, HIV, and tuberculosis. Through lectures from academics at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, readings, and selected site visits, students critically examine topics including traditional healing, rural health and social justice, and the role of the media in promoting health in South Africa.

Social Determinants of Health in South Africa – syllabus
(IPBH3005 / 3 credits)

Through a combination of lectures, course readings, and practical experience, this course explores the pervasive effects of a history of racialized under-development and exploitation, then moves on to analyze the systems and policies that have been applied to redress inequities and improve health outcomes. The course is taught through facilitated engagement with local communities, schools, clinics and non-government organizations, and lectures by local experts on health, education, gender and law.

isiZulu – syllabus
(ZULU1003 / 3 credits)

The emphasis is on beginning speaking and comprehension skills through classroom and field instruction. Practice with host family members during the homestays augments formal instruction.

Research Methods and Ethics – syllabus
(ANTH3500 / 3 credits)

This course provides students with the necessary methodological and conceptual tools needed for independent learning in an unfamiliar setting . Through a combination of formal classes and field-based learning, students will develop the knowledge and skills to undertake primary research. The course covers a variety of mixed methodological tools typical of research in the area of public health, including evidence-based, ethnographical, and qualitative research, and basic epidemiology and statistical analyses. The course also introduces a number of non-traditional methods including narrative inquiry, photovoice, art and body-mapping.

In addition to taking the above courses, students will also need to enroll in one of the following two courses:

Independent Study Project
Independent Study Project – syllabus
(ISPR3000 / 4 credits)

Conducted in Durban or in another approved location appropriate to the project. Sample topic areas: sociological consequences of HIV/AIDS; a historical review of food security and nutrition programs in a community-based NGO; public health education campaigns; African refugees’ and asylum seekers’ access to health services; analysis of the proposed National Health Insurance scheme; sustainable development and healthcare; local attitudes about access to healthcare facilities; indigenous healing practices.

Sample ISP topic areas:

• Narratives of people living with HIV/AIDS
• Health worker attitudes toward traditional healing
• Community inventory of prenatal healthcare assets
• Sociological consequences of HIV/AIDS
• The discourse of public health education campaigns
• Sustainable development and healthcare
• Local attitudes about access to healthcare facilities
• The role of indigenous healing practices in contemporary South Africa
• Music and its effects on HIV-positive South Africans
• Mental health issues and available healthcare
• Reproductive health in rural South Africa
• A historical review of food security and nutrition programs in a community-based NGO
• African refugees’ and asylum seekers’ access to health services
• Analysis of the proposed National Health Insurance scheme

Browse this program’s Independent Study Projects and undergraduate research.

OR

Internship and Seminar
Internship and Seminar – syllabus
(ITRN3000 / 4 credits)

This seminar consists of a four-week internship with a local community organization, research organization, business, or international NGO. The aim of the internship is to enable the student to gain valuable work experience and to enhance their skills in an international work environment. Students will complete an internship and submit a paper in which they process their learning experience on the job, analyze an issue important to the organization, and/or design a socially responsible solution to a problem identified by the organization. A focus will be on linking internship learning with the program’s critical global issue focus and overall program theme.

Sample internships:

• Working at a rural or urban hospital or a community health center or clinic
  The program has established relationships with a number of hospitals and clinics in and around Durban. To work at a hospital or clinic, you must be pre-med.
• Supporting children and families at Blue Roof Wellness Centre
  The Blue Roof Wellness Centre was designed and built by Keep a Child Alive’s co-founder Alicia Keys. It provides a beautiful, peaceful setting for children and families to visit and access comprehensive HIV treatment, care, testing, and counseling; psychosocial and adherence support; TB and cervical cancer screening; and hot meals.
• Providing health services and hospice care to patients with cancer and HIV/AIDS at Chatsworth Hospice
  Situated in the predominantly Indian area of Chatsworth, the Hospice Association was formally launched in 1992, where it was resolved that services would be provided free of charge to cancer patients at all stages of the disease. In 2006, the services of the Hospice were extended to HIV/AIDS patients. From 2015, in accordance with the World Health Organization’s re-definition of palliative care, these services are available to all patients at the terminal stage of their illnesses for non-dispensing palliative care treatment only. All services remain cost free to patients and their families.