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.