San Diego State University, Program in Global Health, San Diego CA, USA
Member profile
The Graduate School of Public Health (GSPH) at San Diego State University (SDSU) began as a dream in 1976 shared by James W. Cobble, Dean of the Graduate Division at SDSU; the late Dr. John J. Hanlon, former Assistant Surgeon General of the U.S. Public Health Service and a father of modern public health; and Thomas B. Day, former President of SDSU. The mission of the GSPH is to approach population and individual health by integrating a variety of disciplines to study biomedical, genetic, psychosocial, cultural, environmental, societal, and political influences on health. Because of its location in an ethnically diverse region of the U.S./Mexico Border and the Pacific Rim, the GSPH is especially devoted to preparing students to research and promote health with many diverse national and international populations. The mission is accomplished through instruction, research, and community service goals.
Main activities
The GSPH vision is to be the premier academic resource for education, research, and outreach in community-focused public health. The GSPH prepares public health professionals who are able to identify and assess needs of populations; plan, implement, and evaluate programs to address those needs; and otherwise assure conditions that protect and promote the health of populations. The GSPH conducts nationally and internationally recognized research in all five major disciplines of public health to help communities achieve public health needs. San Diego has a large concentration of health-related businesses and organizations, including biotechnology companies, managed care organizations and large health care providers. This provides fertile ground for learning about current public health issues.
Links to the health workforce crisis
GSPH has exchange agreements with schools in Germany and Chile. Emphasis is placed on a program called VIIDAI; it is a unique, international public health field experience. Each semester, approximately 90 faculty and students in medicine spend approximately four days in the field in migrant camps, in integrated Mexican and American teams. GSPH also supports the California Distance Learning Health Network (CDLHN); this is a non-profit organization at SDSU. It utilizes the latest broadcast technology to bring distance learning educational opportunities to the public health sector as well as healthcare workers in California, across the nation, and around the world.
Call for knowledge information:
Alliance Members are invited to submit any relevant knowledge products such as documents, reports, tools, multimedia, links to specific project web sites by sending an email to ghwa@who.int. The Alliance Secretariat will publish relevant products on the Member's page.
Visit our Knowledge centre.
