International Health and Development

QMU’s Institute for International Health and Development (IIHD), which opened in 1983, is one of the longest established centres working on the social determinants of health in middle income and resource poor settings in the UK. IIHD focuses on multidisciplinary postgraduate education, research and technical assistance to development agencies, non-government organisations and government.

We have an excellent track record in educating postgraduate students at MSc and PhD level to contribute to health and social well-being in resource poor and middle income countries.

The focus of IIHD is on the social determinants of health such as inequality, poverty, conflict and gender differences as well as topics such as sexual and reproductive health, health systems and human resources for health in globally and locally marginalised populations. There is a particular focus on the health and wellbeing of people in post conflict settings as well as refugees. Uniquely IIHD has developed teaching and research in the area of human resources for health.

The Institute offers a range of postgraduate courses at MSc, PgDip and PgCert level, as well as short courses and a lively PhD programme. Students enter our postgraduate courses from a range of disciplinary backgrounds and professional experiences. IIHD has recently been successful in securing funding from the UK Department for International Development (DfID) through its prestigious research consortia competition. The research consortium that IIHD is engaged with is entitled Rebuild and will examine the impact of removing financial barriers on access to reproductive, maternal and newborn health services focusing on the challenges and policy implications for human resources for health. This research will be carried out with research partners at the University of Aberdeen and Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine. Together we will undertake the six year study investigating the effects of changes to user fees policies on the situation of human resources for health in Sierra Leone, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Ghana and Nepal.

Why QMU?

QMU has been the home to an innovative programme of learning, teaching and research on international health and development for over twenty years. It has an excellent reputation for producing hands-on graduates with both conceptual understanding and practical skills to work in the heath sector. The new campus is equipped with first class IT facilities enabling students to access and interact with information from all over the world as well as learning in a highly supportive environment where experienced academic staff are available to teach and advise in the daily teaching structure. We recognise that IIHD students will come from a variety of educational background and therefore intensive support through study skills and access to the university’s educational resources centre is available to students as well as the excellent resources in the Learning Resource Centre through books, electronic journals and internet facilities. Academic staff at IIHD come from a wide range of disciplinary backgrounds including health economics, psychology, anthropology, nursing, medicine and development studies and have extensive professional experience.

Industry links

IIHD works closely with international development and health organisations as well as university departments across the world. Input from these stakeholders, including the employers of our alumni informs the content of our courses to ensure it is relevant for employment within the sector. Where possible, placements for MSc dissertation research are arranged with our global partners and alumni, including an orphan and vulnerable children’s support project in Malawi and an NGO working with HIV in Uganda. Visiting lecturers are sourced from our partners and alumni both for face-to-face teaching, internet-based inputs and dissertation supervision. Our graduates are working in a range of posts including ministries of health, International NGOs such as MSF and Save the Children, and local NGO’s as well as education, research and government policy.

Our approach to learning and teaching

Teaching and learning is student-centred and participatory with excellent resources as well as high-quality support for learning. At postgraduate level, you will come to us with a wealth of experience drawn from your academic and professional backgrounds. This will be used in class situations for group learning and case studies. Teaching and learning is carried out in class based sessions, group work, internet based learning, seminars as well as individual study.

Research degree opportunities

IIHD offers research opportunities for academic researchers or practitioners to work on issues of real importance in social justice linked to health, in the challenges of post-conflict environments and in the exploration of helping health systems respond to the challenges of the new century, globalisation and health sector reform. We currently have a large cohort of PhD students from many different countries including Indonesia, Nigeria, India, Pakistan, Thailand, USA, Spain, Japan, Malawi among others.

Career prospects and guideline salaries

Our degrees lead to careers in a variety of settings. Many of our graduates are looking to progress up the management ladder within their organisations and others are looking for a complete change of career. We counsel students that the first job is not always the ‘perfect’ one, but that it is important graduates get that first post and gain experience. At IIHD we circulate a range of job opportunities in our partner organisations and are often able to suggest candidates for vacancies our partners are looking to fill. After this, they seem to do very well obtaining employment in the health or social sectors in ministries of health, national or local NGOs and international organisations. Salaries are difficult to estimate as our graduates are working in countries as diverse as Sudan, France, Sri Lanka and USA. Postings to humanitarian organisations such as MSF or the Red Cross/ Crescent may require a substantial salary sacrifice but our graduates are often interested in these due to job satisfaction, their personal ethics and values, or for work experience. Jobs in this sector can range from £20K to £50K depending on settings and experience.

Our courses:

»PgCert Applied Social Development

»PgCert Conflict, Social Development and Health

»MSc Health Systems

»MSc Human Resources for Health

»MSc International Health

»MSc Sexual And Reproductive Health

»MSc Social Development and Health

Professional short courses

As well as our degrees, we also offer a number of short courses which will allow you to engage in professional development if you are not able to commit to full-time study/ a full degree. No written assessments are carried out, but you will be expected to dedicate time to reading and practical exercises. The courses cost £640 each for home /EU students and £1055 for international students and can take place over one to a maximum of 5 weeks. Additional time will be required for assignments.

We currently offer the following short courses:

We also offer short courses in Human Resources for Health which are open to experienced health professionals and health planners who want to acquire the necessary insights and skills to use the new tools and techniques needed for modernising the health workforce in developing and transitional economies around the world. The courses are designed for professional development and no prior knowledge of human resource management is required. The fees vary from £1200 for early registration on one course to £5000 for three courses. These are concentrated courses that take place over one or two weeks.

Our current short courses are:

For more information on these short courses, please contact Kyoko Jardine or T: +44 (0)131 474 0000. More information is also available at http://www.qmu.ac.uk/iihd/short_courses/short_courses.htm.

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