The Global and Community Health Track provides students with the opportunity for curricular and extracurricular activities in global and community health throughout the four year DMD program. The goal of this track is to provide DMD students with the tools necessary to become leaders in global and community health.
Admittance to the Global and Community Health Track is by application (available on the HSDM intranet) through the Office of Global and Community Health. Students may apply to the track between their first and third years in the DMD program. Students must be in good academic, clinical, and professional standing, as verified by the Promotions Committee, in order to be eligible to apply for this track. It is not possible to meet the track requirements without proper long term planning, so students should be in regular communication with the Office of Global and Community Health regarding their interests and plans. Please watch for email announcements and key dates, including when applications are due, as due dates vary year to year depending on the academic schedule.
This track requires that students: complete coursework; develop a scholarly project on a subject related to a core issue of global and/or community health under the supervision of a faculty sponsor; and write an original thesis based on the scholarly project that makes a unique contribution to the field.
Coursework:
Students are responsible for identifying available courses that meet their scheduling needs; it is recommended that students reach out to individual course directors with inquiries. Students must enroll in two elective global and community health courses, which may include DH501 Career Development in Global and Community Health, SDM, the Global Health Extension Course- Perspectives in Costa Rica, or equivalent as approved by the Office of Global and Community Health. Students may take additional Harvard graduate level courses to enhance their experience as their schedule allows.
Students are responsible for identifying available courses that meet their scheduling needs; it is recommended that students reach out to individual course directors with inquiries. Students must enroll in two elective global and community health courses, which may include DH501 Career Development in Global and Community Health, SDM, the Global Health Extension Course- Perspectives in Costa Rica, or equivalent as approved by the Office of Global and Community Health. Students may take additional Harvard graduate level courses to enhance their experience as their schedule allows.
GCH Scholarly Project: Students also will develop a Global and Community Health Scholarly Project.
Note: the GCH Track scholarly project must either build from the DMD required scholarly project to add something new OR be a separate project- in other words, students cannot count the same project as both their DMD scholarly project and their GCH Track project.
Thesis:
Once the course requirements are met and the GCH scholarly project is completed, students must begin developing their thesis, which is an original and in- depth piece of writing that describes the scholarly project and incorporates principles learned from the required track courses to produce a unique contribution to the field. Input from the faculty sponsor and other faculty members should be actively sought during the development of the scholarly project and thesis. The Office of Global and Community Health will provide students with the deadline for submission of the thesis.
Once the course requirements are met and the GCH scholarly project is completed, students must begin developing their thesis, which is an original and in- depth piece of writing that describes the scholarly project and incorporates principles learned from the required track courses to produce a unique contribution to the field. Input from the faculty sponsor and other faculty members should be actively sought during the development of the scholarly project and thesis. The Office of Global and Community Health will provide students with the deadline for submission of the thesis.
Participants in the track will be designated as Global and Community Health Fellows. They will help plan the Global and Community Health Seminar series, assist faculty with research, serve on relevant university committees and help raise awareness around HSDM and the university of global and community oral health issues.
Research Honors in Global and Community Health (optional):
Exceptional theses may be selected for thesis defense and considered for Research Honors in Global and Community Health. Students must submit the thesis to the Global and Community Health Honors Committee. If approved for defense, the thesis will be reviewed by two expert readers in the field as approved by the Office of Global and Community Health and the Office of Research. Thesis defense will be scheduled during March and April and may be scheduled with short notice at any time during that period, including vacation weeks. Students should be prepared for their thesis defense from the date of the thesis submission. The completion of a defense does not guarantee honors will be granted, even if all requirements have been met. The Global and Community Health Honors Committee will evaluate projects and make recommendations for honors to the Committee on Promotions, which will grant or deny honors.
Exceptional theses may be selected for thesis defense and considered for Research Honors in Global and Community Health. Students must submit the thesis to the Global and Community Health Honors Committee. If approved for defense, the thesis will be reviewed by two expert readers in the field as approved by the Office of Global and Community Health and the Office of Research. Thesis defense will be scheduled during March and April and may be scheduled with short notice at any time during that period, including vacation weeks. Students should be prepared for their thesis defense from the date of the thesis submission. The completion of a defense does not guarantee honors will be granted, even if all requirements have been met. The Global and Community Health Honors Committee will evaluate projects and make recommendations for honors to the Committee on Promotions, which will grant or deny honors.
Note: Thesis defense for honors is optional and not required to graduate with recognition for completing the Global and Community Health Track).
Participants who meet all requirements will be notified by the Office of Global and Community Health and will receive a designation on their official transcript indicating that they have completed the track.