Global Health and Humanitarian Medicine Course – Frequently Asked Questions

About the course

A graduate degree in Allopathic Medicine (MBBS or equivalent) and minimum two years of work experience post-internship.

No, the course is open for all medical doctors with interest and passion for tropical medicine, public health and humanitarian work.

A panel of academicians, clinicians and humanitarian aid professionals review each application. The panel takes the final call in the selection of the candidates.

The course is designed only for the medical doctors.

No, the course is open for all medical doctors

Yes, you are, however, we encourage potential applicants to defer their enrollment if in case they have taken any other fulltime courses or have other pressing professional commitments. This is a highly demanding course and the enrolled students will need to meet the strict attendance requirement.

Funding

Since the course is already subsidized by MSF, there are no individual scholarships. However, we encourage students to seek out external scholarships. The students are welcome to reach out to us after their acceptance and we will be happy to provide a letter of acceptance for applying to scholarship programmes.

Course structure

It is a ten-month course. It runs form mid- June to DTM&H exam in April.

This is an online course, which requires a student to attend a webinar / lecture on real-time basis. The classes run from 1600-1800 IST, every Thursday.  The lectures can be accessed remotely using the adobe connect software on a computer or a mobile phone.

The course broadly covers the syllabus for the DTM&H examination with additional focus on working in humanitarian contexts. This course comprises an array of topics; ranging from Tropical diseases, and Parasitology, Public Health, Maternal and Child Health, Humanitarian Crisis / Complex Emergencies, to non-communicable diseases.

Additionally, there is 16 hours of face-to-face Basic Microscopy and Parasitology Training at one of the collaborating institutes in South Asia. 

The classes are hosted from MSF South Asia /UK offices or collaborating institutes in South Asia.

The only face-to-face element of the course is the 16 hours of Basic Microscopy and Parasitology training at the collaborating laboratories. The laboratory trainings are organized at a few RCP accredited laboratories in South Asia and outside. A student based on his availability has to select a laboratory of his/her preference.

The weekly lectures run from 1600 to 1800 hours every Thursday. You are required to spare two hours every week for the lectures. In addition, there are weekly quizzes and fortnightly group activities that you have to complete before the given deadlines. This amounts to additional 2 hours per week. We recommend that students are willing to commit 6-8 hours of self-directed learning per week.

The minimum requirement for the course completion is:

  1. 70% attendance in the weekly webinars.
  2. Contribution to 70% of the online group activities
  3. Participation in the 16 hours of parasitology laboratory training

Like all part time courses, enrollment to GHHM course will require consistent effort and time, along with your other professional and personal commitments. You are expected to dedicate two hours every week for the weekly lectures, other than that you are also required to commit another couple of hours per week for mandatory group activities and quizzes,

For each group activity, there will be a deadline of completion; you will have to complete that activity before the expiry of that deadline. Your contribution to the group activity is marked as attendance. 

Failure in meeting any of the above mentioned attendance criteria, which also includes contributing to 70% of online group activities, would result in ineligibility to sit the DTM&H 

You will not be eligible to write the DTM&H examination and your GHHM course remains incomplete.

Examination and Course Completion

The Royal College of Physicians, UK conducts the exam.

The examination is structured as follows:

  • Morning – 100 ‘best of five’ questions, 16 of which are based on clinical images designed to test the candidate’s knowledge of tropical medicine and hygiene over a wide area (3 hours).
  • Afternoon – Preventive medicine and Parasitology/entomology ‘short answer’ papers (2.5 hours).

India and UK, host the exam. A student can write the exam at any of the two sites.

A student can attempt the exam up to 6 times.

Yes, on successful completion of the course, MSF will provide a certificate of completion.

Yes, a student has to complete the minimum course requirements.

Yes, 250 GBP as the DTM&H examination fees to Royal College of Physicians. There is a slight change of about +/-10 GBP in the fees for the examinations every year.

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