Title:	Equity in health care delivery for marginalized communities
Keywords:	Equity Health systems Vulnerable groups Disease prevention, control and elimination
Country:	United States of America
Institution:	USA - Global Medicine, University of Minnesota
Course coordinator:	Kristina Krohn
About duration and dates:	Asynchronous / year-round Applications are accepted on a rolling basis. Students can begin and complete the course at any time, within the expectations of their home institution.
Classification:	advanced optional
Mode of delivery:	Distance-based
Course location: Online, asynchronous
ECTS credit points:	2 ECTS credits
SIT: 60 hours total SIT This course consists of 35 direct contact hours, completed asynchronously. In addition, students plan to spend 25 additional hours for independent study and assessments.
Language:	English
Description: At the end of the module the student should be able to: 1. Reflect on a clinician’s role in engaging with marginalized communities including historical inequities in global health and cross-cultural care, risks for harm, conflicts of interest, and unique needs and strengths for given communities. 2. Examine key marginalized populations’ unique health issues, determinants of health, available health systems, and prevention efforts. 3. Appraise clinical research methods and ethics for engaging with marginalized communities 4. Examine the effects on patient care of common environmental exposures and climate change on the health of marginalized communities in low resource settings. 5. Explore barriers and opportunities for providing health care to marginalized communities during disaster and outbreak responses and in resource-limited settings.
Assessment Procedures: Formative - Completion of pre-test allows students to identify their baseline knowledge level and primes them for the type of information they will be required to know later in the course. Questions are primarily multiple choice, with explanations provided after the quiz is submitted. Formative - Completion of all online activities (pass/fail). Our Learning Management System tracks that students have clicked on the main links to start each lecture and lesson. To unlock the next module of the course, all activities, quizzes and reflections must be completed. Formative - Reflection posts. For each section within the course, students must reflect on the module and describe the most important thing that they take away in order to advance to the next module. This is a personal reflection and a formative activity, receiving full points for any reflection. Intermittently, and before certification is given, a faculty member will review the reflections. Students must complete the reflection to unlock the next section of the course. When faculty review the reflections, if there is no reflection written or if the questions posed are not answered appropriately, then the student is notified and given the opportunity to fully complete the reflection posts to earn the certificate of course completion. 50% - Quizzes. For each section within the course students must pass the quiz to advance to the next section (a score of 80% is required to pass). Five total quizzes, as summative assessments for each section. 50% - Post-test (multiple choice questions). This is a summative assessment covering all sections of the course (a score of 80% is required to pass). The post-test includes feedback and explanations for why answers are incorrect. Students must achieve an overall passing score of 80% or above, to pass this course. In the event of failing, students will have the option to repeat the failed component until successful completion of the course is achieved. Of note, this score of 80% is intentionally higher than many in-person courses, because students have more opportunity to learn the material at their own pace in this fully asynchronous course, and they will have the option to repeat any component until 80% is achieved.
Content: This is an advanced course on health equity in the delivery of healthcare for marginalized communities, highlighting clinical cases from a medical perspective . A. A clinician’s role in engaging with marginalized communities Before engaging with marginalized populations as a clinician it is important to understand the colonial history of global health and some of the external factors that affect clinical care. From a medical perspective, this section discusses ethical issues, colonial history, and introduces key U.S. and WHO policies that affect provision of health care in low-resource settings mostly in Africa and SE Asia. B. Key populations’ unique health issues This section seeks to inform physicians and other clinicians of unique aspects of medical care or history needed to provide quality medical care for select populations that traditionally have barriers to receiving medical care. This includes key aspects of providing care for people with specific conditions where marginalization and/or poverty highly impact clinical presentations and provision of care. C. Research with marginalized communities as a clinician This section takes key ethical, statistical, and research concepts frequently used or encountered, and applies them to working with marginalized communities as a clinician. D. Environmental exposures and climate change impacts on marginalized populations’ health. This section discusses how environmental exposures and climate change specifically impact the health of highlighted marginalized populations in this course. E. Practical approaches to improving the health of marginalized populations during disasters and in outbreak responses This section discusses health care in emergency, crisis, and disaster contexts from the medical provider’s perspective. This includes preparedness and assessment to risk-based classifications and precautions, with reference to specific clinical applications.
Methods: This is purely an asynchronous online course. Lessons are a combination of highly edited videos of lectures to live audiences, video lectures specific for the online course, and interactive asynchronous lessons with combinations of text, images, and videos with question prompts, sorting activities and reflections built into the lesson. The reflective assignments will be reviewed by a faculty member, and if appropriate, additional feedback provided to students. The course is hosted on canvas.umn.edu. All students have access to course directors by email for questions. There are two course directors available, plus at least six other core faculty who are available to answer questions remotely.
Prerequisites: This is an advanced medical course in global health. Prior knowledge and experience in clinical health sciences is required. As a general rule, at least 3 years (180 ECTS) should be completed in medicine. However, other professions with a clinical background may apply for special permission to be admitted. Non-medical participants may take this course, although they should be prepared that this course is designed for clinicians. Experience in low- and middle-income countries is relevant but not necessary. All activities are in English and fluent English is required. If relevant, the minimum requirements are English TOEFL test score 213 (computer-based) or 550 (paper-based) or 79-80 (internet-based) or IELTS band 6.0. Basic computer and internet connection capable of playing slides and short videos is required.
Attendance: Students must complete all asynchronous activities to complete the course.
Selection: Students are accepted on a rolling basis.
Fees: Practicing health care providers: USD $895 Trainees, including tropEd: USD $450 For details, contact globalhealth@umn.edu
Scholarships: Scholarships are not currently available to tropEd students. This tuition is already priced at a discounted student rate.
tropEd accreditation: Accredited in EC Telco, Sept. 2025. The accreditation is valid until Sept. 2030
Remarks: tropEd students will have a dedicated meeting with the tropEd representative at the start and end of their asynchronous course. All content is part of an approved curriculum qualifying for the US Certificate of Knowledge in Clinical Tropical Medicine and Traveler’s Health (CTropMed Examination), as well as the UK Diploma in Tropical Medicine and Hygiene (DTM&H). For further details: https://www.astmh.org/education-resources/certificate-programs https://www.rcplondon.ac.uk/diploma-tropical-medicine-and-hygiene
Email Address:	globalhealth@umn.edu
Date Of Record Creation:	2025-09-05 10:45:33 (W3C-DTF)
Date Of Record Release:	2025-09-05 10:55:29 (W3C-DTF)
Date Record Checked:	2025-09-05 (W3C-DTF)
Date Last Modified:	2025-09-05 10:55:29 (W3C-DTF)