Students will also examine policy issues, conditions and determinants of public health and health policy in international health, and acquire an introduction to tropical diseases and review the strategies used to respond to these diseases in resource-limited settings. Our group will supplement lectures with labs designed to enhance clinical skills. We will also gain hands-on experience through visits to local facilities and projects, including the Vector Control Unit in San Ignacio Hospital, international health care organizations PAHO and UNICEF, community health centres, government agricultural departments, and local hospitals and healers to learn about One Health from a variety of perspectives.

Finally, students will learn to approach health in its wider social, economic and political context and acquire a basic understanding of the intimate, interdependent relationship between health and development processes. Lectures, readings from primary literature, field-based learning and group discussions are also integral components of the program and provide the conceptual framework for discussion, analysis, and interpreting field observations and findings. By the end of the program, students will be able to describe the major issues and challenges in health and disease in Belize and globally, identify mortality and morbidity in the Tropics, demonstrate knowledge of health concerns in Belize by ethnic and economic status, and much more.