Global Health and Mental Health MSc

St George's, University of London

Overview

Mental health disorders, such as depression, anxiety and substance use, affect millions of people – estimated to be at least 10% of the world’s population – negatively impacting their quality of life or leading to premature death. Although mental health is increasingly recognised as a global concern, it remains a neglected, long time overlooked aspect of healthcare in many societies – often not even acknowledged as a ‘health’ problem or viewed as taboo. Developing appropriate mental health services requires greater awareness of the attitudes to these disorders within individual communities, as well as the social and economic factors that cause them.

If you are looking to make a real difference in the pursuit of health equity and global justice, our stimulating suite of MScs in Global Health will help you better understand global health issues, policy and practices in the 21st century. Reflecting contemporary concerns and areas of research excellence at St George’s, we offer five specialist pathways in Global Health – in Conflict, Humanities, Mental Health, Ethics and Law, and Infection and Immunity – as well as the broad-based general degree.

Highly practical in nature, drawing on experiences of our own faculty and the many practitioners we have links with, these courses will be of particular interest to those who already work or wish to pursue an internationally focused career in development, policy, education, research or humanitarian relief. This includes policymakers, doctors, other health professionals and anyone with a strong interest in governance, management, law, politics, economics, policy, science, anthropology, philosophy and ethics.

Careers

Graduating with a master’s degree in Global Health from St George’s opens up a world of opportunities – quite literally. The breadth of practical experience and insight, coupled with the international connections you will make, prepare you to make impactful change and positively influence the health of people anywhere in the world.

Careers in global health are often divided into clinical and non-clinical with opportunities in both addressing issues of public or global health, or working in leadership, consultancy or research roles in either government or the private sector, as well as national and international agencies, such as WHO, Unicef or Save the Children, for example.

Career options include policy development, advocacy, health systems administration and management, education, research, community outreach, community healthcare planning, infectious disease management, programme planning and evaluation.

Depending on your interests and chosen specialism, you will also be able to target the countries, individuals, initiatives or challenges you feel most passionately about. On completion, you will also be equipped with practical research-based training and skills putting you in a good position to apply for a PhD, which some of our students choose to do.