Students develop a theological framework with which to engage those who experience pain and hardship. The course addresses the importance of holistic mission through caring for the pastoral, spiritual, medical, and health-related needs of those experiencing illnesses, disabilities, cancer, etc. Assessment items include reading, lectures, case-study projects, discussion forums, and service projects pointed to a global area of interest.

This course defines ecotheology and ecomissiology as applied to global health and medical mission. Students will be able to describe how various climate regimes impact health, with a focus on the tropics (10/40 window), including severe weather and climate events and tropical diseases.

Students will be involved in in depth discussions and reviews of what medical missions are, when they are most effective and when are they not.

The course provides the student with a broad understanding of the numerous and most commonly encountered legal and operational issues that must be taken into consideration when launching or leading a charitable medical clinic. Common issues are addressed including: scope of services, funding sources, tax exempt status, recruitment and licensure of medical volunteers; insurance coverage and liability; prescription drug management; patient privacy; and quality of care and other patient care issues. Attention is given to how these issues are addressed in global situations.

Western medicine typically utilizes advanced diagnostic tools of laboratory, x-rays, and so one. In the context of not having these resources readily available, the missional healthcare worker must rely more heavily on the art of medicine, particularly history-taking and hands-on examinations.

This course offers students an introduction to the diverse disasters encountered around the globe, the medical responses that are available in the intial and later phases.

This course provides the foundational concepts and practical skills for designing and implementing surveillance systems, for using surveillance data for the conduct and evaluation of public health programs and research. Topics covered in this course include historical development of surveillance; planning a surveillance system, sources of health related information, collecting surveillance data, analyzing and interpreting surveillance data, and the use of surveillance data for public health action. Students design a proto-type surveillance system for a specific global area of interest.