SGLK13005U Field Work, Global Health

The course is in two parts: a theoretical and a practical part.

The theoretical part lasts for 2½ weeks and takes place at the University of Copenhagen. The students will be prepared for the practical part, which lasts for five weeks and takes place in collaboration with a partner institution abroad. However, it is possible for students to carry out the practical part in other settings if there are good reasons for this; for instance, students may be offered to do projects in Denmark, if of global relevance. All field work study designs must be approved by the supervisor and respect local, national and international ethics and regulations, including standards and guidelines for good practice.

The two weeks of preparation in Copenhagen will deal with how the knowledge and skills acquired in the previous six mandatory modules will be put to use when going on the field trip. In addition, the students will be preparing themselves for the departure to their field destination. Apart from pre-departure training, they will be learning about the health systems of the society of their destination through information search and data gathering & analysis, as well as through lectures – some lecturers will be visiting staff from the field trip partner institution.

The students will work on designing a feasible study and preparing data collection while considering different methods and ethics as well as standards for good conduct when carrying out field work, and intercultural communication. Good laboratory practice will be discussed, including sample and data collection and handling, as well as data security (i.e. safe storage of sample specimen and protection of electronic information with regards to confidentiality). Through lectures, presentations and group-work around specific cases, the students will become further skilled in applied research methodologies, building on previous courses.

The students must design a protocol and plan for the field study, which must be accepted by the Faculty supervisor prior to commencing the field work.

The practical part will usually take place in connection with a partner institution, where the students may in some cases be taking part in existing research projects in affiliation with a local partner institution. External faculty from the local host institutions at the field study sites will participate in the teaching, planning and supervision of the field work. The students will work with their projects in groups, collecting data in various settings. 

Upon completion of the field work, the students must analyse their data and write a project report in which, based on their findings, they will conclude on their research problem.