About the course
You need to have:
- A degree in Medicine (MBBS or equivalent) from a medical school recognised by the UK General Medical Council in any country
- A minimum of two years clinical experience working as a medical doctor (excluding mandatory internship).
We will prioritise your application if you have worked in or intend to work in poor-resource settings and/or humanitarian crises.
The London based course, GHHM UK, is available to medical doctors in:
- Africa
- Europe
- and the Americas.
The Delhi based course, GHHM South Asia, is available to medical doctors in Asia and Oceania, including:
- Central Asia
- South Asia
- East Asia China
- Middle East
- Southwest Asia
- Southeast Asia
- Australia
- and New Zealand.
Places are not allocated on a first-come-first-served basis.
A scoring system is used to grade each application. Higher scores will be given to applicants working in or those with experience in the fields of humanitarian/tropical medicine. A panel of academicians, clinicians, and humanitarian aid professionals then review each application and make the final decision on which candidates are to be offered a place on the GHHM course.
The course is designed only for medical doctors.
The course is open to all medical doctors, irrespective of their workplace.
The GHHM course is highly demanding and there is a strict attendance requirement.
If you're undertaking any other full-time courses or have other pressing professional commitments, we encourage you to defer your application for GHHM.
The course is organised through the MSF UK office in London and MSF South Asia office in New Delhi.
MSF-UK collects your personal data on this form for the sole purpose of administering the Global Health and Humanitarian Medicine Course.
The data is processed under Article 6(1)(b) (performance of a contract) of the General Data Protection Regulation.
It is shared only with the academic institutions providing the course.
If unsuccessful in your application, we will securely retain your data for one calendar year.
If successful in your application we will securely retain your data for five years following your completion of the course, and after this will retain only basic contact information in order to maintain records of the course.
You have a right to object to the processing of your data, and to complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office should you feel our processing of your personal data is not compliant with the law.
For full details of MSF-UK’s Privacy Policy, and how to contact us, please see our Privacy Notice.
Funding
The GHHM course costs:
- £2760 if you are residing in a high-income country
- £750 if you are residing in an upper middle-income country
- £650 if you are residing in a lower middle-income country
- £550 if you are residing in a low-income country
As part of our curriculum, we will host in person laboratory and microscopy training through our global partnerships in India and other international sites. For those unable to travel for laboratory training we offer an online training package, where you will be given access to our Parasitology Handbook, our online Parasitology app, and a range of resources to help you with this module.
For those undertaking in-person laboratory training the course fee includes the cost of undertaking the Basic Microscopy and Parasitology Training.
The fee does not include the travel and accommodation costs required for the Basic Microscopy and Parasitology Training if the Basic Microscopy and Parasitology Training is delivered face-to-face.
The course fee does not include the cost of the DTM&H exam.
No, there is no payback period associated with this course and you do not need to work with MSF once you have completed the course.
Once you have received an offer of a place on the GHHM course we can discuss payment options with you.
There are options to make one full payment or pay your course fees in instalments. If you decide to pay your course fees in instalments payments must be complete by the end of the calendar year.
Course structure
It is a 10-month course that starts in September and ends in June.
This is predominately an online course, which requires you to attend a webinar/lecture on a real-time basis.
The classes run from 18:00-20:00 GMT/BST every Tuesday evening.
The lectures can be accessed remotely using Microsoft Teams or Zoom on a computer or a mobile phone.
There are teaching days on weekends in October 2024, December 2024 and April 2025. There will also be a Revision weekend held just before the DTM&H examination.
Outside of structured learning time, you'll need to spend approximately two to four hours dedicate to self-directed learning per week.
You must also attend either an in-person or online laboratory training sessions of a minimum of 12 hours.
We offer in-person laboratory training at our international centres.
The course is divided into 23 modules.
Each module will consist of the following –
- Weekly online lectures
- Lectures which can be viewed on our learning platform in your own time
- Group activities
- Short answer essay questions
- Self-directed learning exercises
- Extra reading material
- Weekly quiz delivered during the online webinar
- Parasitology app and extra resources
In addition to our weekly lectures, we also conduct three additional Saturday half-day teaching days and a two-day Revision Weekend closer to the DTM&H examination.
Here is a list of our current modules:
- Bacterial Infections
- Bites, Stings and Poisoning
- Field Talks
- Fungal Infections
- Global Health
- Human Immunodeficiency Virus
- Humanitarian Crises – Complex humanitarian emergencies
- Malaria
- Sexual and Reproductive & Maternal Health
- Mental Health
- Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs)
- Nutrition
- Other topics of tropical medicines
- Outbreaks
- Paediatrics
- Parasitic Infections
- Public Health
- Travel Medicine
- Tropical Dermatology
- Tropical Opthalmology
- Tuberculosis
- Vectors and Ectoparasites
- Viral Infections
The weekly seminars run from:
- 18:00-20:00 GMT every Tuesday (for the GHHM UK course)
- 16:00 to 18:00 IST every Thursday (for the GHHM SA course)
You will be required to dedicate approximately two-and-a half hours every week to the online lecture webinar and a further 6-8 hours for self-directed learning and group activities.
Yes, on successful completion of the course MSF will provide a certificate of completion.
The minimum requirement for course completion is:
- 70% attendance in the weekly webinars
- contribution to 70% of the online group activities
- completion of mock exam
- participation in the (minimum) 12 hours of basic microscopy and parasitology training.
We understand that you have existing work commitments and if you foresee yourself struggling to meet the attendance requirements, we ask that you let us know so that we can support you as much as possible.
Like all part-time courses, enrolment to the GHHM course requires consistent effort and time, along with your other professional and personal commitments.
You should proactively schedule six to eight hours per week across the length of the course to complete GHHM course requirements. This will include:
- Preparation for and participating in weekly lectures.
- Contributing to online moderated classes as part of a group of students.
- Completing weekly activities and quizzes.
- Self-directed learning.
For each group activity, there will be a deadline for completion; you will have to complete that activity before the deadline.
Your contribution to the group activity is marked as attendance.
Examination and course completion
Candidates will be permitted a maximum of six attempts at the Diploma in Tropical Medicine and Hygiene exam within five years of passing an approved Tropical Medicine course.
After six attempts, a candidate will be required to undertake additional educational experience for each re-sit and submit evidence of this.
GHHM Mobile App
You will need to already be a student on the Global Health and Humanitarian Course to access the mobile app. If you are a current student, you can use your GHHM platform login details to access the app. Simply download the GHHM mobile app and fill in your login details on the Log In page to get started.
If you are not a current student, you can find out more about the course above.
The GHHM mobile app will have all the same modules available on the course. You will be able to toggle between the Dashboard and the Homepage as your main view. Most components of the course will function in the app, however some content may look a bit different. In these scenarios you may need to access the content on a computer with an up-to-date browser
One of the key advantages of the app is the ability to download content to view offline. You can download individual activities and entire courses. Please make sure you have enough space on your mobile when you are downloading content.
Unfortunately, at this time, you will not be able to download the recorded videos as there are housed on a separate, secure plaform and embedded in the course.