Practice of Tropical Medicine & Hygiene (POPH90253)

Effective practitioners of public health require clinical, field and laboratory skills to confidently work in tropical health settings. During this 25-point subject of the Graduate Diploma in Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, students will gain skills through hands-on activities and experience over a four-week period in Thailand, hosted by Mahidol University’s Faculty of Tropical Medicine.

Students will become familiar with a tropical health laboratory practice as they prepare, view, and recognise laboratory specimens relating to common tropical disease.

Three field trips will be held in different parts of Thailand on different aspects of tropical health:

• Clinical.
• Health care system and hygiene, including primary health care
• Parasitological.

In the field students will:

• examine patients of diverse backgrounds in clinic and hospital settings, diagnose common and tropical diseases and create effective treatment and management plans.
• experience primary health care, the work of rural health volunteers, and the impact of livelihoods and nutrition programs on the health of rural families and communities.
• engage in parasitological collection/surveys, including for malaria, employing a variety of means and conducting examination of these in a field laboratory.

In addition, students will:

• learn from the long-standing experience of high level tropical health experts,
• interact with other local and international students undertaking tropical health studies, and
• experience first hand, and analyse the impact of environmental, structural and cultural factors in a tropical setting.

This subject is a core subject of the Graduate Diploma in Tropical Medicine and Hygiene.

Please note, in addition to the subject fee, students are required to cover costs of international travel and some accommodation in Bangkok. Explanation and guidance will be given to students in this regard.