Global Health Systems

In Global Health Systems, led by Rifat Atun, MBBS, MBA, FRCGP, FFPH, FRCP, you will examine health care as an interconnected system rather than a set of separate organizations. The course introduces a conceptual framework that clarifies core health system functions—governance and organization, financing, and resource management—and links them to the services they generate, the objectives they target, and the outcomes they deliver.

By engaging with systems thinking and global health system archetypes, and by analyzing multidimensional notions of value (effectiveness, efficiency, equity, and responsiveness) and broader contextual forces (political, economic, demographic, technological, and sociocultural), you will build tools to understand why systems differ, why they perform differently, and how they change. You will learn to interpret emerging policy trends, anticipate tradeoffs, assess their implications for your industry and organization, and identify ways your organization can proactively respond to and contribute to health system improvement.