Program in International Health, School of International Health (Master's Program), Graduate School of Medicine

Programme overview

A two-year, fully English-taught Master of Health Science run by the School of International Health, one of the schools of the University of Tokyo's Graduate School of Medicine, on the Hongo campus. Founded in 1992, the School works on the health and wellbeing of people in low- and middle-income countries through a combination of biomedical and social-science approaches: environmental health, infectious diseases, human genetics, health policy and community health. Students affiliate with one of six departments (Global Health Policy, Community and Global Health, Human Genetics, Developmental Medical Sciences, Human Ecology, Biomedical Chemistry), take core lectures and practice sessions offered across the School plus electives from the Graduate School of Medicine and other schools, and complete a mandatory thesis research project supervised by their department. Entry is in April only, by one of two mutually exclusive routes: the Graduate School of Medicine's entrance examination (an online 48-hour written examination on specialized subjects plus an online interview for all applicants), or the Asian Development Bank–Japan Scholarship Program route, which since 1996 has admitted approximately three to five fully funded scholars from ADB developing member countries each April.

The School of International Health is one of 13 schools in the Graduate School of Medicine and offers master's and doctoral programmes in International Health / Global Health Sciences. Every master's student affiliates with one of six departments — Global Health Policy and Community and Global Health (grouped under International Social Medicine); Human Genetics, Developmental Medical Sciences, Human Ecology and Biomedical Chemistry (grouped under International Biomedical Sciences) — and is supervised by a faculty member of that department, whose written consent must be obtained before applying. Four associated departments (Global Environmental Medicine, International Cooperation for Medical Education, Global Environmental Health, Office of International Academic Affairs) collaborate in research and teaching; Global Environmental Health also appears as a field of specialization in the entrance examination and its supervisors appear on the List of Research Supervisors. Coursework combines core lectures and practice sessions offered by all departments of the School with elective courses from the Graduate School of Medicine and from departments in other schools under it; the thesis research project is mandatory for all master's students.

Important facts