Na de breed opgezette driejarige bachelor, kun je de diepte in gaan en starten met een van de drie Gezondheidswetenschappelijke VU-masters: Health Sciences; Management, Policy Analysis and Entrepeneurship, of Global Health. Daarnaast is het ook mogelijk om je Master buiten de VU te doen, kijk hiervoor op de websites van andere universiteiten.

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HEALTH SCIENCES

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In the Master’s programme in Health Sciences, you will learn to analyse various complex factors that contribute to health. The programme is aimed at mastering knowledge and skills contributing to a multi- or interdisciplinary approach to health problems, health promotion, and healthcare. The master programme Health Sciences contains five specialisations which encompass the key disciplines in Health Sciences. The five specializations (and one Midwifery Science route) enable students to focus on a specific domain of Health Sciences and to develop a specific expertise related to methodology (e.g. health economics), content knowledge (e.g. nutrition and infectious diseases, maternity care) context (Dutch or International) and application (intervention, prevention and policy).

 

Specialization: Health policy

In this specialization students will learn approaches to optimize a health system such as the Dutch health system. Students will learn the economics of healthcare provision, the selection of treatments to cover with insurance. Moreover, the specialization allows students to study the science of policymaking and organization of healthcare. This provides an insight into the perspectives of providers, purchasers, patients and authorities. Another optional course is Dutch health law, which deals with all the laws that govern the participants in the Dutch healthcare system. 

 

Specialization: Infectious Diseases and Public Health

This specialization will give you a broad overview of the biology of pathogenic organisms, the interaction between pathogens and their hosts. You will focus on the epidemiology and control of infectious diseases in the Netherlands and abroad. 

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Specialization: International Public Health

This specialization will train you to cooperate and communicate with professionals from various scientific and medical disciplines as well as representatives of public health and related organizations (such as patient organizations), focusing on health problems in a global context.

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Specialization: Nutrition and Health

This specialization focuses on the role of diet in health and in disease. You may, for example, concentrate on promoting good health through primary and secondary prevention of nutrition-related illness in the population, on nutritional problems in the clinical setting, on nutrition and infectious diseases, and/or on nutritional problems in developing and developed countries.

 

Specialization: Prevention and Public Health

This specialization is intended for students who want to specialize in health promotion and disease prevention. You will gain a broad overview of the theory, research and practice in the field of prevention and public health. The focus is on health behavior, disease prevention, communication, lifestyle interventions and environmental interventions. 

 

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MANAGEMENT, POLICY ANALYSIS AND ENTREPENEURSHIP

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New biomedical innovations in a world that is becoming ever more complex give rise to a wide range of ethical, legal and social questions and dilemmas. Is the new whooping-cough vaccine better than the old one? How can we control Q fever? How should we implement notions of patient-centred care? What will be the impact of developments in genomics on basic health insurance? Providing the best possible answers to these questions calls for cooperation between several disciplines and actors in society, from government, industry and social institutions to consumers and patients. The Master’s programme offers the ideal opportunity to specialize in this fascinating area of research where a wide range of disciplines meet.

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Specialization: Health and Life Sciences-Based Policy

This specialization offers the opportunity to become an expert in the field of policy and includes the following courses:

• Interactive Communication 

• Policy, Politics and Participation 

• Caput: Interactive Science and Technology Policy 

• Caput: Knowledge Integration & Patient Participation  

Career opportunities include academic research or policy preparation within the government sector or various public health organizations.  

 

Specialization: Health & Life Sciences-based Management and Entrepreneurship 

This specialization prepares you for a career in a pharmaceuticals company (e.g. as a clinical research assistant or advisor) or for setting up your own business. Courses include:

• Business Management in Health and Life Sciences

• Entrepreneurship in Health and Life Sciences 

• Clinical Development and Clinical Trials 

• Caput: Criteria for Corporate Social Responsibility 

• Caput: Success Factors in Sustainable Innovations by SME's

 

Specialization: Health & Life sciences-based Communication

This fourth specialization offers the opportunity to become an expert on the field of science communication. Courses include:

• Science and communication 

• Science in dialogue

• Science Journalism 

• Science communication through museums 

• Science and health Communication via internet 

 

Specialization: International Public Health

This specialization has a special focus on public health from a global perspective and prepares you for a career at a university, a government department, NGO or international organization. Courses include:

• Containment Strategies for Infectious Diseases 

• Health Globalization and Human Rights 

• Nutrition and Infectious Diseases 

• Caput Institutionalizing Participatory Approaches in the South 

• Caput Dilemmas in the Implementation of Public Health Programmes

• Disability and development

 

 

GLOBAL HEALTH

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Are you ready to unravel the complexity of global health challenges and contribute to better health for all? Then this Research Masters in Global Health may be the Master’s you are looking for. Our programme offers you the opportunity to learn about and work on global health challenges, by crossing disciplinary boundaries and collaborating with social stakeholders.

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In the first year of the programme, courses will focus on the study of complex global health problems in high- and low-income countries. You will learn how to analyse problems, design intervention strategies as well as how to measure the effectiveness of such strategies by using qualitative and quantitative research methods, involving  multiple stakeholders and perspectives. You will also learn how to study health problems and interventions in the broader context of a government’s policy and national health system and to compare between countries. After completing one of the selective courses offered by the programme’s partners, you will conduct a mixed methods research in the Netherlands or abroad.

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In the second year, you will further deepen your knowledge on global health problems and your research skills. The first two courses will focus on advanced quantitative analysis methods and transdisciplinary research. Thereafter, you will learn how to write scientifically and conduct a literature review. After completing a course on ethics, where you will analyse moral dilemmas, you will be guided in writing a research grant proposal. The master programme is rounded off with the Master Thesis, in which you present the research findings from your second internship in a scientific article.

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