Palestine Social Medicine Course

Total course cost: $2,750. Cost includes:

• In-country transport and accommodation (flights excluded)
• Coffee, lunch, and some dinners
• Field visits
• Course fees
• All program activities, included scheduled cultural activities

There are a number of expenses that are not covered by the program fee that students are responsible to cover on their own. These expenses include:

• International airfare
• Ground transportation for personal purposes
• Personal expenditures, communication, course materials, and incidentals

Students who need a visa to travel to Jordan are responsible for securing their visas themselves. An invitation letter to support the visa application can be provided.  

Successful applicants are required to pay a $500 nonrefundable deposit by March 20, 2024 to secure their place in the program. The remaining amount is to be paid by April 20, 2024. 

Course pedagogy will include field visits, group discussion, presentations, and personal reflection to foster a transformative learning environment. Guest speakers will include a wide range of health and social actors including health practitioners, community organizers, activists, academics, and representatives from civil society organizations. 

Curriculum topics will build learner’s core understandings of social medicine, social determinants of health, health activism, and the historical, social, and political context of Palestine. Core topics include: 

• Self-awareness and structural humility 
• What is social medicine and what is structural competency? 
• Social medicine/structural competency approaches to clinical encounters 
• A social sciences approach to disease in Palestine 
• The human rights framework and the right to health in Palestine 
• Health and health culture in Palestine 
• Settler colonialism and its manifestations in Palestine 
• Health and racism 
• Case studies in Palestinian health 
• Health systems financing 
• Barriers to care in the oPt/Israel/diaspora and means of alleviating access 

• Yara Asi, PhD. FXB Center for Health and Human Rights, Harvard University and Assistant Professor at the University of Central Florida 
• Weeam Hammoudeh, PhD. FXB Center for Health and Human Rights, Harvard University and Assistant Professor at the Institute of Community and Public Health, Birzeit University 
• David Mills, MD. FXB Center for Health and Human Rights, Harvard University and Instructor in Pediatrics at Harvard Medical School 
• Osama Tannous, MD. FXB Center for Health and Human Rights, Harvard University 
• Bram Wispelwey, MS MD MPH. FXB Center for Health and Human Rights, Harvard University and Instructor in Medicine at Harvard Medical School 

The course is open to 30 participantsof which 10 will be US-based students, preference will be given to Harvard students. Priority will be given to students in the Medical, Public Health, Nursing, and Social Sciences. The course will be taught in English. 

Harvard Applicants 

Students enrolled in any Harvard graduate school (including Medicine, Dentistry, Chan School) or doctoral program, and senior undergraduates are eligible to apply. Harvard students who will graduate in May 2024 are also eligible to apply. 

Harvard Course Credit 

Harvard graduate students can choose this course for Independent Study Credit to be credited during the Fall 2024 semester. Students who decide to receive academic credits will work with Professor Bram Wispelwey during the fall semester and produce a paper as part of the Independent Study requirements. 

Non-Harvard Applicants 

Non-Harvard students will apply through Birzeit University. Applications will be posted in early spring.  

Participants will share double occupancy rooms. Breakfast will be offered at all hotel locations. Lunch will also be provided and be covered by the program for the majority of days. Though some dinners will be covered by the program, students will be required to make their own dinner arrangements for the majority of their stay. 

In the event of cancellation of the whole course, all amounts paid towards the course cost will be refunded to students, including the deposit. The program is not responsible for refunding airfare, visa application fees, or any other incurred expenses not covered by course fee. While planning for your trip, consider purchasing travel insurance or refundable airline tickets. 

If students decide to cancel their participation for personal reasons, the deposit is nonrefundable. The remaining amount is not refundable if participants decide to cancel their participation for personal reasons, after June 1, 2024. Individual cases will be considered, and refunds of the remaining amounts will depend on the discretion of the organizers. 

Global Support Services

For Safety Information and Recommendations while traveling abroad, please visit Harvard’s Global Support Services (GSS) for important tools, as well as a list of steps for planning your departure and for staying safe while abroad. 

International SOS 

Ensure that you register your trip with the Harvard International SOS. International SOS provides 24/7 medical, mental health, and security support and evacuation services to eligible Harvard students abroad as well as access to helpful resources and alerts.