THIS CERTIFICATE IS BEING RETIRED AND NO LONGER ACCEPTING APPLICANTS

Program Overview

Over 90% of injury-related deaths occur in developing countries. Injury rates are especially high for vulnerable people including families living in rural areas and poor communities.

  • Injuries due to violence, road traffic crashes, industrial/agricultural injuries, and other causes account for an estimated 5.8 million deaths per year.
  • Injury deaths exceed the total number of deaths from HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria combined.

Preventing Injury and Violence - Injury and violence can be reduced using scientific approaches to:

  • Understand the extent and nature of injury through surveillance and research.
  • Apply proven injury prevention strategies, such as road safety and violence prevention.
  • Investigate innovative approaches to prevention and treatment in resource-limited environments.
  • Improve injury care, including pre-hospital, hospital-based, and long-term rehabilitation.

The Graduate Certificate in Global Injury & Violence Prevention unites students and faculty from multiple backgrounds - public health, curative health disciplines, engineering, law, architecture, social work, and others - to implement these initiatives in the real world. It is offered by the Department of Global Health in collaboration with other departments and schools on campus, as well as with the Global Injury and Violence Prevention Initiative at the Harborview Injury Prevention & Research Center.

Requirements & Coursework

The program is open to all graduate students who are working on any aspect of the problems of injury or violence, whether domestically or globally. It is intended to enhance the education of UW graduate students beyond their regular course of study.

In fulfillment of Certificate requirements, students must complete 15 credits of approved coursework - 9 of which must be earned in courses numbered 500 and above, and 9 of which must be earned in graded courses (e.g., courses taken for a numeric grade, not S/NS or CR/NC).

This includes:

  • 3 credits for one required core course
  • 9 credits of approved electives
  • 3 credits for the completion of a capstone project

Overlap of coursework applied towards the certificate program and degree program must not exceed six credits and is limited to elective coursework in each program. Core course requirements of a degree program may not be counted toward the certificate.

For students completing more than one graduate certificate, no more than six credits may overlap between certificate programs. Therefore, students are strongly encouraged to work with the coordinator of their degree program and with certificate staff to develop a specific course plan that will meet the requirements of both the degree and the certificate.

Courses taken prior to admission to the certificate program may be counted retroactively with permission of the certificate staff. Students may petition to have additional courses count towards the elective requirements if they provide the department with a copy of the course syllabus and readings for review.

Core Courses:
Taking any one of the following courses will meet the core course requirement. Any of the remaining courses may also be taken in fulfillment of the 9 credits of electives for the Certificate.

  • ENV H 560/NSG 506: Occupational Safety Management (4 cr) (W)
  • EPI 585: Injury & Violence - A Public Health Approach (3 cr) (not currently offered)
  • G H 531*: Monitoring & Evaluation of Global Health Programs (3 cr) (Sp)
  • G H 541*: Fundamentals of Implementation Science in Global Health (4 cr) (Sp)
  • G H 558: Global Violence & Health (3 cr) (Sp)
  • URBDP 576/CET 586: Pedestrian Travel, Land Use & Urban Form (3 cr) (Sp)

*Main course assignment must be on an injury topic

Elective Courses - 9 credits from any of the following courses:

  • G H/HSERV 515: War & Health (4 cr) (Sp)
  • G H 517/LAW H 506: International Bioethics, Social Justice & Health Seminar (1 cr) (Sp)
  • G H 521: Leadership Development in Global Health (3 cr) (A)
  • G H 522: Project Management in Global Health (3 cr) (W)
  • G H 523: Policy Development & Advocacy for Global Health (3 cr) (Sp)
  • G H 532/EPI 586: Responsible Conduct of Research: Global & Local (3 cr) (A) (early fall start)
  • G H 541: Fundamentals of Implementation Science in Global Health (4 cr) (Sp)
  • G H 558: Global Violence & Health (3 cr) (Sp)
  • IND E 564/ENV H 564: Recognition of Health & Safety Problems in Industry (2 cr) (A)
  • HSERV 551/LAW H 512: Public Health Law (3 cr) (A)
  • LAW H 515: Global Health Law (3 cr) (not currently offered)
  • NURS 509: Issues in Violence & Aggression for Health Professionals (3 cr) (TBD) 
  • SOC W 546: Addressing Trauma and Recovery in Multi-Generational Advanced Practice (3 cr) (Sp)
  • SOC W 582: Interpersonal Violence & Trauma (3 cr) (W)

Note: The Department of Global Health will revise the list of elective courses according to course availability, new course offerings, etc. If you would like to take a relevant course not currently on this list, please contact the Certificate staff for approval before enrolling in the course to ensure that the course will count towards Certificate requirements. As with the core course options, courses that do not have an explicit injury/violence focus may be considered if the core project is done on this topic.

*CET – Transportation Engineering; ENV H – Environmental Health; EPI – Epidemiology; G H – Global Health; IND E – Industrial Engineering; LAW H – Law (Health); NSG/NURS – Nursing; SOC W – Social Work; URBDP – Urban Planning
** A – Autumn Quarter; W – Winter Quarter; Sp – Spring Quarter; S – Summer Quarter

Capstone Project:
All participants must complete a culminating capstone project, which will be a service or research project integrating aspects of injury and violence prevention. In some instances, practicum or thesis research work for a primary degree could be used, although the actual capstone project must be distinct from the practicum or thesis.

Students must sign up for three independent study credits with a UW faculty mentor as part of their capstone requirement. Capstone project proposals must be approved by the certificate program manager and director.

Students are expected to design their own capstone project. There are a wide variety of options. For example, students may choose to provide technical assistance to ongoing injury and violence research projects (develop study instruments, conduct data analysis, execute field implementation); write part of a grant application; or develop a program evaluation for a service project.

Funding assistance:  The Department of Global Health manages several fellowships that offer financial assistance to graduate and professional students and medical residents at the University of Washington to help support fieldwork experience in global health. Please visit our Funding for Fieldwork Fellowships page for more information.

NOTE: Capstone project proposals must be approved by the certificate staff prior to conducting field work.

Completion:
In the quarter prior to graduation, all certificate participants must submit the final version of their planning form for approval. Completion will be acknowledged on the student’s official UW transcript.
The student must be a matriculated UW graduate student during the quarter the graduate certificate is awarded. Certificates cannot be awarded retroactively.

Admissions

Applications are accepted and reviewed quarterly. To apply, please send the following items to Dr. Charlie Mock at  cmock@uw.edu:

  • Completed application form
  • Current UW Graduate School transcripts (unofficial will suffice)
  • Current resume or CV
  • Background & Goal Statement: a maximum one-page description of your area of interest within the field of injury and violence prevention. Include relevant technical or language skills; relevant work, volunteer, or international experience; and how the certificate program will help meet your academic and professional goals.

For questions regarding the application process please contact: Dr. Charlie Mock - cmock@uw.edu

For questions regarding Graduate Certificates generally please contact:

Global Health Certificates Coordinator - dghcerts@uw.edu