Description
This program provides training and context to confront the growing global problem of injury and violence. Most injury-related deaths (over 90 percent) occur in developing countries and injury rates have been steadily rising. Injury rates are especially high for vulnerable people including families living in rural areas and poor communities. This program will unite students and faculty from multiple backgrounds, including public health, curative health disciplines, engineering, law, architecture, social work, and others. The certificate is part of the Global Injury and Violence Prevention Initiative at the Harborview Injury Prevention and Research Center, in collaboration with the Global Health Department and other departments and schools at UW.
Applying
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.
Competencies
At the completion of this certificate, students will be able to:
- Recognize that injuries can be approached and controlled as with any other global health problem, by understanding risk factors, developing strategies targeting these risk factors, and by scientifically evaluating the effectiveness of these strategies;
- List, describe, and compare the common features in approaching control of the various mechanisms that cause unintentional injury, such as road traffic crashes, falls, occupational injuries, burns, drowning, and poisoning, among others;
- Recognize that similar principles can be applied to the study and prevention of intentional injuries, such as from violence and suicide.
- Explain how improvements in care of injured persons (trauma care) can be approached systematically as part of overall health system strengthening activities, at all points along the spectrum of prehospital care, hospital based care, and rehabilitation. Furthermore, recognize that countries at all economic levels can benefit from improved organization and planning of their trauma care systems;
- Devise approaches for better prevention and treatment of injuries in general (or any specific type of injury) suitable for any environment.
- Appropriately utilize tools from the health field and from non-health fields such as engineering, social work, law, architecture, and others to devise locally-appropriate injury control (prevention and care) strategies;
- For students from non-health backgrounds, be able to use the tools of your field to devise locally-appropriate injury control strategies; and
- Recognize that injury control is a matter of social justice. Vulnerable groups within countries and globally are at highest risk of injury, are more likely to receive inadequate care, and are more likely to suffer consequences such as disability and further impoverishment as a result of an injury. Promoting people's right to safety is a component of promoting their right to health.