I’ve reached a point where I’m actually not sure if I have more of an interest in Global Health or International Development. Yes, the two fields are heavily intertwined, but there are distinguishing differences between the focuses of each field.

I first entered GRS declaring a specialization in Global Health. When I planned out my future courses, I jotted down a lot of nutrition courses, figuring I would probably go that route. To my surprise, nutrition, although fascinating, did not hold my attention as much as I though it would. A subject I never thought I would be interested in – economics – however did. Not bland microeconomics, but economics in the context of international development.

Maybe it’s the influx of international development related courses I’ve been taking, but I find it quite enlightening how initial plans and interests shift with the various courses I take. I’m still quite interested in Global Health, but this increasing interest in International Development is quite unprecedented.

I’m glad GRS is so flexible when it comes to specializations – plus I’m extra lucky that Global Health and International Development arenas interlink – if I do decide to switch to the latter, the transition will be smoother.

But I’m still quite interested a number of topics in Global Health – topics that I would love to learn more about:

-Epidemiology & Diseases: bacteria and viruses have always fascinated me [I’m planning to take MICB 202 in my fourth year…]

-Social Determinants of Health

-Ecohealth

-Health Systems & Policy

In the field of International Development, my interests are (so far) as follows:

-Food & Resource Economics and Trade

-Gender Equity

-Governance & Policy

-Food Security

-Rural-Urban Migration

I guess, to put it one way, Global Health could count into the larger arena of International Development. Actually, that fits rather well. I’m extremely interested in domestic and foreign policy regarding development and healthcare systems in (or not in) place. Hmm. More to think about.