With over half the world’s population now residing in urban areas, NYU London served as an ideal classroom recently for GPH students taking Jo Ivey Boufford’s J Term course on urban health and health equity. Their global campus experience was an opportunity to apply their knowledge and tools in collaboration with local stakeholders. One of the strengths of the class was its diversity of students in terms of backgrounds and expertise: nine MPH students across three concentrations were joined by three DrPH students and one student pursuing an MPA in urban planning from NYU Wagner.
Students worked in interdisciplinary teams on projects that ranged from maximizing health outcomes in alignment with London’s climate mitigation and adaptation policies, to identifying priorities for a heat action plan for the City of London, to proposing mental health crisis response plans for vulnerable communities. Named by Mayor Sadiq Khan as priority initiatives and implemented by the Public Health Unit of the Greater London Authority (GLA), this hands-on approach gave students practical lessons on health disparities at the local level and the unique challenges faced by urban communities.
Pictured: GPH Students at City Hall with GLA officials
Over ten days in London, students learned from experts in the field through a combination of guest lectures and site visits. Renowned public health leaders such as Sir Michael Marmot, Christine Hancock, Martin McKee and David Napier shared their insights into health equity, NCD prevention in cities and comparative health systems, along with an in-depth look at the National Health Service and cultural considerations in public health.
Taken together, these sessions bolstered students' understanding of effective strategies for promoting health and wellbeing in urban settings. And to round out their academic engagement, students immersed themselves in the cultural and historical fabric of London, with a visit to the Florence Nightingale Museum and a public health history walk that ended at the infamous John Snow water pump.
Pictured: Streets of London
A leading takeaway of the course is that achieving improvements in urban health will be essential to global health and achieving the Sustainable Development Goals. Cities like London and New York City must be at the forefront of tackling critical global health and development issues. These GPH students, gaining invaluable lessons on a global scale, will soon join the effort and make their own contributions!
Kiera Bloch, MPH
Program Manager for the Department of Global and Environmental Health; Doctor of Public Health student
Gina Gonzales, MPH
Program Administrator for the DrPH Program
Pictured: Kingscross and Market in London