Master of Science in Geographic Information Science with Concentration in Community and Global Health Applications (STEM) Clark University, USA

Clark’s master’s degree in GIS combines rigorous academics with widely varied, highly applied learning opportunities. Our two-year program offers ample opportunities to take what you learn in the classroom and put it to work in the wider world through creative engagements with communities, nonprofits, government, and the private sector. By working hands-on with partners, you gain valuable experience applying theories and implementing your creative solutions to complex problems.

In addition, we offer four concentrations within the GIS degree that enable you to focus your studies: GIS for Development and Environment, Conservation Applications, Global and Community Health Applications, and Remote Sensing. Each requires the completion of a set of concentration-specific courses, and each provides a valuable set of skills — and credentials — that will serve you well throughout your career.

Community and Global Health Applications - Concentration
The concentration in GIS for Community and Global Health Applications is intended for students interested in applications of geospatial technologies in areas of community and global health. The program is aimed at individuals who plan to work as GIS Analysts/Specialists in international health organizations (such as WHO, International Red Cross), federal, state and local government agencies (CDC, FEMA, state and municipal health departments), NGOs (Partners in Health, Planned Parenthood, etc.) or research organizations and Universities (Schools of Public Health, Health GIS Research Labs).

Putting information into a spatial context allows exploring the spatial relationships among health and behavior indicators, health outcomes, environmental risk factors, and demographic and cultural characteristics at a particular location. GIS and remote sensing allow visualizing and analyzing spatial patterns of disease distribution, accounting for spatial dependencies in the data, and investigating how health outcomes and processes that drive them differ from place to place. GIS maps may indicate connections and trends that would be otherwise not readily apparent, if the data were not integrated together via spatial overlays. Graduates with this concentration will have a solid understanding of health issues facing communities (both domestic and global), and of the policy environments affecting global and community health. They will also develop competency in a wide range of GIS analytical methods, with particular emphasis on techniques applicable to community and global health issues.

Faculty this concentration have developed strong partnerships with local and global organizations, including the City Worcester (Department of Public Health), Family Health Center of Worcester, Inc., Department of Family Medicine and Community Health at the University of Massachusetts Medical School, Departments of Obstetrics/Gynecology and Pediatrics, University of Massachusetts Medical School/UMass Memorial Health Care, Partners in Health, and others. Several MS students have done summer internships in some of these organizations or worked as research assistants with faculty on health-related GIS projects, and co-published academic papers in peer-reviewed journals.