International perspectives in women's health: Women's health as human rights

Background. Gender-based health inequities exist globally and necessitate research, practice, and policy efforts to ensure that women's health as a human right is a reality. Teaching plays a vital role in ensuring that the future workforce is equipped with the knowledge, skills, and passion required to address critical health issues. We plan to describe the development of an interdisciplinary, graduate-level international women's health course. Methodology. Expanding on existing infrastructure of the University of South Florida's Health (USF Health) international program in Panama, an alternative-schedule course (three-day seminar, one-month remote learning, culminated by a ten-day field study in Panama) was developed. Diverse objectives, teaching modalities, and assessments were employed. Results. Students gained an awareness of the historical, political, economic, socio-cultural, and environmental factors influencing global women's health. A mixture of modalities (lectures, discussions, videos, case studies, site visits) and assessments (op-ed articles, media critiques, group papers/presentations, journaling) were used. Guided by the lifespan approach, topics included: gender-selective abortion, access to health care/education, early childbearing/marriage, reproductive/sexual health, sex trafficking, violence, conflict/war, globalization, chronic disease, and aging. Site visits included government, international non-government, and community health (sex-worker clinics) organizations, as well as historical/cultural visits (indigenous communities). Conclusions. Triangulating theoretical aspects of human rights and critical women's health issues with experiential learning helped students recognize the significance and complexity of issues. Such a course facilitates greater understanding of the interrelated factors influencing health and the interdisciplinary efforts required to uphold women's health as a human right in local and global settings.