Study Abroad

The best time for a BSPH student to study abroad is during the summer or fall. We encourage students to thoroughly prepare for studying abroad by planning their coursework with a BSPH advisor to avoid difficulties completing Capstone courses or their prerequisites. Winter/Spring opportunities abroad often overlap with multiple quarters at UC San Diego, which can make it difficult to complete major requirements in a timely manner.

1. (Required) Start planning approximately one year in advance. Utilize the UC San Diego Study Abroad Office:  Schedule UCEAP Advising, Attend Study Abroad Information Sessions,  Register for UCEAP Webinars, and inquire about Financial Aid and Scholarships for Study Abroad. Explore UC EAP programs that offer Public and Global Health coursework and/or approved Global Seminars. Work with Study Abroad to complete your required paperwork.
2. (Recommended) Meet with the BSPH Study Abroad Faculty Advisor (Brinda Rana, Ph.D.) to help determine your academic preparedness for courses at your chosen host institution.
3. (Recommended) Meet with your BSPH advisor to discuss long term planning including study abroad. Coordinate with your college and/or other

For students entering in FA26 and beyond: The BSPH acknowledges that required coursework for our updated majors has made it very difficult to find classes to take abroad. Students entering UC San Diego in FA26 or later may request an exception to use one health-related class taken through an Education Abroad program, including Global Seminars, toward their Public Health Perspectives requirement. This class may not take the place of a required Public Health Perspectives course (such as PH 157 for general BSPH students, or PH 161 for Medicine Sciences concentration students). Additional coursework taken abroad may be counted toward other major requirements, if applicable. Petition requirements listed below apply.

The following courses have been pre-approved to count for the majors listed. No petition is necessary, but students may need to request that the classes be brought into their degree audits properly. Only classes listed in bold may count towards Public Health major requirements. 

Students interested in participating in Global Seminars should visit the Global Seminars website for detailed information, costs, and information session dates.

Anatomy in Europe with Dr. Geoffroy Noel

• ANBI 143GS. The Human Skeleton
  • Medicine Sciences Elective (all entry years)
• ANBI 144GS. Human Anatomy
  • Medicine Sciences Elective (all entry years)

Genetics and Human Diversity in Tokyo

• BILD 60GS 
  • LD Biology (for majors that do not require BILD 1-3, all entry years)
  • Natural Sciences (Medicine Sciences majors, all entry years)
• BICD 102GS 
  • Medicine Sciences Elective (all entry years)
  • Public Health Elective (general BSPH, FA26 students)
  • Additional Public Health Elective (pre-2026 students)

Genetics, Pandemics, and Society in Edinburgh, Scotland with Dr. Daniel Navon and Dr. Claire Edington

• HILD 30GS: History of Public Health
  • LD Public Health SBE (pre-2024 students)
• SOCI 138GS: Genetics and Society 
  • Public Health Elective (general BSPH, FA26 students)
  • Additional Public Health Elective (pre-2026 students)

Health and the City in New York, USA with Dr. Nancy Kwok

• HILD 7GS: Race and Ethnicity in the Global World
• USP 148GS: Health and the Built Environment
  • Public Health Elective (general BSPH, FA26 students)
  • Additional Public Health Elective (pre-2026 students)

Health, Healing, and Sustainable Community Development in Bali, Indonesia with Dr. Leslie Lewis

• ANSC 190GS: Medicine and Healing in Southeast Asia
  • Community Health Sciences Elective (pre-2026 students)
  • Public Health Elective (general BSPH, FA26 students)
  • Additional Public Health Elective (pre-2026 students)
• ERC 190GS: Health, Environment, and Community Development in Bali
  • Community Health Sciences Elective (pre-2026 students)
  • Public Health Elective (general BSPH, FA26 students)
  • Additional Public Health Elective (pre-2026 students)

Social Cognition and Drugs in Barcelona, Spain with Dr. Jaime Pineda

• COGS 171GS: Mirror Neurons and Social Cognition
• COGS 174GS: Drugs - Brain, Mind, and Culture
  • Medicine Sciences Elective (all entry years)
  • Community Health Sciences Elective (pre-2026 students)
  • Public Health Elective (general BSPH, FA26 students)
  • Additional Public Health Elective (pre-2026 students)

The following courses were previously pre-approved and are expected to be approved if/when taught again. They will not be taught in 2027.

Climate Change and Global Health in Dharamsala, India with Dr. Tarik Benmarhnia

• SIO 116GS: Climate Change and Global Health: Understanding the Mechanisms

• • Climate & Environmental Sciences Concentration Elective
• SIO 118GS: Responding to Climate Change: Possible Solutions
  • Climate & Environmental Sciences Concentration Elective

Consumer Behavior in Tokyo, Japan

• PSYC 127GS: Consumer Behavior
• PSYC 148GS: Judgement and Decision Making
  • Public Health Elective (pre-2026)

Drugs, Behavior, and the History of Neuroscience in Athens, Greece with Dr. Stephan Anagnostaras

• PSYC 181GS: Drugs and Behavior
  • Medicine Sciences Elective (pre-2026)
  • Public Health Elective (pre-2026)
• PSYC 193GS: Neuroscience, Psychology, and Pharmacology of Antiquity

Indigenous Health in Ecuador: Urban, Rural, & Community Medicine in Quito, Ecuador with Dr. Nancy Postero

• • ANSC 106GS: Indigenous Medicines in Latin America

• Public Health Elective (pre-2026)

•  
• ANSC 135GS: Indigenous Peoples of Latin America: Race, Politics, and Identity

Psychopharmacology in Florence, Italy with Dr. Stephan Anagnostaras

• PSYC 181GS: Drugs and Behavior
  • Medicine Sciences Elective (pre-2026)
  • Public Health Elective (pre-2026)
• PSYC 186GS: Early History of Psychiatry: Neuroscience and Pharmacology of the Renaissance-Enlightenment

Public Health in Amman, Jordan with Dr. Wael Al-Delaimy

• • REV 160GS: Public Health and Epidemiology I
    • Epidemiology Elective (pre-2026)
  • REV 165GS: Public Health and Epidemiology II 

• Epidemiology Elective (pre-2026)

Medical Anthropology and Global Health in Dharamsala, India with Dr. Saiba Varma

• • ANSC 190GS: Medicine and Healing in Southeast Asia

• Public Health Elective (pre-2026)

•  
• ANSC 191GS: Everyday Life in South Asia

Sex and Health in Southeast Asia in Bangkok, Thailand with Dr. Dredge Kang

• ANSC 105GS: Global Health and Inequality: Sexual and Reproductive Health in Southeast Asia
  • Community Health Sciences Elective (pre-2026)
  • Health Policy & Management Sciences Elective (pre-2026)
• ANSC 125GS: Gender, Sexuality, and Society: Sex and Love in Thailand

Social Cognition and Drugs in Sydney, Australia with Dr. Jaime Pineda

• • COGS 171GS: Mirror Neurons and Social Cognition
  • COGS 174GS: Drugs - Brain, Mind, and Culture 

• Community Health Sciences Elective (pre-2026)

• • Medicine Sciences Elective (pre-2026)

Social Movements and Public Health in Johannesburg, South Africa with Dr. Rebecca Fielding-Miller

• PH 91GS: Social Movements and Public Health 

• • • Trending Topics (all majors, 2024-present)
    • Public Health Elements (general BSPH or Biostatistics, FA26 students)
    • Public Health LD Elective (2024-2025 students)
    • SBE (pre-2024 students)

• PH 151GS: Public Health Research Ethics

• • Public Health Perspectives (all majors, FA26 students)
  • Public Health Electives (general BSPH, FA26 students)
  • Public Health Electives (all majors, pre-2026 students)

The following locations offer pre-approved equivalents to PH 102 (students would still need to petition any other coursework, below):

• Australia - University of Melbourne, University of New South Wales
• Hong Kong Territories - Chinese University of Hong Kong
• Italy - University of Bologna, University of Padua
• Japan - Histotsubashi University
• Netherlands - University College Utrecht
• New Zealand - University of Auckland
• Singapore - National University of Singapore Public Health
• United Kingdom - University of London Royal Holloway

The BSPH allows students to transfer no more than two upper-division (UD) classes for major credit. Students may use Lower Division (LD) courses toward major credit, if applicable.

• Best choice for courses to take abroad:
  • Lower or Upper Division Elective classes for your major that may not be offered on campus
    • These are the easiest to get approved.
    • You'll be petitioning for course substitution when you return.
• Potentially Troublesome choice to take abroad:
  • Core Public Health classes (with the exception of courses pre-approved as equivalents to PH 102)
    • Our faculty generally prefers that these classes be taken on campus at UC San Diego
    • Can be difficult to get approved; must be at least 90% the same in course content as the equivalent course here on campus 
    • We recommend that you discuss thoroughly with a Public Health Advisor before going abroad, and have a syllabus handy.
    • You'll be petitioning for course equivalency when you return
• Don't plan to use toward major requirements if you take abroad:
  • Capstone/thesis classes
  • Research classes, internships
  • Classes heavily based in another discipline or heavily cross-listed classes
• Remember:
  • Any course used toward major or minor credit must be deemed UC-eligible and at least four units.
  • Any course used toward Upper Division major requirements must transfer as Upper Division credit.
  • Any course used toward major requirements must be taken for a Letter grade.

Students participating in UC EAP Programs or additional opportunities abroad MUST petition all coursework used for their major. The following additional steps to going abroad relate only to students completing programs abroad other than Global Seminars: 

1. (Recommended) Approximately four to six weeks before you leave for your program, submit an individual course Pre-Approval petition for each study abroad course you would like reviewed, with a syllabus from a previous iteration of the course, so that our faculty can review your request and you can be ready to enroll when you arrive at your institution abroad.

• All Public Health courses, except those from our approved list, taken abroad MUST be petitioned, even if you found them through the Study Abroad Office. Classes found through the Study Abroad office/database don't necessarily count for major requirements, so we highly recommend pre-approval as well, to ensure that your course meets Public Health requirements for petitioning.
• The Public Health Office will review up to four abroad courses per student.

1. (Required) After your return to UC San Diego, your transcripts from abroad will be processed. While EAP transcripts should be processed by the University automatically, you may need to take action to facilitate this if you participate in a OAP program. Once your classes are showing properly on your Academic History, you must petition with Public Health to officially bring them into your Degree Audit.