Exploring Geneva’s global health hub
In March this year, Dr Simon Reid-Henry and Dr Tim Brown set off with eleven masters students on the inaugural field trip to Geneva, Switzerland. The field trip is a core module for students on the Global Health Geographies MA and is optional for those on the School of Geography’s Development and Global Health MA and for students from the School of Medicine and Dentistry taking the Migration, Culture and Global Health MSc.

Geneva field class 2018
This optionality made for a very diverse mix on the field trip, ranging from students taking time out from their work as clinicians, lawyers, or fieldworkers for health NGOs to those who had only recently completed their undergraduate studies. Our students were from all over the world too, including: Brazil, Haiti, UK, USA, Zimbabwe, and Zambia.
The trip itself, involved a four-day stay at the John Knox Centre which is situated very close to the headquarters of the World Health Organization and within easy walking distance of the many organizations that make up Geneva’s global health hub. Working from our downtown base in the Graduate Institute Geneva – which provided space for meeting Geneva-based experts in global health as well as access to excellent library facilities – our days were organized around different themes: Global health advocacy, Health diplomacy, Health systems strengthening, Global civil society networks, Refugee health. To gain an insight into these areas, the group met with representatives of organizations working in them, including: Médecins Sans Frontières, GAVI, the Geneva Global Health Hub, and the International Committee of the Red Cross.
Our meetings with these organizations provided crucial insights into the place of Geneva in the making of global health policy; they also provided a starting point for the student’s independent research projects which were conducted while we were in Geneva. For some, this meant spending time in the archives of the WHO to explore the making of past global health initiatives, for others interviews with people engaged in current programmes of work. Whatever the area focused on by the students, there was ample opportunity to hone their field research skills as well as to make contacts and establish networks that may be useful in their future careers. Of course, the field trip was not only about meeting global health experts or engaging them in conversation. It was also about getting to know each other better and to discuss global health issues and debates in a more informal and relaxed way.
Roshani Perera who is taking the Global Health Geography MA course said: “Before starting my masters, I did my undergraduate at QMUL Geography. I particularly enjoyed the health modules in both my 2nd and 3rd years so I wanted to explore these further by completing the Global Health Geographies masters course. I feel that taking modules from the School of Medicine and Dentistry (SMD) at Queen Mary really lifts this particular programme because it enabled me to understand the relevance of a geographical lens in the field of medicine.”
More information:
- Find out more about masters degrees in the School of Geography at Queen Mary
- Read more about fieldwork in the School of Geography
- See more photos of the Geneva field trip on Flickr, and some tweets below:
Thrilled to be getting the inaugural @QMULGeography global health fieldtrip to Geneva up and running. Three days of fantastic site visits to come with a brilliant group of students. Can't wait! @timwilb68 pic.twitter.com/FOqMWVVy8j
— Simon Reid-Henry (@sreidhenry) March 26, 2018
Our new Masters field-class to #Geneva explores the spaces of #globalhealth policy, governance, and decision-making. https://t.co/5TpfVK67YH
— QMULGeography (@QMULGeography) March 27, 2018
Hard at work in the WHO archives. Great to get hands on with global health issues past and present @QMULGeography pic.twitter.com/3dMJYG940x
— Tim Brown (@Timwilb68) March 27, 2018
Still smiling after an afternoon exploring archival material in the WHO library. Back here tomorrow. @QMULGeography @sreidhenry pic.twitter.com/2gv9OxXJ79
— Tim Brown (@Timwilb68) March 27, 2018
Day 3 in Geneva and @QMULGeography'S Annie Hoagland pushes GAVI chief of staff Alex de Jonquieres on countries struggling to transition out of @gavi financing (Nigeria currently with just 33% immunisation coverage). pic.twitter.com/GL6alqU2Ub
— Simon Reid-Henry (@sreidhenry) March 28, 2018
Q: where do the @gavi CEO's office and the @G2H2_Geneva civil society movement come together?
— Simon Reid-Henry (@sreidhenry) March 28, 2018
A: on the @QMULGeography global health fieldtrip.
Looking forward to bringing more voices on board this afternoon with @Timwilb68 and our ever brilliant students.
Ended day 3 with fantastic discussion @G2H2_Geneva real insight into work of civil society lobbying for health for all. @QMULGeography @sreidhenry #QMULfieldtrips pic.twitter.com/3Wha9wiu78
— Tim Brown (@Timwilb68) March 28, 2018
Day 4 in Geneva, and we're at the ICRC, with Rafiullah Qureshi sharing insights into the work of the ICRC around the world. @QMULGeography @ICRC pic.twitter.com/AkfKZ8cEkJ
— Simon Reid-Henry (@sreidhenry) March 29, 2018
Final morning of Geneva field class covering humanitarian dimensions of global health at ICRC @QMULGeography #QMULfieldtrips pic.twitter.com/Zg8PsSPn0f
— Tim Brown (@Timwilb68) March 29, 2018