About
The UVA Global Health Case Competition promotes understanding the structural and social determinants of health, incorporates faculty mentorship, and focuses on under-served settings. It provides an avenue for students to design real interventions that they may go on to pursue as full-scale research projects.
Case Competition General Schedule
- Interdisciplinary teams are assigned a global health case on a Sunday and have through Friday to deliberate, strategize, and innovate on the given issue.
- On the following Saturday, a multidisciplinary panel of judges will award the winning team. The judges may also choose to award a Center for Global Health Equity University Scholar Award so that a team with an exemplarily proposal can implement it with an international partner.
The team that wins 1st place will move on to represent UVA at the International Emory Global Health Case Competition.
UVA is one of a small group of institutions that writes new global health cases annually. We want these cases to be pedagogical tools and thus strive to incorporate both primary and secondary research into the case based on feedback from a community partner. We also believe that our honest cases give competition participants the unique opportunity to deliver a high-impact solution for real global health clients within a low-stakes environment.
Goal
Our goal is to provide a realistically complex case that challenges student teams to:
- SYNTHESIZE information from diverse sources and perspectives
- WORK WITHIN the human and material strengths and constraints of the situation
- INNOVATE for real issues that affect real people
- COLLABORATE with students from different disciplines
- LEARN from fellow teams, your team mentor, and competition judges
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the time commitment of the case competition?
The case is released on Sunday and your team has until Saturday (day of competition) to propose a presentation. In the past years, teams have usually met up throughout the week leading up to the competition day to work on the project collaboratively and independently. Teams in the past have taken 5-20 hours on the week leading up to the day of the competition preparing and brainstorming. On the day of the competition, it is estimated to be about 6 hours.
What do I wear on the day of the competition?
Although there is no dress code, we recommend professional attire!
What do I do if I do not have a team?
Still sign up! If you do not have a team, we will make you a team based on the people who have signed up independently. In the past, students usually start out by reaching to friends and classmates from different classes, as different disciplines are recommended.
Reach out to us if you have more concerns.
What is the topic of this year’s case competition?
The topic is a SECRET until the Sunday before the competition, when the case is released to everyone!
Do I need to have background information on the topic to be successful?
Not at all! In fact, our case provides A LOT of background information necessary to devise a proposal. You do not need to have a strong background in the topic/region in order to be successful. Our tip would be to have a well-rounded team in order to develop a multidisciplinary perspective.
Resources for Participants
- Before proposals are due, participants can join open table discussions before the competition to learn about strategies for approaching global health cases.
- Review resources from Emory's Global Health Institute, including videos of past international competition winners.
- View the brochure for the 2024 Global Health Case Competition.
- Read the 2024 case study for the competition: Health Impact of Excessive Alcohol Use in South African Youth.
Global Health Case Competition: Past Cases
View a list of past cases at the Global Health Case Competition.
Questions?
Contact April Ballard, associate director of program development at the Center for Global Health Equity.
April Ballard
Associate Director of Program Development