Global Health Case Competition
What is the Global Health Case Competition?
The Global Health Case Competition (GHCC) is an annual competition that is organized by the VIGH Student Advisory Council; see 2023-2024's organizing committee here. It is designed to engage students in real-world global health challenges by introducing them to diverse factors that impact decision-making.
The goal of the case competition is to foster critical analysis and thoughtful action. Undergraduate, graduate, and professional students from across the university participate in multidisciplinary, multi-school teams to tackle a real-life global health case, working together to develop an innovative solution.
The case may involve issues such as health care policy, public health implementation and planning, business partnership and investment, medical research, logistics management, faith and cultural understanding, and international law. There is no right or wrong solution, and no prior knowledge of the case topic is required. Participants do not need to have a background in medicine or health. People from all disciplines bring their different perspectives and expertise to address a complex problem within proposed budgetary constraints.
After an intense week of research and preparation, teams present their case analysis and recommendations to a panel of expert judges and audience members. The winning team wins a cash prize and represents Vanderbilt University at the annual Emory International Global Health Case Competition in Atlanta, GA.
FAQs
When is the competition?
The competition is hosted in the Spring semester of each school year. Sign-up forms to participate begin in November and last until January.
The 2023 Global Health Case Competition was hosted on Saturday, February 25, 2023.
Who Can Participate?
The competition is open to undergraduate, graduate, and professional students from all areas of study. Post-graduate and post-doctoral fellows are not eligible to participate. Teams are composed of four to six students from three or more Vanderbilt schools. There are three options for registration:
- A student may register individually and will be assigned teammates from other academic disciplines to form a full team.
- Two or three students may register as a partial team and will be assigned teammates from other academic disciplines to form a full team.
- Four to six students may register as a full team. Full teams are highly encouraged to include members from a broad array of academic disciplines.
What if I don't have anyone to sign up with, but I still want to participate?
You can sign up as an individual, and we will pair you with a team. Usually about half of the people who sign up for the competition are as individuals. This will not put you at a disadvantage; in fact, most years, it is randomly chosen teams that score first place!
Why should I participate?
Participants from the 2019 Case Competition were asked in an anonymous survey what skills or experience they got from the Case Competition.
Here are some of their responses.
Is there a participation fee?
It's FREE! There is no participation fee for the Case Competition.
Is there an award for winning the Case Competition?
The winning team will receive a cash prize and represent Vanderbilt University in an all-expenses-paid trip to the Emory Global Health Case Competition.
On the day of this competition, this team will compete against over 20 universities from around the world at the chance to win up to $6,000 in cash awards.
Who do I contact if I have other questions?
If you have any more questions contact our team at vigh.ghcc@gmail.com or Ryan Dalforno with the subject line "GHCC 2024 Question [insert your question]."