Section outline

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    GENERAL INFORMATION

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    Title image - turning earth

    • Ankündigungen Forum

    • Welcome to Global Digital Health

      Instructions

      Please read this before you begin.

      • Each unit includes two lecture recordings (Part 1 and Part 2), accompanying Reading Material, and a Quiz (consisting of 10 questions).
      • To advance to the next unit, you must take the Quiz and achieve a minimum score of 70% (7 out of 10 correct answers). 
      • There is a Discussion Forum, where both Students and Teachers can post topics for discussion. You are invited and encouraged to engage in discussions with your peers!
      • There will be several Live Sessions with Course Instructors ("Open Office Hours") for your questions and further discussion.
      • The final assessment is a term paper (a Countrynalysis Report), following the instructions in the GUIDELINES TERM PAPER document.
      • You should choose the country you will be writing a report on before the specified deadline, and enter the name of the country in the database tool named TERM PAPER TOPICS: COUNTRY. Please note that every student in a batch (in the current semester) should have a unique country to analyse. Countries are "first come – first save". If the country is accepted, the instructor will approve your entry, and it will be visible to others. Please review already approved countries (unless you are the first), in order to select a country that has not yet been chosen by others!

      Abstract

      Global Digital Health (GDH) is an interdisciplinary, fully online course that equips students with the knowledge, analytical skills, and practical competencies needed to understand and shape the Digital Transformation of health systems worldwide. Offered by the Deggendorf Institute of Technology (DIT) through the Virtuelle Hochschule Bayern, the 5-ECTS course is designed for Bachelor’s and Master’s students from health, biomedical, technological, managerial, and related disciplines.

      Across 20 units, students progress from the foundations of Global Health, Disease Burden, Health Economics, and Evidence-Based Practice to the technological and regulatory dimensions of Digital Health. Core topics include Health Data Standards, Electronic Health Records, Interoperability, Telemedicine, Mobile Health, Remote Monitoring, Extended Reality, Robotics, Artificial Intelligence for Health, Cybersecurity, Ethics, and Regulation. Particular attention is given to contemporary developments such as Generative AI, the European Health Data Space, the EU AI Act, Digital Therapeutics, and data-driven Digital Precision Health (10P-Health) – the new paradigm of the 21st-Century Health and Wellness.

      The distinctive Countrynalysis component enables students to apply this knowledge to the comparative assessment of National Health Systems and Digital Health Landscapes. Using a structured framework, students examine governance, health indicators, financing, ICT infrastructure, regulation, interoperability, adoption, and future development in selected countries. This approach advances learning beyond knowing and understanding toward application, analysis, critical evaluation, and the creation of an evidence-based country report.

      GDH reflects DIT’s broader commitment to internationally oriented Digital Health Education, Research, and Knowledge Exchange through its Master of Digital Health (MDH) study program, the DigiHealthDay Forum and Event Series, and the WHO Collaborating Centre for Digital Health Education, Research & Development. By connecting global health needs with technological possibilities and real-world implementation contexts, the course prepares learners to contribute responsibly and effectively to equitable, sustainable, and evidence-informed Digital Health Transformation.

      Syllabus

      📄 Download the full Syllabus (PDF)

      Course Details

      Course Title Global Digital Health (GDH)
      Institution Deggendorf Institute of Technology (DIT), European Campus Rottal-Inn (ECRI), offered through the Virtuelle Hochschule Bayern (VHB)
      Consortium Partners Hochschule Neu-Ulm, Technische Universität München, Universität Augsburg
      Instructor(s) Prof. Dr. Georgi Chaltikyan; Fara Aninha Fernandes; Yasaman Rasouli; Prof. Dr. Horst Kunhardt
      ECTS / SWS 5 ECTS / 4 SWS
      Level Bachelor and Master
      Delivery Mode Fully online, self-paced with optional live sessions
      Language English
      Frequency Once each semester (Winter and Summer)
      Assessment Portfolio-based (unit quizzes, min. 70% per unit) and a final Countrynalysis report (term paper)
      Prerequisites None

      Course Description

      Global Digital Health (GDH) is an innovative online course providing the fundamental knowledge, skills, and competences necessary for all Digital Health specialists. It is designed for motivated graduates of biomedical and computer science disciplines from around the world who are interested in the digital transformation of health systems. The course offers a wide and international perspective on Digital Health.

      Part 1 (Units 1–15) covers the theoretical and technical foundations of global health and Digital Health, spanning topics from global health principles and the burden of disease to healthcare data standards, interoperability, telemedicine, mobile health, extended reality, artificial intelligence, legislation, and data security. Part 2 (Units 16–20) applies this knowledge through the Countrynalysis module, in which students examine the health system, ICT infrastructure, and Digital Health ecosystem of selected countries.

      Teaching and Learning Methods

      The course is delivered entirely online through the THD Learning Management System accessed via the VHB platform. Each unit is designed for approximately 135 minutes of core engagement: 40–50 minutes of pre-recorded video lecture, 60–70 minutes of reading, and 15–20 minutes of quiz self-assessment, plus self-study time.

      Assessment Strategy

      Component Description Requirement
      Unit Quizzes (Units 1–20) Each unit includes an embedded self-assessment quiz. Min. 70% pass per quiz (required)
      Countrynalysis Report Structured analytical report following the five-section framework for an assigned or selected country. Term paper, 10 A4 pages

      Workload Breakdown (5 ECTS = 150 Academic Hours)

      Activity Hours
      Pre-recorded video lectures (20 units × 2 lectures) 20
      Reading material (20 units) 30
      Live class discussions and Q&A sessions (5 × 2 hours) 10
      Unit quiz preparation and completion (20 units × 10 questions) 10
      Self-study & further reading 40
      Countrynalysis report: research, writing, and submission 40
      TOTAL 150
      Outline



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    Unit 1: Overview of Digital Health – General Provisions and Concepts

    Learning Objectives

    After reviewing this topic you should be able to:

    • Outline the scope of the Digital Health field
    • Provide a historical evolution of the Digital Health field
    • Classify the different ways to use digital and mobile technologies to meet the needs of a health system
    • Enumerate the necessity, benefits and limitations of Digital Health
    • Discuss global trends and national initiatives in the Digital Health field

    Unit 1 - Reading Material

    Unit 1 - Quiz