CURRICULUM, INSTRUCTION, AND PEDAGOGY article
Front. Public Health
Sec. Public Health Education and Promotion
This article is part of the Research TopicAI in Public Health Teaching and Education: Current Trends and Future OutlookView all 5 articles
Global Health Trade Summit: An AI-Enhanced Simulation of International Trade and Global Health for Undergraduate Public Health Education
Provisionally accepted
- Department of Public Health Sciences, University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, Honolulu, HI, United States
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Introduction: The Global Health Trade Summit is an undergraduate classroom activity designed to help students understand the role of international trade in addressing population health needs, especially given recent news about trade disruptions, health inequities, and access challenges. This economic simulation incorporates experiential learning and a constructivist pedagogical style, best practices in undergraduate public health pedagogy. Methods: This card game activity, designed with the assistance of artificial intelligence tools OpenAI ChatGPT and Adobe Firefly, involved gathering historical news and economic data, resource allocation, outcome simulation, and image generation. It aligns with objectives outlined in the guidelines for public health education set forth by CEPH, ASPPH, and CUGH. Pilot testing of the activity was facilitated by an instructor and teaching assistant with 39 students in an introductory global health course. Results: Students fully participated and remained engaged throughout the pilot activity, which closely mirrored resource management and trading mechanics prevalent in popular board and card games. The pandemic context resonated with them, enhancing their comprehension of international trade and its associated macroeconomic concepts, such as international aid, supply chain disruptions, and resource distribution challenges. Students reported enjoying the activity and provided valuable suggestions for enhancing the simulation's effectiveness. Discussion: The success of the pilot activity underscores the value of engaging economic games in public health instruction. These activities are facilitated or enhanced through the utilization of readily available artificial intelligence tools for education. Recommendations for other instructors are also provided, along with opportunities for research.
Keywords: Global health education, Public Health Pedagogy, Experiential learning, Trade, undergraduate
Received: 07 Aug 2025; Accepted: 27 Oct 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Patil, Terada and Nelson-Hurwitz. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Uday Patil, uday@hawaii.edu
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