Georgetown University’s International Emergency and Disaster Management programme for working professionals has admitted nearly 40 new students from Qatar, Jordan, Mexico and the US for the 2018-2019 executive master of professional studies class.
In August, the new cohort of working professionals from backgrounds in medicine, public health, law enforcement and defence will begin an immersive year studying and experiencing the complexity of international natural and man-made disasters as they take part in the five-module programme with residencies in Washington, Doha, Muscat, Paris and Amman, a press statement notes.
The programme, which combines lectures and online coursework with five in-person residences around the globe, is designed for emergency management leaders and practitioners who develop the skills required to mitigate potential threats and lead international response efforts in times of crisis. 
The online classes and in-person residencies are taught and organised by instructors who are authorities in the emergency and disaster space, including professional crisis managers and leadership and management specialists. Residencies for this programme will include field visits to places of critical activities, including Qatar, France, Jordan, Oman and the US, where students will be exposed to topics such as Natural & Technological Hazards, Terrorism & Man-Made Disasters, and Public Health & Humanitarian Crises.
Faculty director Dr Tim Frazier emphasised the programme’s humanitarian focus – a hallmark of a Georgetown education. “Graduates of our programme develop a high level of strategic- and critical-thinking skills required for decision-making in this important field, allowing them to serve in leadership roles and to live the Georgetown value of ‘people for others’ daily,” he said.
The programme’s inaugural cohort of emergency management professionals, including many from Qatar, presented their capstone projects during a Gallery Walk event at Georgetown University in Qatar. 
Touted by Georgetown as “one of the world’s most academically rigorous emergency and disaster management curricula”, the programme will begin accepting new applications for the 2019-20 term in mid-September this year.
To learn more, one can visit http://scs.georgetown.edu/iedm