As far as the authors are aware, there is no published information that assesses the beliefs of students regarding global health issues. The purpose of this study was twofold: first, to assess students' baseline knowledge and beliefs regarding issues in global health and second, to evaluate the effectiveness of a new global health course by comparing "pre" and "post" surveys. A specific objective was to explore the factors that positively or negatively influence global knowledge and beliefs related to health. Using factor analysis, student beliefs coalesced into two belief foci: safety/comfort and responsibility/connectedness. Knowledge significantly increased across the board, whereas belief change was more localized. It is hoped that the findings from this study will help educators, particularly in health-related fields, to better understand the many challenges involved in providing effective global education in the college setting. (Contains 8 tables.)