GPH Graduate Certificate–

International Experience

Upon completion of the international experience, the three required documents should be submitted by email to: for review.

INTERNATIONAL EXPERIENCE REQUIREMENTS

  • It must be at least two weeks MPH faculty led OR at least four weeks with a specific focus on public health.
  • It must occur in a country other than your home country.
  • International MPH students may submit their U.S. based MPH field placement as their international experience if it is community based.
  • It must be public health related.
  • It must be supervised by a public health professional.
  • It must be linked to a registered institution or organization in the country it occurs.
  • Must meet certificate core competency requirements.
  • Any experience must be accompanied with the following three documentation items:
  • International Experience Details
  • Reflective Diary OR Reflective Questions
  • Essay

INTERNATIONAL EXPERIENCE DETAILS

Dates:

Number of Weeks:

Town & Country:

Name of Agency/Organization:

Supervisor’s Name:

Supervisor’s Title:

Supervisor’s Email:

Agency’s Primary Service:

Briefly describe your role and duties with the organization:

REFLECTIVE DIARY OR REFLECTIVE QUESTIONS

Include a sample (2-3 pages) of your logs/writings from your experience. If you do not have a diary from your experience, please answer each of the following three questions. Reflective questions responses should be approximately 500 words per question, typed, double-spaced, written in Standard English with accepted spelling, grammar, and punctuation. Use of accepted writing formats, such as the American Psychological Association published standards is encouraged.

  1. How did your international public health experience differ from your expectations?
  2. Share an example of how your international experience has improved your skills in communicating with others.
  3. Describe any situation(s) where you believe your values were questioned. How did you handle the situation? How were you able to discuss differences while accepting the position of others?

ESSAY(3-5 pages)

Dr. Benjamin Paul, a former professor of the Harvard School of Public Health and medical anthropologist wrote, “If you wish to help a community improve its health, you must learn to think like the people of that community. Before asking a group of people to assume new health habits, it is wise to ascertain the existing habits, how these habits are linked to one another, what functions they perform, and what they mean to those who practice them.”

Culture is a dynamic and evolving shared set of beliefs and practices that co-exists with individual and small group distinctness. Reflecting on your international public health experience, write a 3-5 page paper describing a public health issue of concern in the country you visited and, using examples from your experience, describe how social and cultural factors influence health outcomes. Since cultural competence requires the ability to reflect on how one’s own beliefs and practices influence the interpretation of others’ behavior, be sure to include an examination of your own cultural traditions and social environment in your analysis.

Rev. 01/28/15