Faculty-Led Trips

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Students in the USC Master of Public Health Online program are encouraged to participate in our unique faculty-led international trips (usually two weeks). These opportunities offer hands-on public health experience in clinics, government organizations, non-governmental organizations, research institutes, and in communities around the world. Students can earn course credit for the two-week faculty-led trip and, if desired, set up a practicum and extend their time in the country.

Group of people smiling Through our expert faculty, opportunities have been made available to students to work in Costa Rica, Switzerland, India, Ghana, Honduras, Mozambique, Mexico, Chile, Taiwan, China, Singapore, Japan, and more. As an example, our course in Geneva investigates the way health is organized and administered at the global level by integrating students directly into the World Health Assembly (WHA), the decision-making body of the World Health Organization, and exposing them to the inner workings of key global health organizations.

Geneva, Switzerland

Global Health Governance & Diplomacy in Practice in Geneva at the World Health Assembly

Course Description: This course investigates the way health is organized and administered at the global level by exposing students to the inner workings of key global health organizations and integrating them directly into the World Health Assembly (WHA), the decision-making body of the World Health Organization. At the WHA, delegates from WHO Member States determine WHO policies for the year, supervise financial policies, and review and approve the program budget for WHO. Students will engage with the diverse organizations, consortia and networks engaged in global health, and be directly integrated into the international diplomacy processes governing health and global health funding. This course will allow students to apply the knowledge and skills from their MPH coursework to engage in and analyze global policy processes. In addition, students will interact with global health organizations in Geneva to learn about their programs and operations. This will provide students with a deeper understanding of the work of diverse organizations involved in health globally and the various opportunities for future careers in global health.

MPH Online Student Spotlight Webinar about faculty-led trips to the World Health Assembly in Geneva, Switzerland and to Costa Rica.

Transcript

We're talking a lot about NCDs and probably everyone is. Can you talk to me a little bit about the US position on NCDs here this week?

Sure. We've been parked for a couple of years on raising the awareness and engagement of WHO in noncommunicable diseases. It actually, while it's thought of in the United States to have something to do with wealthier nations, actually it's a huge emerging problem in developing countries also. High rates of diabetes, high rates of heart disease, smoking issues, preventable deaths are actually something that developing countries have a great deal of interest in.

So this meeting will actually be coming up with some initial recommendations around where WHO wants to focus their time and attention. We had a first conversation about this in Moscow about a year and a half ago. A working group has been on the way, and at this meeting, I think the initial recommendation about 2 or 3 areas, we know there's a lot of agreement about going after tobacco use and smoking reduction. It's kind of a great bang for your healthcare buck. Probably the best public health initiative. We think there's a lot of agreement around diet, particularly as it regards sodium, and lowering sodium content, dealing with a lot of these underlying degrees, and probably around exercise and nutrition also. So there's likely to be a lot of consensus of those or places that we all can start our efforts, but then continue on from there. The challenge with developing countries, is they now have to deal with NCD's and infectious diseases at the same time. So help and technical support is also gonna be part of this issue.

At the 65th World Health Assembly, Kathleen Sebelius, US Secretary of Health and Human Services, gives USC Master of Public Health students an exclusive interview on non-communicable diseases (NCDs).

Costa Rica

Health & Sustainable Development in Costa Rica

Course Description: The course explores how climate change, biodiversity loss, migration, sustainable development, and human rights relate to health among populations in Costa Rica.

Costa Rica Global Health The group stays in three different locations in the country and visits local health clinics, a public health research institute, governmental public health agencies, NGOS, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, the national children’s hospital, a palm oil plantation, Ministry of Health, the Panama border, and indigenous communities.

Transcript

Hi, my name is Will Jardell. I'm an USC Masters of Public Health student online with a concentration in Global Health. I currently live in Los Angeles, California. There are so many ways to get involved in the online program. I found out about a global health trip through an e-mail, and this summer I went to Costa Rica for two weeks with Dr. Kumar and Dr. [Wither 00:00:19].

There were online and on campus students on the trip. We learned about indigenous populations, we learned about climate change initiatives happening in Costa Rica. We also learned about the human rights court located in San Jose. One thing that I really loved about going to Costa Rica was being able to communicate and learn from the indigenous population. We got to learn about the struggles, the challenges, and the things they've had to overcome in Costa Rica. Another amazing part about going to Costa Rica was being able to experience it with the faculty of USC. We got to learn from them, their experiences, and get a real time view of the things they've learned throughout the public health field.