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International Field Practice |
International Health Field Practicum Office (IHFPO) assists BUSPH MPH students in finding and negotiating academically and professionally significant field practicum opportunities.
International Field Practicum
The IH Field Practicum Office augments BUSPH's Practice Office. Students interested in an International Field Practicum must consider that risks, challenges, rules, and cultures that are different than those encountered in the United States. To this end, IH concentrators are required to complete an IH Practicum Orientation prior to embarking on their practicum.
Finding International Practicum Opportunities
Finding an international practicum is the responsibility of the student, but we can help.
An assortment of Web sites provide information on practicum opportunities or the international organizations that offer them, including: the IH Practicum CourseInfo site, idealist.org, the members organizations of the Global Health Council (also their Careers.GlobalHealth.Org/ site) or InterAction . You can review job advice and ads on sites like AidWorkers.Net , ReliefWeb.org, UNJobs.org, DevNetJobs.org , CORE or two UK-based sites: Practical Action, and Experience Development.org . Professional networks are a great source of potential practica. Contacting past employers, colleagues, previous professors, friends, and family; attending conferences like APHA or the Global Health Council Conference, can all help you identify an opportunity of interest.
For students who want a longer overseas experience as part of their studies, consider the Program in International Health Practice (PIHP) in the Philippines which runs each fall and spring. This 16-credit, semester-long program has three elements: coursework at the University of the Philippines College of Public Health, a 10-day travel-study tour outside of Manila, and an intensive 5-week field practicum experience. Its an ideal way to gain public health field experience which meets the MPH practicum requirement, live in a developing country, all while earning credits towards your degree.
In 2007, in collaboration with the School for Field Studies , the IH Department established a 6 credit, 5-week course in Kenya through its Summer Institute in International Health: IH707 Kenya: Field Practicum in Public Health & Environmental, which also meets the MPH practicum requirement.
Announcements of IH opportunities are included in the Practice Office email updates sent to all SPH students. The Practice Office also maintains a searchable database of past and current practica, accessible via its Web page. You can search by either topic areas or location.
Preparation
Students need to educate themselves about the risks of travel and prepare for potential adverse events. IHPO provides students with a logistics checklist that describes in detail the pre-practicum preparations required for a practicum abroad.
Appropriate measures including visiting a travel clinic well prior to departure (CDC's Traveler's Health), arranging for insurance and medical evacuation coverage (see BU students' plan through Aetna ), and read US State Department postings on travel advisories. Student should consider buying and reading the excellent and affordable resource that covers everything from culture shock to travel logistics: Survival Kit for Overseas Living or one of the more specific travel books, like those in the Culture Shock series.
Students should start thinking about their practica early in their MPH program. Be flexible and open minded and consider not only your learning needs but also the needs of the organization where you are seeking a field practicum. To do meaningful work, you have to fulfill a need of the hosting organization. The first steps are to explore the possibilities, and try to refine:
- Where you want to go?
- What you want to learn?
- When to go and for how long?
- How much are you willing to spend, and what level of assistance might you need?
- fitting and adjusting the above into the possibilities.
Discuss plans and seek advice from your advisor, and the Practice Office and IHPO. Complete the 2 required Orientations: one for the Practice Office and the IH Practicum Orientation on CourseInfo.
For additional questions and assistance, contact
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or
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in the Department of International Health.
The Ken James Travel Fund
The Ken James Travel Fund provides modest travel stipends to students undertaking field practice placements in international settings.
The Fund was created in honor of our former DIH colleague and friend, Dr. Ken James, a Jamaican physician and public health practitioner. Dr. James is now the Director of the Masters in Public Health Program at the School of Public Health in the West Indies.
You can find information on the application process and selection criteria here.
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