International practice-based field experiences for students: A design for the real world

The 2002 Institute of Medicine Report, “Who will keep the public healthy?” recommended that schools of public health expand “supervised practice opportunities and sites” for their students. The Office of Public Health Practice at the University of Michigan School of Public Health (UM SPH) has developed a structured practice-based international field experience program for graduate students. In 2007, UM SPH and the Tianjin Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) signed a formal memorandum of understanding outlining an exchange program. As part of the agreement, 33 UM SPH graduate students gained supervised practice-based hands on experience in an international setting.

During the 2008 spring break, 30 UM SPH graduate students spent one week working with Tianjin CDC staff on public health projects in the following areas: environmental health, immunization, outbreak investigation and health education. Over the summer of the same year, three UM SPH graduate students spent three months working at the Tianjin CDC on priority health areas. This presentation will describe the process for establishing supervised practice-based international student experiences in China, including the development of experiential learning objectives and training, and discuss the importance of cultural training when working in an international setting.