Microfinance and public health: A trans-disciplinary and experiential course for semester-abroad undergraduate students

Using principles of experiential learning, we designed and implemented a trans-disciplinary 3-credit course, Microfinance and Public Health, for semester-abroad undergraduates from Creighton University. We taught the course in Santiago, Dominican Republic, and designed it to include activities that actively engaged students in the material and in the setting, facilitated multi-sensory experiences, and promoted teamwork and interpersonal skills. Students learned about five microfinance products/services (microloans, micro-savings, micro- housing finance, micro-insurance, remittance services) and studied literature on a variety of impacts of these products/services. Students also studied some basic concepts in public health, based on guidelines for undergraduate public health education from the Association of American Colleges and Universities, including social determinants of health, health status measures, and epidemiologic transition and development theories. Students used these concepts in exploring a variety of health status comparisons between Santiago, DR, and Omaha, Nebraska. Students participated in an IRB-approved Grounded Theory research project exploring the impacts of microcredit on family and community health in a poor barrio of Santiago. The study included interviews with loan officers and loan recipients and the construction of a culturally grounded model on microfinance impacts. We evaluated the course with a pre-post questionnaire on public health knowledge and a post-course questionnaire and interview on the course as a whole. This workshop will present the experiential learning principles we applied, the objectives and methods used to teach the course, and the outcomes of the course for the students. We will share lessons learned and plans for incorporating these into future courses.