Why Don't You Try Studying Public Health in India?

This is the third of a three-part series, in which we ask questions to students enrolled in last year’s Study Abroad course to India, offered by the School of Public Health. The next course takes place in January, and the deadline to apply is Oct. 7, but the sooner the better! To learn more about the course, visit the website, or contact the instructor, Dr. Donna Howard or (301) 405-2520.

The United States is quite an interesting place to study public health, with our wide-ranging diversity of people, conditions, problems and environments. But public health has no borders, and neither should we create borders when studying it.

Here are reasons that former India Study Abroad students gave about why India is a great place to study India:

“India is an incredible place to study public health because in some ways they have taken what other countries have learned about proper disease prevention and applied to their circumstances and country. They struggle with diseases and problems that we take for granted in the U.S., like clean water and sanitation. India gives one a chance to see another perspective of providing health care and health promotion.”

“India is a tremendous place to study public health for a number of reasons. A multi-level organizational structure exists to provide a comprehensive level of care to the Indian public. Yet, India has not yet eradicated diseases like polio. Large numbers of children suffer from diarrheal diseases like malaria. India is on track to face the largest epidemic of HIV/AIDS. However, for the more affluent citizens of India, chronic disease is becoming more and more prevalent. How do one of the world's largest and most rapidly modernizing nations address this diversity of public health needs, with a public health system that still relies on an unconnected paper records system?”

“Public health is an interesting field because you inadvertently learn a lot about the culture while learning about how they respond to public health challenges. In studying public health in India, I found that I came away with a lot more than just an increased knowledge of the public health system.”

“India is a good place to study public health because it is the new frontier for public health advocates. India has one of the largest populations in the world and is still in the developing stages. This allows for more research in community diagnosis, waste management, and more research in different ways to administer vaccinations and/ or drugs to large, more delocalized, populations.”

“India is a great place to study public health because there is a wide range of diseases to study and the community is much more accessible. It is also interesting because there are so many environmental factors that play into the public’s health that you are able to get a more in-depth experience in public health.”