While they were in the U.S., their GHEP training included a series of lectures with Penn State faculty and guest speakers on a variety of public health topics, and visits to local and federal legislators and policymakers in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, Baltimore, Maryland, and Washington, D.C. to learn about their vision for public health in the United States.
The culmination of this intensive schedule is a project in which participants compare a prevalent health issue faced by the United States and another country, and the different approaches to the issue.
Julie Lentes, a faculty member of the Department of Public Health Sciences in the Penn State College of Medicine, serves as the global health program manager and directed GHEP for its fourth year. She sees first-hand the impact of this opportunity for a diverse group of students to tackle international public health issues.
“A major goal of our program is to promote an intercultural learning experience that prepares learners to enter the public health workforce with a global perspective. We accomplish that through an immersive curriculum, which gives the participants an opportunity to explore public health systems worldwide, analyze cultural similarities and differences within health care, and discuss how cultural norms affect the health of their populations.”
For Johannes Luka, also studying at the University of Limpopo in South Africa, the program helped him discover an interest in research and he wanted to take full advantage of the learning opportunities GHEP offered him.
“This program provides a platform where you can meet people from every region of the world and learn from them. And they can also learn from you,” Luka said. “The time went by very fast, so I wanted to enjoy every moment and learn all of the new information I was being provided.”