HERSHEY, Pa. — Penn State College of Medicine’s Global Health Exchange Program welcomed 12 international students to central Pennsylvania for three weeks of training and learning in Hershey.
The Global Health Exchange Program (GHEP) is a three-credit, completely immersive course of study embedded in the master of public health and doctor of public health programs at Penn State. Through a thoughtfully designed intercultural learning experience, students are given a complete view of intercultural differences in public health. Students from all over the world studying public health, health care management, nursing and medicine joined this year’s cohort.
“The Global Health Exchange Program is a testament to Penn State’s commitment to cultivating global health leaders. By bringing students together from diverse backgrounds to our Hershey campus, we create a vibrant environment for exploring complex health challenges,” said Julie Lentes, senior instructor of public health sciences and GHEP faculty lead. “This program empowers our students to think critically, collaborate across cultures and develop innovating solutions to improve health worldwide.”
During the three-week program, students from Taiwan, South Africa, Ecuador, Bahrain, Germany and Ireland learned from College of Medicine faculty and community partners about social determinants of health, disease prevention, global gender and health inequities, using artificial intelligence to reduce health care disparities and food as medicine.
“I have been impressed at how the students’ own backgrounds in public health and healthcare from across the globe enriches the educational sessions,” said N. Benjamin Fredrick, professor of family and community medicine and director of the Global Health Center. “How often do learners get to come together to not only learn about the U.S. context of health but also share their own countries’ systems and solutions with one another to take the best from the world? This makes for a really exciting and vibrant learning community.”
Wenke Hwang, associate professor and director of the Penn State Master of Public Health Program, echoed the sentiment.
“If the COVID-19 pandemic teaches us anything, it’s that global health is no longer just about public health problems that happen somewhere else,” Hwang said. “The world is becoming more interconnected, through technology, diseases, economies, geo-political conflicts, climate change, etc. The GHEP aims to expose participants from different parts of the world with scientific discoveries, to cultivate them with a global perspective of health and well-being, and to help grow the seeds of culture and humanities. Since 2016, the summer program has really become an integral part of our public health graduate education program.”
In addition to faculty lectures and group discussions, students visited local areas and governmental sites, such as the Pennsylvania General Assembly and Penn State’s main campus in State College. They participated in community outreach activities, including volunteering at the Central Pennsylvania Food Bank and health education at the Farmer’s Market in Hershey. Additionally, they put some time aside for fun activities like a Hersheypark trip, sightseeing and a Harrisburg Senators baseball game.
As part of the curriculum, students completed a collaborative group project comparing three countries health care systems, including investigating a major health issue facing each country and how their health systems address it.
Students gain valuable perspective
Students who participated in the program say they will return home feeling motivated and armed with new knowledge to help them improve public health services.
“I am thrilled to take part in this opportunity to study in Hershey this year,” said Eric, a doctoral student from the University of Limpopo in South Africa. “I learned intensely about the United States health care system, and I will return home completely different and inspired. I am certain I will go back to my home country to implement things I learned here to improve public health.”
Eric’s classmates expressed similar sentiments.
“In GHEP, I got to know a variety of different cultures, and discuss public health with people in various fields. Though we came from different countries, one thing we have in common is our goal is to make the world better,” said TE-I Lin, a student from Taiwan.
Sharon, a student from Bahrain, agreed.
“This was an extremely enriching and rewarding experience," Sharon said. "As a medical student, it was so fascinating to see the backdrop of the workings of health care policy making and economics. I loved the different perspectives from different doctors on a single public healthcare issue. This is an amazing group of mentors and a lovely diverse cohort of colleagues to work alongside with.”
Program sees continued growth
The Global Health Exchange Program launched in 2016 as a collaboration between Penn State and international academic institutions and is hosted by the Department of Public Health Sciences in partnership with the College of Medicine’s Global Health Center and the Global Health Minor, an undergraduate program in the Department of Behavior Health in the College of Health and Human Development. The program has grown exponentially through the years — the initial three-week course in 2017 hosted three students.
“Both myself and Dr. Thomas Gould, head of the Department of Biobehavior Health, have prioritized reciprocity in global health education,” said Dana Naughton, associate teaching professor and director of Penn State's global health minor. “Each year students gain valuable insights through travel abroad and it’s imperative that we work to make these same opportunities available to our host countries’ students. We have been honored to sponsor students from our collaborating universities to attend the Global Health Exchange Program and have especially enjoyed their visits to our University Park campus.”
Kristin Sznajder, assistant professor and associate director of international initiatives, reflected on the program’s growth and the importance of its lessons.
"The Global Health Exchange Program has experienced significant growth since its inception,” Sznajder said. “Participating students not only acquire essential public health knowledge, especially on the social determinants of health, but are also enriched through shared cultural experiences, better preparing them for a globalized world.”
The goals of the program are to build and strengthen students’ public health practice knowledge, increase comprehension of the field of public health on both local and global levels and offer cultural experiences.