Global Health Experiential Education in India

My time with CFHI in New Delhi was truly transformative, both personally and professionally. From the moment I arrived, I was welcomed into a supportive and enriching environment that allowed me to grow and learn in ways I had never imagined.

The CFHI program provided an exceptional range of clinical experiences. I had the chance to observe and participate in various medical practices, which enriched my understanding of healthcare delivery in a resource-constrained setting. The hands-on experience, coupled with insightful lectures, deepened my knowledge and skills.

The mentors and healthcare professionals involved in the program were outstanding. Their dedication to teaching and their willingness to share their expertise created a nurturing learning environment. They were always available to answer questions and provide guidance, which made the experience even more valuable.

CFHI’s program in New Delhi offered a profound cultural experience. Living in such a vibrant city allowed me to immerse myself in Indian culture, traditions, and daily life. This aspect of the program was incredibly enriching and helped me develop a broader perspective on global health issues.

The program is designed with a strong emphasis on community health. I appreciated how CFHI integrates community service into the experience, providing meaningful opportunities to engage with and contribute to local communities. This aspect of the program was particularly rewarding and highlighted the importance of giving back.

The CFHI team was exceptionally well-organized and supportive throughout my stay. From pre-departure preparations to on-the-ground support, everything was handled with professionalism and care. Any concerns or issues were addressed promptly, ensuring a smooth and enjoyable experience.

Participating in the CFHI program in New Delhi was an incredibly enriching experience that I will cherish for years to come. It provided me with invaluable clinical exposure, cultural insights, and personal growth opportunities. I highly recommend this program to anyone interested in gaining hands-on healthcare experience while making a meaningful impact in a global context.

Overall, I had a good experience with CFHI in India. My goals for the trip were to get out of my comfort zone and immerse myself in a new culture, meet and interact with the community directly, directly observe healthcare and health practice in India, and to expand my cultural awareness and humility. I was able to accomplish all of these things. For four weeks we stayed with hosts families and we got to know them as well as the culture they belonged to. There were many opportunities to interact with the community whether it be visits to public health sites while in Delhi, visiting the various clinics, or day-to-day interactions we had as we navigated unfamiliar terrain. In the clinics, Hindi was spoken most of the time so we did not always know what was going on, which was a minor detriment. However, there were many moments where guidance and clarification was given by the preceptors, often times when we were confident enough to ask quickly between patients. Some preceptors were intentional about making sure we understood what was going on and answering questions before or after clinic or during planned pauses in the clinic. A few were too busy to do such things, which is understandable. The experience also allowed for enormous growth. There were many times that I had to question my assumptions, evaluate my own perceptions, and/or genuinely challenge my beliefs, which I think has resulted in me being much more open-minded than before. With the intricate belief systems in India and resulting integration in daily life, I was able to begin learning what it truly means to acknowledge that I am no expert in the culture of another, and should be curious and open to learning about it. This is something I think I will take with me as I continue in Global Health.

Choosing to participate in this program is easily one of the best decisions I made this year. I have always wanted to participate in the internship program without success so I was very excited when I was awarded the Susan Hershey Scholarship for this program. The program director did a great job of curating Public Health classes, virtual facility tours, and even Hindi language classes. Even though it was virtual, I felt like I was really in India learning about the public health system and some of the successful interventions. I had the privilege of interacting with some of the NGO managers and getting their insight on solving their public health challenges. I also learned about cultural adaptability and found the global health lectures very informative. This experience was very enlightening and rewarding. I look forward to sharing my learnings and experiences with my colleagues.

I can confidently say that I am glad that I made the decision to travel to Mumbai, India through the CFHI Infectious Diseases Program in 2005. I went on this eye-opening trip in as a Public Health student and realized that I had so much to be thankful and grateful for. I understood that we were lucky in the United States and in some developed countries when it comes to having the capability and capacity to eradicate some infectious diseases such as Leprosy.
I had learned about Leprosy from my science classes and seen images of the devastation and incapacitating nature of the disease, but it is nothing compared to actually seeing it in reality. CFHI has made it an effort to provide the opportunity for access and information about global health to health professionals, nursing students, medical students and public health students. CFHI have been able to carry this role out because they constantly strive to maintain relationships with all their host countries institutions, and families. Access to health information and awareness of health maintenance is a fundamental human right. CFHI has a solid stance on that so it is not surprising to see CFHI at the top of the Great Nonprofits.
I also hope to someday join CFHI in bringing awareness to the global fight against Addiction and Mental Health issues.
I will end with Gro Brundtland’s words, “There can be no real growth without healthy populations. No sustainable development without tackling disease and malnutrition. No international security without assisting crisis-ridden countries. And no hope for the spread of freedom, democracy and human dignity unless we treat health as a basic human right.”

I chose this program in India and participated for 4 weeks during my summer semester of college in 2016 because I am interested in obstetrics and gynecology as well as, the challenges expecting mothers face in the developing world. Apart from that, I also love the vibrant and colorful culture of India. This program was worth the time and money because I got to shadow and interact with physicians from both departments of pediatrics and obstetrics/ gynecology as well as, primary care physicians from rural villages. This experience allows me to have a better idea of what I want to pursue and how I want to contribute to women healthcare. I highly recommend to anyone who's interested in working in the healthcare sector. Also, I would totally encourage others to go because it’s not only an opportunity to learn more about global health but also, to learn more about different cultures and forge everlasting friendships.

I completed a 4-week experience with CFHI during the summer of 2016. The Intro to Traditional Medicine experience in India was one of the most formative experiences I have had in medical school. I shadowed practitioners in reiki, naturopathy, allopathic medicine, and ayurveda. I also attended one-on-one teaching sessions with a 104 year old genius of a man. The organization is very supportive, easy to work with, and flexible. The experience was pivotal to my understanding of healthcare systems, rural medicine, and cultural awareness. The rotation was very useful to my medical career and presented a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to travel in India and southeast Asia. There was a good balance of education, culture, language skills, and travel. I enjoyed the experience so much that I will doing another rotation with CFHI this summer.

I came into my experience with Child Family Health International thinking that I would get some hands-on healthcare experience that would make me a better healthcare professional in the future. I came out of it with a new perspective on what health means and a trip that - although different than I was expecting and not "hands-on" - will truly make me a better, more culturally conscious and stronger global citizen and health advocate. 

Through CFHI, I learned to question my perspective and learn from local experts. I learned that health is not only the classes I took, the biological processes I studied or the hospitals I was familiar with, it is social, it is personal and it looks different to each of us. Healthcare in India is something that I am by no means an expert in, which is why I was refreshed that CFHI fosters a learning environment where participants are learners and local experts are teachers, guiding students through the intricacies of global health and social determinants of healthcare in different environments. 

Participating in the CFHI program in Delhi and Dehradun, India broadened my horizon and opened my mind to what it means to provide quality health care around the world, and I am forever grateful. Thank you CFHI!

Have you ever seen iv drug users or prostitutes? Have you ever talked to them and discussed public health issues in a constructive way. I got the chance to do this in the CFHI month long program. I also was able to learn from local public health practitioners what it is like to be boots on the ground and lean from the Jaipur Institute what national policy is, how it was formed, and how it is measured. On a social note I also traveled to see the Taj mahal and the Dali lama's temple