Public Health in India - Irreplaceable Out-of-Classroom Experiences Past Review

Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc.

I learned a lot from my time in Manipal, but a lot of the learning was through experiences organized by the program but not in the traditional classroom. I learned a good amount in classes too, but since I was already a public health major I had taken similar classes back home. The classes were not rigorous compared to my classes at GWU, but it was interesting to learn things from a completely different perspective and the field visits were irreplaceable.

On-site administration of your program

The head administrator of this program, Katie Jo Walter Shoemaker, made this program. She was very enthusiastic about everything we could do, there were events she helped facilitate every week (if not every day), and she was helpful in the myriad of situations we found ourselves in.

How satisfied were you with your living arrangements?

I was pretty satisfied with the living arrangements. The housing was very nice and the women who ran the hostel were great. It took some time getting used to the stricter rules associated with living on campus in India as a woman, and the fact that we did not have cards to get into the hostel but had to wait for the guard to let us in got annoying. It was possible to live with a roommate and without, and there were mixed experiences with that all around - but overall it was good exposure.

We had access to food 3 meals a day at the mess, which was a block away from the hostel. I used it most in the first half of the program. It was good when I wasn't that hungry and didn't know that much about Indian food. Once I knew was truly good Indian food was I went off campus more and more for food. There were many options in town for that as well (and everything is quite cheap).

How integrated did you feel with the local culture?

I think I experienced as much integration as was possible without really learning the local language and having some things restricted in the culture. We traveled a bunch and went to many events locally with the help of the program. I think I could have gotten to know some Indian students better than I did, but that is more on the individual experience I think.

How well were health issues addressed during the program?

Health issues were a big worry for people coming in but our program did not have too many issues. Those that we did have were handled very well. I never had to go to the doctor but was sick a few times and one of the program coordinators always was checking in (either in person or over the phone) and helped with anything anyone needed for health related things.

Since we were in a college town I felt very safe. The living accommodations had a guard at all hours but even walking around I felt completely fine. There are definitely aspects of Indian culture that you have to get used to, but other than that we did not have any real issues.

(1 = not very easy/$200+ on food & personal expenses/week, 2.5 = $100/week, 5 = very easily/minimal cost)

India is for the budget traveler. Especially with this program where we did have access to free meals and some of the travel costs were covered, this was a great budget trip.

0 = No encouragement, 5 = frequent encouragement to use the language

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• Hostel

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• Local Students
• Americans
• International Students

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• Local Students
• Americans

• Field Visits (for Public Health)
• Meeting People with Different Perspectives
• Traveling & Seeing the Sites

• More time spent in an Indian city
• More interaction with local people (there was some but could be more)

The Academic or Linguist