Not academically rigorous, but a great cultural immersion experience. Past Review

By A student (Middlebury College) - abroad from 08/15/2016 to 12/15/2016 with

CIEE: Khon Kaen - Community Public Health

What did you gain/learn from your experience abroad? Was it worthwhile?

Because of the location of the program, you get a very immersive experience in that many of the locals do not speak English. My time in Thailand felt very "authentic". The classes were honestly nothing too special, but they provided experiences I would not have been able to have at my home university. There are homestays which show you a lot about the local culture. Weekends are pretty open so you can travel throughout SE Asia fairly easily.

Personal Information

How much international exposure did you have prior to this program?	1 month - 6 months

Review Your Program

* Overall educational experience Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc.	The course lectures day-to-day were not that engaging or interesting, and assumed students had no prior knowledge of public health (which is fair, but a majority of students in the program were studying public health at their home universities as well). The homestays and independent research project done at the end of the program redeemed the time in the classroom at the start. Additionally, you learn a good amount of the Thai language.
* Host Country Program Administration On-site administration of your program
* Housing: How satisfied were you with your living arrangements?
* Food:	Great if you like Thai food, but Khon Kaen has little western options. CIEE does not provide any meals for you. Accessing food at the beginning of the program is difficult because of the language barrier. However, everything locally is INCREDIBLY cheap and you can easily live on <$5 a day for all meals/snacks.
* Social & Cultural Integration: How integrated did you feel with the local culture?	Learning Thai makes integration a lot easier.
* Health Care: How well were health issues addressed during the program?	CIEE staff will take you to the local private hospital for any health issues that arise, and pharmacies also offer antibiotics, etc. without prescriptions. Food poisoning was pretty common among people on the program, but CIEE addresses these concerns well.
* Safety:
If you could do it all over again would you choose the same program?	Yes

Finances

* Money: How easily were you able to live on a student's budget? (1 = not very easy/$200+ on food & personal expenses/week, 2.5 = $100/week, 5 = very easily/minimal cost)	I budgeted $200 a month on food and this was plenty for me.
Not including program expenses, about how much money did you spend on food and other expenses each week?	$35.
Do you have any general money-saving tips for future study abroad participants?	Eat the local street food if you can, more western food is far more expensive.

Language

* Did your program have a foreign language component?	Yes
How much did the program encourage you to use the language? 0 = No encouragement, 5 = frequent encouragement to use the language
How would you rate your language skills at the beginning of the program?	None
How would you rate your language skills at the end of the program?	Intermediate
What was the highest level language course you had completed prior to departure?	Introduction to Thai.
How many hours per day did you use the language?

Other Program Information

* Where did you live? Select all that apply	Apartment
* Who did you live with? Select all that apply	Local Students
* Who did you take classes with? Select all that apply	Americans International Students
About how many local friends did you make that you will likely keep in touch with?

A Look Back

* What did you like most about the program?	Traveling on weekends Homestays Site visits (field trips)
* What could be improved?	Academic lectures On-site staff communication
* What do you know now that you wish you knew before going on this program?	Khon Kaen is a rural city, making it difficult to get anywhere (Bangkok is the nearest big city- a 6-7 bus ride away) and harder to communicate with locals as English is not very present.

Reasons For Studying Abroad

To help future students find programs attended by like-minded individuals, please choose the profile that most closely represents you.	The Avid Adventurer The wardrobe you packed was better suited for a semester of camping than club hopping. Outdoorsy, you might forgo a crazy night out for an early all-day adventure. You'd rather take in the rich culture of an old town than the metropolis of a modern city, but for you getting off the grid is ideal.

Individual Course Reviews

Course Name/Rating:	Public Health Management in Thailand
Course Department:	Public Health
Instructor:	John F Smith
Instruction Language:	English
Comments:	In-class lectures were very dry and discussions did not really happen. It was not a necessarily engaging class. However, you go on site visits to local hospitals, health centers, etc. which make the in-class time more worth it. We did a trip to Laos to compare health systems internationally which was an amazing experience.
Credit Transfer Issues:

Course Name/Rating:	Intro to Thai Language
Course Department:
Instructor:
Instruction Language:
Comments:	Very challenging as the first 30 hours of the class are in only Thai- there are limited breaks for questions in English. But, grading is fair and you are given plenty of support. By the end I felt confident in my Thai abilities and was easily able to use it throughout the country.
Credit Transfer Issues:

Course Name/Rating:	Community Public Health
Course Department:	Public Health
Instructor:	Anthony Kuster, Anootnara Kuster
Instruction Language:
Comments:	In class lectures were generally not very exciting, but you do two needs assessments in local villages which is redeeming for the course. These assessments include homestays which is really immersive in local Thai culture.
Credit Transfer Issues:

Course Name/Rating:	Independent Research Project
Course Department:
Instructor:	Anthony Kuster, Anootnara Kuster
Instruction Language:	English
Comments:	This is incredibly valuable.
Credit Transfer Issues: