University of California - Davis: New Delhi and Himalayas - Public Health in New Delhi & Primary Care in Rural Himalayas

he Global Health Summer Abroad Internship program provides students interested in health the opportunity to gain first hand clinical rotation experience while being immersed in a local community.

Participants will have a unique opportunity to view India’s healthcare system and learn about its public health challenges through different lenses during the 5-week program. The first two weeks of the program will take place in New Delhi, the capital of India, providing participants the opportunity to visit non-governmental organizations in and around Delhi that are tackling the most significant public health challenges facing India, including sanitation and hygiene; HIV/AIDS, drug abuse and maternal and child health.  Participants will observe and engage in their efforts, while interacting with targeted populations like IDUs, MSM, sex workers, scavengers, and street children.

During the last three weeks of the program, participants will travel to the northern state of Uttarkhand, visiting various locations in northern India. This part of the program will consists on clinical rotations in both urban and rural locations with special emphasis on understanding the rural and urban divide in a developing country and the needs of rural low income communities that lack easy access to these.

For one of those weeks, participants will be in Uttarkhand’s capital city of Dehradun, roughly 6 hours north of New Delhi, participating in clinical rotations at various state public clinics and hospitals. The city of Dehradun is situated at an altitude of 1440 feet, nestled between the Himalayan foothills to the north and the Sivalik Hills to the south. It offers breathtaking scenery and serves as a convenient base for the rural portion of the program.