NOTE: SIT will make every effort to maintain its programs as described. To respond to emergent situations, like COVID-19, SIT may have to modify programs. Visit the SIT website for more details.
Examine Explore the links between public health, gender, and community action in India and Thailand.
Program Highlights
- Study in New Delhi, India’s central hub for policymakers and organizations active in the field of public health.
- Spend extensive time in the field.
- Focus on women, children, tribal communities, and other underserved populations.
- Participate in a weeklong workshop with an NGO or public health organization to learn about community health efforts in awareness building and advocacy with the government.
- Learn Hindi.
- Learn about India’s 5,000-year-old indigenous medicine system, with special focus on Ayurveda and yoga.
- Choose an Independent Study Project or internship to enhance your intercultural and professional skills.
Please visit the SIT Study Abroad website for details on program courses (including syllabi), educational excursions, and housing.
Independent Study
During the final four weeks of the program, you can choose to use your new language and cultural skills and the academic knowledge you have acquired to complete an Independent Study Project (ISP) on a topic of interest to you or complete an Internship with a local community organization, research organization, business, government agency, or international NGO
The ISP is conducted in North India or in another approved location in India. You will be matched with an ISP advisor who will work with you on the design, implementation, and evaluation of the research project. ISP advisors include professors of public health; environment, health, and human rights activists; health policy planners and advocates; and healthcare professionals.
Sample topics:
- Traditional healing practices including Ayurveda and yoga
- Traditional medicine approaches to mental healthcare and psychological wellbeing in India
- Maternal and child health issues and practices
- International, national, and regional responses to epidemics and pandemics
- Health equity and disability
SIT internships are hands on and reflective. In addition to completing the internship, you will submit a paper processing your learning experience on the job and analyzing an issue important to the organization you interned with, and/or you will design a socially responsible solution to a problem identified by the organization.
Topics and placements may vary according to the availability of each institution. Sample internship sites:
- Learning about traditional healthcare practices and holistic and traditional philosophy in Ayurveda and yoga at Kayakalp
- Learning about Jamkhed’s community health model at Comprehensive Rural Health Project
- Taking stock of LGBTQ rights and women’s access to healthcare in India at Naz Foundation
- Gaining an understanding of complex, interdisciplinary approaches to sustainable development and public health at Seva Mandir
- Learning about issues, challenges, and ways forward with regard to public health in a Himalayan rural community at Aarohi
Key Topics of Study
- Public health systems in India and Thailand
- Indian systems of medicine (Ayurveda and yoga)
- Social determinants of health (poverty, gender, and caste) and health equity
- Public health challenges: water, sanitation, and environment
- The scourge of malnutrition and responses of the community
- The political economy of health and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
- Regional and grassroots approaches to improving access to healthcare
Money Matters
Be sure to discuss how study abroad costs are handled at your school with your study abroad advisor.
SIT tuition and room and board fees include the following:
- All educational costs, including educational excursions
- All accommodations and meals for the full program duration
- Transportation to and from the airport, and on all educational excursions
- Health and accident insurance
Scholarships:
- SIT awards nearly $1.6 million in scholarships and grants annually.
- All scholarships and grants are need-based.
- Awards generally range from $500 to $5,000.
- The SIT Pell Grant Match provides matching grants to all students receiving Federal Pell Grant funding when it is applied to an SIT Study Abroad semester program.
- Contact the financial aid and/or study abroad office(s) at your college or university to learn if your school’s scholarships and grants and federal and state aid programs can be applied to an SIT Study Abroad program.
Contact SIT Study Abroad
