Faculty
Travel Report
Name: John P. Elder
Faculty/Rank: Professor
Department: Graduate School of Public Health
College: College of Health and Human Services
Office phone: 4-2997
Other phone
E mail address: jelder@mail.sdsu.edu
Proposal title: “Student Exchange with the University of the Philippines”
Country/ies visited: Philippines
Institution visited: University of Manila College of Public Health, and UP-Metro Manila
Dates of travel: June 9, 2001- June 17, 2001
Number of student participants: 0 to date
Previous IP proposals submitted and grants awarded
(list titles, countries and dates): n/a
Have all required reports been submitted? Yes
Other funding for this activity available/applied for: To
date, no; though I am seeking Fogarty money for this and similar efforts.
Proposal Abstract (75 word maximum):
The University of the Philippines offers the MPH and PhD in Public Health. The current effort was to explore the possibility of student exchange and faculty collaboration of this well-respected, English-based institution. Our students would benefit greatly from the ability to conduct research and practice in a poor, tropical nation with complex public health problems.
Travel report:
I.
Opening/overview of intentions/activity
Students in American
Schools of Public Health learn about the “global burden of disease” and how
that burden is borne disproportionately by the world’s poorer nations. Infectious
diseases, maternal and neonatal mortality, and malnutrition continue to plague
most of the world’s population, even though those of us in wealthier nations
are far more concerned about heart disease, cancer and other ‘diseases of
affluence’. Thus, students desiring to gain experience fighting the major
earth’s major killers must often seek experience in Africa, Asia or Latin
America to do so.
The present efforts comprised travel to
Manila, The Philippines to explore the possibility of placing students
matriculating in the Graduate School of Public Health on field sites in the
Philippines. Previously, many students
in the Graduate School of Public Health have demonstrated interest in travel to
and work in foreign countries. As part
the efforts of myself and that of others in the past, they already have that
opportunity to spend anywhere from one week to one year working in countries
such as Mexico, Honduras, China, and Germany.
Unfortunately, nearly all of our relationships with foreign institutions
in our ability to place students with them have been predicated with the
students’ language skills. At this point
and time we are arguably doing an inadequate job of training students in
international public health. Students may take some relevant course work but
have limited research and practicum opportunities. The Philippines offers the ‘best of both
worlds’ for some of our students who do not speak a non-English language, or in
rare exceptions of course, those who speak Tagalog,
or another language of the Philippine Islands.
Cooperating Institutions. The primary institutional targets for
developing training and practica sites in the
Philippines is the University of the Philippines (UP). Visits to both
the Manila and Leyte campuses of the UP were planned,
though the Leyte visit was not deemed appropriate by
Filipino colleagues. Representatives from the National Epidemiological Center
and the Maternal and Child Health Service of the Department of Health (who
participate on an international immunization task force with GSPH Director Dr.
Bart) were contacted in order to further investigate the prospects for field
practice, but did not respond to the email contact.
II.
In
preparation for the trip abroad
Contact addresses
were obtained from the UP webpage and from the offices of WHO-Southeast Asia. I
initially contacted the Health Sciences President, who put me in touch with his
Vice-President, Dr. Jaime (Jimmy) Galvez Tan. We
corresponded via email, and I set the trip up from there.
I met frequently over my 4 day stay with Dr Galvez Tan, faculty of the College of Public Health, the School of Nursing, and the Department of Social Work (Metro Manila Campus); and the Director of the “National Institutes of Health” (Dr. Mario Festin). They were very gracious hosts, and quite familiar with mechanisms of support for collaboration with American universities. (Indeed, much of the School of Medicine campus was built via grants from the Rockefeller Foundation with collaboration from Johns Hopkins in the 1930s).
Why is this particular
institution valuable for SDSU?
There is an increasing need to train our graduate students of today for the challenges, opportunities and markets of the future. With the increased globalization of business and research, such an international exchange would facilitate such training. Students at SDSU have the opportunity to study developing country conditions, but typically they avail themselves of work in Mexico, given its proximity. Unfortunately, English-only students are unable to take advantage of this opportunity. The Philippines has an English-dominant academic system and a culture with much in common with the USA. The UP is the premier institution of higher learning. At the same time, it is a poor, tropical country, giving students who speak only English (or English plus a Filipino language) an opportunity to study in a diverse environment. There are a lot of great possibilities, including research in infectious diseases, maternal and child health, tobacco control, diabetes, etc. : the sky is the limit, it would seem. They conduct a 'summer workshop' for 6-8 weeks in a site in rural Luzon and another in a poor area of Manila as well, similar in focus to that of our own VIDAII. Research is very well received as well.
Our current VIDAII efforts recruit 25 students per semester for similar work in Mexico. We are at the point of having to turn students away for this work. Even though such work entails only a brief period of commitment, it is likely that 10% or more of these students will be interested in additional and longer experiences.
I will be looking for other ways to support our students, through scholarships, subsidized lodging, or other possibilities. Also, the Fogarty International Institute of NIH will be approached as a possible funder for US and Filipino students.
Travel to and work in a developing country is often less expensive for students than would be the case, for example, with European or other industrialized nations. Some students may be able to afford the $2,000 or so needed for a one month sojourn to Manila and environs. Frequently, funding for developing country students traveling to the US is difficult to come by, especially when the student comes from a relatively poor nation. One possible solution to assisting such students would be through San Diego-based Filipino-American associations and private individuals in this substantial and growing Southern California community.
Nevertheless, travel of this distance (20 hours or more with a change in Hong Kong), the poverty of this country and the vagaries involved in work in foreign countries require dedication and patience at student, faculty and institutional levels.
In addition to SDSU MPH students from all
disciplines, UP professors will likely be interested in sending their own
students to SDSU as well. Their students seem especially interested in what we
have to offer in chronic disease research.
What
will be their activities (e.g. course work, international internships, field
research, etc.)?
Student credit and
support. SDSU students electing to travel to and
study in the Philippines could receive graduate credit through a variety of
mechanisms. Up to 12 units of field practice credit (PH650 and PH750) could be
earned, as well as 3 units of directed study (PH 797). UP courses will be
reviewed for compatibility, with the possibility of taking some of their
courses in lieu of GSPH requirements or electives. Finally, it is hoped that
some students will elect to pursue theses possibilities during their time in
the Philippines, as internationally-oriented research is difficult to realize
from an American campus.
What will be your role in
promoting and supporting these activities?
Should a viable agreement be reached with
UP and/or other Philippine contacts, I would assume the role of principal
faculty contact for the exchange. At the beginning of each school year as part
of the overall GSPH orientation to our approximately 100 entering graduate
students, I would take the responsibility of promoting the opportunity to all
potential contacts, and would be available for followup
information as well. Naturally, other interested faculty would be invited to
join me in the overall effort. I would examine the potential for faculty
exchanges and research program development as well.
V. Additional Information
The attacks of
9/11/01 have made the world seem more dangerous. It is ironic that during the
time of my visit to Manila last spring, Abu Sayef
guerillas/bandits were very active in the southern islands of the country, and
kidnapped and murdered one or more American tourists. These criminals were
purportedly supported by the Al Queda terrorist
network. With its extreme poverty, the Philippines can never be seen as totally
“safe”, even in Luzon and other islands populated by Christians and
traditionally aligned with the USA. I do not feel threatened in Manila, but
admit that while the rewards of work in such countries are tremendous, there is
an element of risk involved that one would not encounter in wealthy nations. I
think that generally students would be safe in Luzon. But this kind of work is
not for everyone: one has to accept the element of risk, and do everything to
maintain a low profile.