Boston University School of Public Health

The Master's International (MI) Program equips students with practical public health methods, management and problem solving skills for immediate application through 27 months of service in the US Peace Corps. The joint program is an ideal way to earn a master of public health (MPH) degree while gaining the international experience necessary to develop a career in the competitive field of international health.

MI Students have the option to serve in Peace Corps either mid-way through their course work or at the tail end of their studies. They may earn up to five credits during Peace Corps via directed study for which they are allocated a five-credit tuition scholarship towards course work taken during Peace Corps service. MI students also satisfy the MPH Field Practice requirement on completing training and becoming Peace Corps Volunteers.

To explore more about what it's like to serve in the US Peace Corps, click the: What's Peace Corps Like?

MI Students concentrate in any of the eight departments at BUSPH. In addition to MPH core and department requirements, MI students must take IH771 Health in Lower Income Countries: Issues and Approaches, and are strongly encouraged to take IH808 Applied Research for Developing Countries. These specially selected international health courses provide knowledge specific to the developing country environment. MI students can accelerate their program by participating in the unique intensive Summer Institute in International Health programs. In fact, an excellent way to begin their studies is in the with the Foundations in International Health and Community-based Development Certificate Program offered each June.

Each semester, during the fall and spring, the MI program has monthly meetings, at which MI students have an opportunity to hear firsthand from Returned Peace Corps Volunteers (RPCVs) and discuss relevant issues of working and living abroad.

How Long Does It Take to Complete the MI Program?

MI students can complete coursework in 3 semesters, which might cover that fall, spring, and the following fall. Often, there is some transition time between when coursework ends and when your Peace Corps group departs. Peace Corps service lasts 27 months. So, hypothetically, a person who started in Fall 2008 might depart for Peace Corps in January of 2010, and complete Peace Corps in April 2012. MI Students are awarded their MPH on completion of their degree requirements, which can be prior to completion of Peace Corps service. Individual circumstances will alter these estimates.

Once on campus, MI students should contact the School's MI Program Coordinator, This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it , Department of International Health, at 617-638-5396, in order to obtain the monthly meetings schedule and join the MI List-Serve. MI Students should inform the MI Program Coordinator about the status of their Peace Corps assignments at the beginning of each semester.

To Apply

You must meet the application criteria and separately apply to both the BUSPH MPH program and US Peace Corps. Relevant experience in some field of health is helpful, but not required. On acceptance by both institutions you may participate in the MI program; should only one offer you acceptance, you are welcome to pursue that opportunity.

NOTE: If you have already been nominated to Peace Corps and wish to participate in the MI program, you should wait to complete Peace Corps's Dental clearance until 9 months prior to your departure for Peace Corps service, as this clearance is only good for approximately one year. On the otherhand, the Medical and Legal clearance is good two years--plan accordingly!

• MPH Program

• International Health 2007-2008 Concentrator's Guide

The best way to find out what serving in the Peace Corps is like, is to talk to those that have served. You can also read what they are writing about it. Or check out the "A day in the life of... stories." Several BUSPH Master Internationalists have modern approaches to keeping friends and family up-to-date, in that they post regular accounts of their experiences on weblogs, linked below.

PCV Kevin Fiori, MPH Alum (Epidemiology concentrator) works in Kara, Togo, with the AED (Association Espoir pour Demain), which is comprised of and serves HIV+ clients with supportive services. He founded Hope Through Health to help support their efforts.

Many people in international development work get their first job in the field by serving in Peace Corps. In fact, BUSPH's Department of International Health includes a number of Returned Peace Corps Volunteers (RPCVs). IH Professor and RPCV Taryn Vian presents a retrospective account on the value of serving in the Peace Corps, "Something About Peace Corps," below.

• Christina in Uganda
• Jessica in Botswana
  
• Joel in Honduras
• BU & Peace Corps
• Courtney in the DR

Something About Peace Corps
by Taryn Vian

My job as a Peace Corps Volunteer was the best experience in my life. I felt enormously challenged by having to learn so much. People's values were different, their history was different, the way they lived was different. I was constantly sifting through all these differences to see what it meant for me. Did I need to accept the differences? Did I need to change myself and embrace those values and beliefs, to fit in? Could I "judge" and decide that I liked some things, didn't like others? When would I be able to judge; how much do you have to know and experience to be able to judge?

Those challenges of learning, and learning how to analyze and make decisions about acceptance, likes and dislikes, tolerance--it was so fulfilling when I started to feel like I understood. I had never had a challenge like that before, and I doubt I'll ever have one again, because we tend to live with so little diversity in our lives. We seek out--or even if we don't seek out, we end up with--neighbors, schools, employers, communities with shared values and beliefs, because that is comfortable and sustaining. Yet the challenge of not having those things to share, and then creating them or trying to understand the "why" of not sharing, that was truly something special.

I loved the environment in Cameroon because it was so different. I can remember the heavy heat, the thick air, the lush vegetation. I remember the smell of palm oil cooking, how the slippery, muddy, rutted roads looked after a storm, the keening of women and beating of drums to call villagers together for a meeting. I loved the parties and dancing, the rituals like "opening the dance floor" with a speech and one minute of dancing by the most important guests, filling your plate again and again from the buffet table (very impolite not to try everything), the babies tied to people's backs and dancing along with the adults. So many memories and stories.

When I came home from Peace Corps, people asked me how I was able to "integrate" my experience in Peace Corps with the rest of my life. The answer was: I didn't have to. There really was no way to integrate those experiences, the worlds were just so completely separate. So I picked up my life from the U.S. and went on; got another degree, worked at different jobs, married and started a family.

Yet, as the years go by I see that some things I have been able to integrate. I learned to trust that other cultures have come by their beliefs for a reason, and that given enough time living in another culture I will come to see those reasons and accept them (or at least some of them)--I won't learn to accept them just from reading a book or talking. I've learned to listen more, and to be patient with myself and others--that some things just come from living and you can't figure it out any more quickly than just by being there. And that's ok.