I enrolled in the Graduate School of International Health Development after finishing my volunteer program in Papua New Guinea. Through my volunteer experience as a physiotherapist, I faced the reality that a lot of disabled people are living with physical and psychological barriers in remote areas due to a lack of rehabilitation services. Motivated by my desire to become an expert who can be involved in drafting policies to help people with disabilities, I applied for this school.
In first year, I had many opportunities to learn about global health with great classmates, professors who had a lot of experience, and supportive administrative staff. The second year, long-term internship program has currently started at the WHO Regional Office in the Western Pacific. The rich experiences in this international organization will be the best chance for me to grow and improve. I will do the best that I can for my future.
I entered Nagasaki University’s graduate school as soon as I completed my undergraduate education. Initially, I was worried about my graduate studies because I did not have any experience in the health field, however my experienced professors put those fears to rest. They were very enthusiastic, as were my classmates, and after a year my anxiety faded away.
Aside from health related courses, the school provided us with lectures on a broad range of topics such as politics, economics, anthropology, etc. Moreover, they gave my classmates and I many opportunities to discuss what we learned. I am really appreciative that we could study under those circumstances.
Currently, I am staying in South Africa to do research as part of an internship. It is the first time for me to stay long-term abroad. I am sometimes faced with unexpected situations, however, I want to cooperate with the local people and do our best together.
I was prompted to become involved in international health when I joined the JOCV as a nurse. While I was drawn to the appeal of international cooperation through this work, I had many unpleasant experiences because working in the field required skills and knowledge that are different from what I gained in Japan. This is why I decided to enroll in this course.
During the first year, I had the opportunity to study the basics in a wide range of fields related to international health under the guidance of instructors who played active roles in various parts of the world. I had a fulfilling year as I was allowed to experience things that I was completely unaware of, including what skills I lacked and what kinds of knowledge and skills were required to work in the international field.
This year, I am going to do a long-term internship at the national NGO Plan International Kenya. I will work hard for eight months to convert the knowledge that I gained in the classroom to skills that can be utilized in practical settings as I work along with people from various countries.
In addition to preparing research proposals and attending classes every day, I visited many countries during the first year, including Bangladesh on a short-term internship, the Philippines on a short-term Campus Asia program, and Cambodia to assist my instructor’s research. It was very encouraging to be able to meet senior graduates of our graduate school who are already playing active roles in the field of international health in each country. It also made me realize the vast size of Nagasaki University’s network. I think the biggest appeal of this graduate school is the instructors who are always eager to teach and fellow students with whom you can inspire each other. Moreover, one year in Nagasaki provided an opportunity to assess the framework of global health and consider the health of Japan,a country that features universal healthcare insurance, the longest average life expectancy, and aging population with declining birthrate, in comparison to developing countries. This made me very conscious of the purpose of studying public health in Japan and the role of Japanese individuals working in the field of international health.
Now, I have just begun a long-term internship in Bangladesh which I visited last summer. I plan to work on my research project while assisting with maternal and child health projects in the rural areas and urban slums. Although I am sometimes bewildered by the unfamiliar environment in the Islamic society, I intend to spend each day appreciating the experience gained in the field and the thought process created based on that experience, believing that the difficulties will strengthen my future abilities.
I started at this school after working as a physician for five years in Japan. Since the first and second training to be a physician was so busy, this next two years seems like such a luxurious time. Right now, I can spend time studying things that I want to learn and receive guidance from professors who are specialized in various fields. What I take from this is up to me, but it has been an eye‐opening experience every day to encounter various perspectives for the first time. Also, the curriculum, with its heavy emphasis on the field, which this school offers is very attractive. Since I did not have any experience working in a developing country, it was quite significant for me to experience the public health system and development situation of Bangladesh during my short‐term field trip. From April 2012, I will start the long‐term internship in the Philippines. This internship program during the second year is a major selling point for this graduate school. I am very excited that it will impact me greatly going forward. After graduation, I hope that I can return something to society from these two years of experience.
Hello. It has been a week since I started my long‐term internship in the provincial department of health in Laos. Although it has been a short time, I had many moments when I realized that what I have learned in my first year is useful. This school offers lectures in a wide variety of fields in small classes. It is a wonderful environment where we can ask questions and talk about our concerns with experienced professors. I have never previously had any experience related to public health. I had some worries about whether I would be able to apply what I have learned in practice while I was learning the wide variety of subjects at this school. However, now that I am actually in the field, I realize that I have more perspectives than previously. I often notice that what I am seeing is related to what my professors have said and what was written in the material that was given. Because of these things, I can actually “compare what I see in front of my eyes to other events”. Of course, what I need to produce from this is a challenge for me, and I am in the midst of training right now. I
truly wish that I could give something in return every time I sense the warmth of my professors in Nagasaki and here. I would like to maximize this opportunity as a student and do what I can during this time.
People can make a decision, have the courage to throw away what they have, and can change their beliefs to accept new concepts because of their will‐defined fundamental beliefs During my experience as a nurse in Japan Overseas Cooperation Volunteers, I had many opportunities to describe my surroundings using my personal awareness, my field senses, and my sympathy . Here, on the other hand, I have many opportunities to train myself to view a
situation calmly from various points of view. I am active in Kenya and am seeing the connections among various things that I have been feeling while learning the basics of various academic subjects at this school.
I have heard that only in Japan and South America, public health is taught in the major language spoken in the country(Japanese for Japan and Spanish for South American countries). Although language is an obstacle in the actual field, one of the reasons that we can understand public health more deeply and acquire the necessary knowledge is that classes are not taught in a foreign language, such as English. However, this school offers an internship program where we can learn closely from strong professors. It is a great opportunity, not only in terms of language, but also as a review of the knowledge we acquired in the classroom through actual experience. In the process of applying first‐year classroom knowledge, we have the chance to put knowledge to use by selecting, judging, and applying it to actual circumstances in a way that maximizes our abilities. I would like to learn various things from the internship process, and so gain confidence and increase my communication abilities.
Since I do not have any experience working abroad, there are many things that I am learning for the first time. I have been putting in all my effort every day when doing homework and am barely keeping up with the classes. However, I enjoy my classes every day and feel invigorated. My classmates have various experiences. Hearing from them and seeing their serious attitude in tackling projects is very stimulating. The schedule for the next two years is very hard and includes not only taking classes, but also doing a long‐term internship and project studies. However, this is a great environment for learning and I am excited by having this great experience.
I have always wanted to work abroad. I participated as a nurse in Japan Overseas Cooperation Volunteers in Laos after working in a hospital as a nurse for six years. After I came back to Japan, I was hesitant about choosing to go on to a graduate school for nursing. However, I learned from my experience in Laos that health problems consist of various factors having social, economic, and cultural aspects. Considering this, I decided that I want to learn about how to create a health system in an area where many people have health problems and how to improve the health level of a whole region. I have heard that professors at Nagasaki University have specialized knowledge and vast experience, as well as being active, not only on campus, but also internationally, in various regions. I applied for this school to have a good learning experience in order to prepare myself to work in the international health field. At this graduate school, I have met many people who have a similar wish and it has been a great experience so far. I would like to make the two years a great learning experience while ppreciating the great teachers and classmates whom I am able to meet.
For two years, I worked as a Japan Overseas Cooperation Volunteer in Ghana working on AIDS countermeasures. After I returned, I became a Kyushu Overseas Cooperation Volunteer and worked on a developmental education assistance project.During my project, I reviewed my two years of experience as a volunteer and decided to go back to school because I wanted to work in the field of international health again. My background is not the medical field, so it is a brand new experience for me to learn about tropical aspects of such fields as medicine,
epidemiology, and medical anthropology. It is also a great opportunity for me to consider the health problems of
developing countries from various angles. I greatly appreciate every day with enthusiastic teachers who are willing to listen to my concerns for hours and also appreciate spending time in school with classmates from various backgrounds. In the second year, a long‐term internship and research are included in the curriculum. My hope is to work in Africa again, so I would like to work hard in acquiring knowledge from classes during the first year and put it to use in practice.