Current Students

International Health 

International Health and Research Opportunities at P&S for First Year Summer and Fourth Year Electives

New York is the most cosmopolitan city in the United States, and Northern Manhattan and the Bronx (from which many of our patients are drawn) exemplify that diversity. People from literally all over the world, or who have traveled all over the world, come through Columbia’s doors. If you’re interested in global health or tropical medicine, no other institution in America can provide the same in-house exposure—coupled, of course, with Columbia’s state-of-the-art facilities, technology, education and training. By sheer virtue of being a quaternary hospital located in New York and of having many international referrals, P&S truly brings the world to its students. 

Ben Gurion University in the Negev-Medical School for International Health

P&S Electives Coordinator
pselectives@columbia.edu

In 1996, Columbia University and Ben Gurion University initiated an international collaboration in global health medical education, establishing the first four year, American-style medical degree taught in English and incorporating global health in all four years of the medical curriculum, known as the Medical School for International Health (MSIH).

P&S first year students may take a summer rotation and fourth year students may pursue electives with Ben Gurion University’s Medical School for International Health in Beer Sheva, Israel.  Fourth year students may also take a two-month elective at one of the MSIH international clinical sites, which in the past have included India, Ethiopia, Kenya, Nepal, Peru and Sri Lanka. These are structured, eight-week, international clerkships with a small group of MSIH students working under the supervision of local, MSIH-approved, preceptors. Please click here for application.

International Center for AIDS Care and Treatment Program (ICAP)

P&S Electives Coordinator
pselectives@columbia.edu

ICAP is a public health, largely non-clinical experience for Columbia students in Ethiopia and Tanzania, sponsored by Mailman School of Public Health.  Students work with a healthcare team on public health projects in AIDS/TB prevention, transmission and treatment. 

Insights into Global Health (IGH)

Ana Jimenez-Bautista
aj2168@columbia.edu

The Program for children with HIV/AIDS and their Families offers Differentiation and Integration students elective experiences focused on the complex needs of HIV-infected children and their families in resource-poor settings in La Romana, Dominican Republic.

Millennium Villages Project

P&S Electives Coordinator
pselectives@columbia.edu

Through the Columbia University Earth Institute and Professor Jeffrey Sachs’ Millennium Villages Project, first year students in the summer, and fourth year students through electives who are interested in the intersection between health and development may rotate to the Millennium Village sites across sub-Sahara Africa. Students are sent to a rural village setting of an underdeveloped country that lacks basic health and disease prevention infrastructure. They work with a team surveying health related needs and implementing infrastructure for health care delivery, health education, and disease prevention.

Other

P&S students also may arrange to participate in international health research with P&S faculty or arrange an international experience on their own. 

Mailman School of Public Health

P&S is fortunate to have the world-renowned Mailman School of Public Health literally next door. In addition to pursing an MPH degree, P&S students may take advantage of the wealth of global opportunities the School offers. Students are allowed to take 1 course a year at Mailman without charge (or any other School of Columbia University, including the School of International and Public Affairs), and Mailman has a rich network of contacts and practica available to medical students.

In New York

Many of the world’s leading medical NGOs are headquartered in New York, including the International Rescue Committee, Doctors Without Borders (MSF)- USA, Human Rights Watch, the Population Council, as well as the United Nations Organizations (UNICEF, UNAIDS, etc). P&S faculty are often affiliated with these organizations, and interested students can pursue internships or other opportunities.

Click here for additional information about international health electives and opportunities.