Curriculum Content by Class

INTERNATIONAL ELECTIVES

These electives are not available to visiting students. If your home institution is listed in the table below, you may be eligible for elective study at P&S through an existing exchange program. Please consult your home international or elective study office for details.

P&S offers its students a variety of clinical and public health international electives through: P&S international exchange programs (including Ben Gurion University of the Negev - Medical School for International Health BGU-MSIH), International Center for AIDS Care and Treatment Program (ICAP), Insights into Global Health (IGH) and Millennium Villages Project (MVP).  P&S students should submit their application(s), found on the international electives CourseWorks site, for all programs to P&S 3-401, (212) 305-1642, pselectives@columbia.edu.  The Electives Coordinator will transfer your application to the program specific contact. Please do not send it directly to the program.

Your application should include:

• International Elective Application (for all programs). 
• Program specific application (for BGU, ICAP, IGH, MVP). 

P&S maintains student exchange programs with twenty-eight international medical schools.  These clinical electives are arranged through the P&S Office of Student Affairs and count as "time away." A maximum of four students per academic year are permitted for each. The application deadline for all exchange programs is October 15.

Ben Gurion University of the Negev (BGU)-Medical School for International Health (MSIH): P&S students may participate in two-month clinical electives in India, Israel and Sri Lanka sponsored by the collaboration between BGU-MSIH and Columbia University. Students work in small groups with BGU students, local medical school faculty, and health practitioners in clinical settings of developing countries and on community health projects. Housing is provided and students may not participate for less than two months. BGU-MSIH counts as “time here”.  The application deadline for MVP is October 15.

International Center for AIDS Care and Treatment Program (ICAP): is a public health, largely non-clinical experience for Columbia students in Ethiopia and Tanzania.  Students work with a healthcare team on public health projects in AIDS/TB prevention, transmission and treatment.  Some exposure to clinical care is included.  ICAP counts as “time here”.  The application deadline for ICAP is October 15.

Insights into Global Health (IGH): The first of these clinical courses focuses on the complex needs of HIV-infected children and their families in resource-poor settings in the Dominican Republic  (see PE16P).  For information or application forms, contact Dr. Nicholas (swn2@columbia.edu) or Ana Jimenez-Bautista (aj2168@columbia.edu or 342-9034). The second, run by the Worldwide Orphans Foundation (WWO), focuses on the medical, developmental and psychological challenges for orphans and vulnerable children primarily in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, with an emphasis on the treatment of HIV-infected orphans and training/mentoring of healthcare professionals in developing countries in HIV/AIDS pediatric treatment (see PE18P). Opportunities may be available in other countries such as Bulgaria and Vietnam, but are subject to availability and discussion. The third IGH elective focuses on community health, health disparities and access to care in Mayan indigenous people in Chiapas, Mexico (see MD06P). These electives count as “time here”.

Millennium Villages Project (MVP): is a public health, non-clinical experience for Columbia students only.  Students are placed in 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. MVP counts as “time here”. Visit this link for more information. The application deadline for MVP is October 15. 

Funding Applications: 

Applications for international travel funding opportunities are available on the international electives CourseWorks site.  All applications for funding are due November 1. Any questions about these processes should be directed to pselectives@columbia.edu.