Nepal
Study Abroad in Kathmandu
Nepal is a landlocked country in South Asia and is bordered by China and India. It is located in the Himalayas and contains eight of the world’s ten highest peaks. The government system is a federal democratic republic; the chief of state is the president, and the head of government is the prime minister. Nepal has a traditional economic system in which the majority of the population engages in subsistence agriculture, and the allocation of available resources is made on the basis of primitive methods. Nepal is a member of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation.
OST 694: Global Health: Nepal– One Health in Nepal
Last Dates: May 14th-June 1st 2020.
What is One Health? One Health is the recognition of the interconnected nature of humans, animals and the environment, and the direct impact each system has on the other. This program will allow students to see and experience the interconnected nature of these systems and then work on a project which involves at least two of the systems. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), one or more new infectious diseases have emerged each year since the 1970s. The majority of these have been zoonotic diseases caused by pathogens that can be transmitted between animals and humans, with more than three-quarters originating from wildlife. Growing evidence suggests that globalization, the increased movement of people, changes in lifestyles, knowledge, and ideas across the world since the late 20th century, is creating new conditions where disease could spread geographically and across species. Ever growing human populations, exceeding 7.2 billion in 2014, and the resulting environmental degradation from expanded land use, intensive agricultural and animal husbandry practices, and closer habitation between humans and both domesticated and wild animal species, are also recognized as key factors for increasing shared risk across the animal–human–ecosystem interfaces. Understand health and disease through the interdisciplinary lens of One Health.
For more information, please contact igh@msu.edu.
First spend 8 days in Kathmandu learning about Public Health Issues. Next, spend 5 days at the Agriculture and Forestry University (AFU) in Rampur focusing on Animal Production and food safety, then spend 5 days at Chitwan National Park focusing on Wildlife/Human interactions and the environment. Finish up by presenting your project at AFU. Local guest lecturers will present each day as well as daily local field trips. Three UNESCO world heritage sites will be visited.
Housing will include a guesthouse in Kathmandu, dormitory rooms at the Agriculture and Forestry University and barracks at the National Trust for Nature Conservation – Biodiversity Center, outside Chitwan National Park. It will be hot! Some AC will be available in classrooms, but not for lodging. Travel will be by van or bus. One in-country flight may be arranged if needed.
6 Credits (undergraduate or graduate). One credit of preparatory work to be completed online before departure.
Courses
- ANS 480 Animal Systems in International Development (3 credits)
- ANS 490 Independent Study (1-4 credits)
- ANR 491 Selected Topics (2-6 credits)
- OST 590 Special Problems (1-24 credits)
- LCS 690 Veterinary Public Health Field Experience (3 credits)
- VM 290 Special Studies in Veterinary Medicine (3 credits)
- VM 690 Special Prob in Vet Med (3 credits)
For more information, please contact the Study Abroad Office of IGH.
An alumna of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Epidemic Intelligence Service. Her areas of expertise include disease surveillance (animal and human), surveillance system evaluation, zoonotic disease, epidemiology, and outbreak investigation. Prior to joining the PPH in 2011, Wilkins was with the Michigan Department of Community Health, Bureau of Epidemiology, Division of Communicable Disease for 12 years, serving as the division director from 2004 to 2011. She is passionate about mentoring professionals and offering educational opportunities to those individuals who are already on the front lines, working to make and keep our food supply safe.
William Cunningham DO, MHA currently serves as the Associate Dean for Global Health and the Director of the Institute for Global Health (IGH) at the College of Osteopathic Medicine at Michigan State University. Dr. Cunningham was instrumental in the formation and approval of the Masters in Global Health and Certificate program that will matriculate students in January of 2020. In his current capacity of Associate Dean, he is responsible for advocating on the behalf of the four health care colleges at MSU for the education, research and cultural awareness of their graduate students. Additionally, IGH provides Study Abroad programs, such as Nepal, for pre-professional students interested in the delivery of health care in a global context.
Dr. Willyerd has organized MSU trips to Peru since 2009. He is passionate about offering students the opportunity to see health care in different parts of the world. Read an article on the Peru experience for students of MSUCOM.
