By Oyintenane Suowari, MPH Student
As a medical practitioner, I have had varied exposures in different fields of medicine, with particularly interesting experiences in the field of public health. My previous experiences in public health include my introduction to it as a medical student and work done as a medical officer in rural areas in my home country of Nigeria. I was involved in carrying out community based programmes and interventions, and seeing first-hand how these seemingly simple activities made major impacts on the health and well being of community members.
Learning about public health in low and middle income countries similar to mine was a worthwhile experience. It gave me useful information on how health systems work in these different countries, and the running of such systems from different points of view, as opposed to mine as a physician. Recommendations given and interventions carried out in these diverse systems also broadened my views about their potential benefits in my own country. Other very interesting parts of the module were the role play sessions where we were given scenarios to tackle as public health practitioners and the sessions on the fascinating work carried out by various international NGOs.
Overall, the Public Health in Low and Middle Income Countries module was fun, educating and motivating.
