Summer/Fall Programs

Click on the countries below for additional information on the programs at each location:

  • Tufts University School of Medicine, in conjunction with the University of Ghana Medical School (UGMS), offers a global health experience for students after their first year of medical school in Ghana's capital city of Accra. This is largely a clinical observation opportunity and takes place for seven weeks from early June through July. Students will have the opportunity to rotate on the various services including medicine, surgery, pediatrics, and others, or remain on one or two services for the duration of the program if they prefer. Students will shadow experienced clinicians and will have a broad exposure to both tropical and chronic non-communicable diseases.

    In addition, this program has limited opportunities to participate in research for those students wishing to principally pursue research opportunities for their summer.

    There is no language requirement to participate in this program, but use of translators will be necessary at times while working in the hospital. Housing is available within walking distance of the medical school for a fee.

    Students wishing to do a summer program must be accepted for placement by applying directly to the University of Ghana Medical School, in addition to the Tufts School of Medicine Global Health application process. 

    Faculty Lead:
    Ylisabeth Libby S Bradshaw, DO, MS
    Assistant Professor
    Department of Public Health and Community Medicine
    Tufts University School of Medicine 

  • This seven to eight-week program places medical, public health, and joint degree students at Christian Medical College (CMC), the premier private medical school in India. CMC is located in Vellore, Tamil Nadu, which is in South India. TUSM has had a longstanding relationship with CMC in research and medical and graduate student exchange. For all programs, housing and board arrangements are available through CMC. Currently, there are four formal programs with CMC, one of which is a semester-in-residence during the fall for the Public Health Program; the other three are summer programs.

    MD Observership: Medical students who have successfully completed the first year may elect this option. These students have the opportunity to observe in a variety of clinical settings throughout the CMC system, including observation in community settings. This program may have a research component. Research projects would be designed and implemented with the support of faculty mentors at CMC and Tufts.

    MD/MPH public health field experience: Combined degree students (MD/MPH; DVM/MPH) who have successfully completed the first year may elect to do their required summer public health field experience at CMC. These students attend a two-week community health course; an epidemiology course and a health economics courses are also available and are optional. The remainder of the program consists of a series of rotating placements in public health settings. Students may develop a small public health project during these rotations, which may not require IRB approval, but which expands their public health knowledge and enriches their experience. This project would be designed and implemented with the support of faculty mentors at CMC and Tufts.

    MPH ALE: MPH students may elect to do their Capstone Project (Applied Learning Experience (ALE)) at CMC. These students will elect this option early enough (no later than February) to allow for the selection of an appropriate mentor and project at CMC. Prior to arriving for their summer, these students will work with their CMC mentor to develop a project for IRB approval and which can be completed in the eight-week time frame.

    MPH Semester Residence: MPH students may elect to spend the fall semester at CMC. These students will participate in the Community Orientation Project (a three-week introduction to community work at CMC), an Advanced Epidemiology Course, and conduct their ALE in collaboration with a mentor at CMC.

    Faculty Lead:
    Honorine Ward, MD
    Professor of Medicine,
    Tufts University School of Medicine
    Division of Geographic Medicine and Infectious Diseases,
    Tufts Medical Center