Experiential Learning, Career Aspiration And Contextualization Of International Learning” KIIT School of Public Health (KSPH) is selected by the Consortium of Universities for Global Health (CUGH) under the one-year Academic Partnership Program Initiative (APPI) to strengthen its academic programs. As a part of this initiative, Dr. Srikanth Mahankali, MD, who currently serves as an International Liaison for The American Board of Artificial Intelligence in Medicine, was identified by the CUGH as a mentor for the programme. The APPI programme at the School is led by Dr. Pratap Kumar Jena (FIC-Academic) under the guidance of Dr. S. K. Satpathy, Director, KSPH.
As a part of the initiative, KSPH conducted the First International Student Webinar on 17th March 2023. Dr. Anudeep Singaram, M.Sc. (Global Public Health and Policy) from Queen Mary University, London; Ms. Divya Bhatia M.Sc. (Global Health) Georgetown University, USA; Ms. Shilpa Nair (4th Sem MPH), KSPH; and Dr. Pamela Okoye (2ndSem MPH), KSPH participated as student panellists. The programme was moderated by Dr. Pratap Kumar Jena with guidance from Dr. Srikanth Mahankali.
All the panellists placed an overview of their curriculum, experiential learning, potential career paths, and contextualization of their experiences from an international perspective. They found the programmes to be designed from a national and international perspective, and vary widely from country to country. Therefore careful selection of the programmes that are suitable for students’ needs is required. Further, it was opined that internship and hands-on learning are important to gain skills. It was also found that students had a common agenda to serve their fellow citizens, even though they had varied career aspirations. Besides, the project-based internship was recommended to provide working experience to fresh graduates to ensure better job prospects as most job advertisements asked for at least 1-2 years of experience.
During the webinar, Dr. Mahankali provided his views on curriculum, and career opportunities available in the USA and other parts of the world. He shared various resources with the students and encouraged them to explore the world with confidence. The webinar ended on a positive note to meet again in other proposed webinars in the coming months.