Global Health Equity Internship
Advancing health equity requires more than knowledge, it requires experience.
"My internship at the African Center for Community Investments in Health in Kenya, was more than a global health experience. It was a lesson in what health equity looks like in practice. For the three weeks, I had the opportunity to work alongside of healthcare providers, community health promoters, researchers, and local organizations all committed to improving health in some of Kenya’s most remote communities. One of the biggest lessons I learned is that advancing health equity isn’t about providing healthcare, it’s about making health care accessible, culturally appropriate, and community driven. It challenged me to think differently about leadership. Leaders listen, build relationships, and work alongside communities to create sustainable solutions.”
-Gabriela Lettie, Summer 2026 Internship
Student Stories - Belize
Cassandra Casas
Where Care Meets Community
Cassandra visited the southernmost region of Brazil to meet and provide care to the country's diverse communities, seeing firsthand how limited transportation and challenging terrain affect access to healthcare. She worked alongside an interdisciplinary team of professionals to provide health education in mobile clinics, educating adults on the effects of tobacco use, hypertension, and diabetes. She also worked with children, teaching the importance of hygiene, and introducing them to reproductive health.
Clara Knitter
Becoming Better Global Citizens
In summer 2026, Clara completed her internship at the Hillside Health Clinic in Southern Belize, where she assisted in providing interdisciplinary care from its pharmacy, rehabilitation sessions, and public health programming during clinic hours, as well as helping in the mobile clinic at the local high school to teach emotional regulation, puberty courses, and hygiene to students, assisting younger children with dental care, and educating the overall population of the region on healthcare.
Gavin Richardson
Social Determinants in First Responder Healthcare
Gavin spent his internship in Belize training ~20% of their police force in first aid and CPR. Some of these officers had not received updated materials on this training in over a decade, and it was eye-opening for Gavin to see the differences in response protocol to medical emergencies between countries.
Estela Saldivar-Quiroz
Where Healthcare Looks Different
Estela completed her internship at Hillside Clinic in summer of 2026, where she observed public health disparities between its rural and urban populations, how a smaller clinic strives to meet its patients needs, and the quality of life experience by varied cultural and ethnic backgrounds.
Student Stories - Kenya
Ozge Abhunbay
The Importance of Health Education
Ozge studied at the African Center for Community Investment in Health, with the opportunity to learn about public health challenges facing local communities, and observe how health professionals work to improve health outcomes. One issue that stood out was trachoma, an eye disease that affects many people in this region of Africa, and the importance of hygiene and transmissible disease prevention.
Jordan de la Hunt
Leading with Compassion
Jordan traveled to Kenya where she was immersed in rural communities that deepened her understanding of food systems, health equity, and what it means to lead with compassion. Jordan witnessed the impact of proper nutrition education and community healthcare firsthand.
Gabriel Lettie
Innovation and Collaboration in Natal Care
Gabrielle spent her internship in Kenya helping provide antenatal care, child health welfare, and immunizations for children under five. She also assisted in postpartum care to mothers, and family planning to those looking to have children or space out their pregnancies.
Maya Abner
Access, Transport, and Needed Services
During her time in Kenya, Maya worked towards making their communities disease and poverty free, especially concerning neglected tropical diseases like Kala azar, a deadly parasitic disease that attacks the immune system, and is transmitted by the bite of infected sandflies. Maya learned the importance of disease testing, healthcare communication, and supply chain issues that affect medical transport in these regions.
Roshan Thapa
Incredibly Strong, Deeply Connected
Roshan spent his internship studying a pastoralist people of Kenya, who move with their herds in search of water, which can be a healthcare challenge. Community health volunteers in this region of Kenya often conduct home visits, and their health system is divided into dispensaries and centers which are run by nursing staff and clinical officers and problems of long distance travel can arise.
Student Stories - Nepal
Alyssa Frelka
Perioperative Use of Antibiotics
Alyssa spent her summer internship working in the cardiothoracic and vascular surgery department at Dhulikhel Hospital in Nepal observing surgeries and collecting data on the use of perioperative checklists for antibiotic compliance during operations.
Carlie Wyckoff
"You must have a good attitude."
Carlie spent her internship in Nepal learning about their hospital systems, school health programs, and micro-credit programs, nursing in their community programs, and the importance of having a good attitude and transferrable life skills, no matter your socioeconomic background.
Kevin Folivi
Meaningful and Bidirectional Community Relationships
Kevin spent his internship studying the affects of type 2 diabetes mellitus on Nepal's diverse populations, and a need for effective, culturally-appropriate interventions through community screenings, medication refill and counseling, home based care, and physiotherapies. Kevin used qualitative and quantitative analysis to study the efficacy of these strategies.
Maxwell Mantsch
Prehospital Care
Maxwell spent his internship studying 'prehospital care' - what happens to a patient after a emergency dispatch comes through, ambulance logistics, and the risk of complications and mortality rates as a patient is in transport to a hospital.
Student Stories - Ethiopia
Fayrouz Abu-Hamdan, MD
Humility, cultural sensitivity, and genuine connection
Fayrouz spent her internship studying mixed methods needs assessment of pre-hospital trauma care in Husa, Ethiopia to better understand the strengths and challenges within the system. She also assisted in surgery training and assisting EMS leadership.
Student Stories - Milwaukee
Siqi Zhang
A Journey of Research and Academic Exchange
Siqi's internship was spent at the Versiti Blood Research Institute, in Dr. Qizhen Shi's laboratory studying gene therapy and immune responses for people with Hemophilia A & B, and learning about new treatments through the Society of Thrombosis and Haemostasis.
Past Student Stories
Alexa completed her internship with Health Builders in Rwanda. The mission of Health Builders is to strengthen the management of health facilities, improve clinical care, and build healthcare infrastructure so every person has access to high quality healthcare, allowing them to live a dignified, healthy, and prosperous life. During her internship, Alexa created a digital campaign to build support and sustainability for the Youth Friendly Corners which provides confidential sexual reproductive health services to adolescents. Youth peer educators are trained and educated on adolescent sexual reproductive health, drug and substance abuse, and gender-based violence and provide support to individuals who access the Youth Friendly Corners. Health Builders has a goal of expanding the availability of the Youth Friendly Corners to additional districts in Rwanda. Alexa worked with the Health Builders team to develop an interview guide and identify key informants to conduct interviews with. Together they interviewed a youth peer educator, a nurse, and a teen mom who had previously accessed the Youth Friendly Corner. These interviews provided perspective on the importance of the spaces and informed the digital campaign that will be leveraged to expand the spaces to new communities.
Emily partnered with Health Builders whose mission is to strengthen primary care in Rwanda. Health Builders is committed to closing gaps in Rwandan health care by working together with communities, local governments and organizations, and Rwanda’s Ministry of Health. Emily collaborated with Health Builders to launch a pilot screening program for Peripheral Arterial Disease (PAD). Health Builders has a non-communicable disease initiative with which they have been partnering with the Ministry of Health. Current areas of focus have included hypertension and diabetes which are risk factors for PAD. Incorporating training and resources to screen for PAD was timely and beneficial to the Health Builder’s clinics and initiatives. Emily used a train the trainer approach and provided training to Health Builders staff and physicians and nurses from rural health centers and the district hospital on reading ankle-brachial index and identifying risk factors and management strategies for PAD. The training included didactic instruction and practical demonstration. Following the training, healthcare workers began screening patients and recording the data. Implementing the PAD screening for patients who come to the healthcare centers will allow for early detection and provision of management strategies and education for those who screen positive. Emily gained firsthand experience partnering with Rwandan communities to improve the quality of their healthcare. She collaborated with and provided training to Rwandan healthcare workers to improve the health of the community. This internship provided an opportunity for the practical application of the knowledge she has learned in the MS Global Health Equity program and the skills she has learned as a medical student at the Medical College of Wisconsin.
Hannah partnered with the Center for Development Policy (CDP) in Rwanda for her internship. CDP is a nonprofit that contributes to the development of African countries by impacting development policies and programs through evidence based solutions that prioritize local needs. CDP strengthens capacity and promotes brain gain initiatives that are demand driven and informed by policy to address development challenges. Hannah collaborated with the CDP team to develop an interview guide that was used during focus groups with landlords of both informal and formal settlements. Questions pertained to how they acquired the land, what improvements they have made to the property, and addressed sanitation issues and health concerns. “Being able to meet the people behind the work that I have read about in articles really puts humanity into global health efforts. It was very impactful to meet my partners and see the situations that they are working to improve.” Participant responses revealed concerns regarding safety, sanitation, privacy, lack of space, and the dangers and challenges related to some homes being located on steep hills. Hannah plans to continue coding the qualitative data with her partners using MAXQDA and writing a report to guide future research and guide policy making in Kigali, Rwanda with future housing upgrading projects. This internship provided Hannah with the opportunity to see firsthand the challenges associated with informal and formal settlements. She collaborated with the Center for Development Policy to provide evidence-based policy solutions to impact development and strengthen capacity in Rwanda.
Madeline partnered with the Child and Family Foundation Uganda (CFU) for her internship. CFU focuses on improving access to healthcare, nutrition, education, and food security for children, youth, women, and people with disabilities. Madeline focused on digitizing immunization records and conducting surveys with caregivers about routine childhood immunizations. Madeline visited Mulago Hospital and learned about the Ugandan health system and how the work of CFU is building capacity and delivering innovative interventions to promote health among the most vulnerable populations in Uganda. Digitizing the immunization records from 2015-2022 using RedCap was a large task. Madeline worked on this project with a medical student from the Medical College of Wisconsin and together they identified various gaps in the data and began analyzing the records which will provide valuable information to the organization and to the Ministry of Health. Madeline also participated in conducting 230 surveys with caregivers to learn about immunization perceptions and identify barriers to routine childhood vaccines such as costs, transportation, taking time away from work, etc. The work Madeline participated in provided benefit to the CFU team and offered insight into perceptions and barriers to childhood vaccinations, which is a critical area of focus within global health. This internship propelled Madeline’s interest and passion for global health and will provide a strong foundation for her as she moves forward in her career.
Cassie partnered with the Monitoring Evaluation Technical Support (METS) Program in Uganda. METS collaborates with the Ministry of Health and other partners to improve HIV service quality and strategic information. The mission of METS is to strengthen health systems in Uganda through innovative capacity building approaches for an evidence based and effective HIV response. Cassie visited several HIV clinics in rural and urban locations throughout Uganda. Visiting these clinics provided her with an understanding of how the program is implemented at a regional and national level. Cassie collaborated with the METS team to submit an IRB and began to analyze deidentified data to support the goals and mission of METS. Cassie gained skills in using the R-Tool and Stata to analyze and interpret data and to develop graphs to understand HIV infection rates stratified by age, sex, and priority populations. Cassie also began developing a policy brief to address an anti-homosexuality act that was recently passed in Uganda. Her work with METS provided a variety of personal learning and growth opportunities as well as contributed to the important and impactful work being done to strengthen health systems in Uganda and implement an effective HIV response.
Radhika partnered with the Alliance of Women Advocating for Change (AWAC) and the ResilientAfrica Network (RAN) for her internship. AWAC is an umbrella organization for grassroots female sex worker led organizations in Uganda. RAN is a partnership of universities focused on strengthening the resilience of communities by nurturing and scaling innovations from different Universities to operationalize a scientific, data driven, and evidence based reliance framework for sub Saharan Africa. Radhika participated in community outreach and events that focused on empowering individuals to advocate for their rights and discuss health concerns in a safe and constructive environment. There was a specific focus on cervical cancer prevention and providing education on cervical cancer screening and HPV testing. Radhika conducted informational interviews with healthcare workers and female sex workers to learn about the knowledge gaps and barriers in education regarding cervical cancer screening and to learn the best approaches for disseminating information among female sex workers. The interviews illuminated misconceptions that women had about the causes of cervical cancer and fears related to screening and highlighted the need for more education that is shared in a culturally appropriate way. Radhika developed an educational script with information about cervical cancer services in Uganda to address the challenges that were identified from the interviews. Through this internship, Radhika gained firsthand experience engaging with the community and developing culturally appropriate tools to address a health issue of concern. She learned how to work effectively in new environments and developed meaningful relationships with her internship partners. Radhika will take the skills and knowledge she gained from this internship to her future career as a global health leader.
Taylor partnered with the Hawassa University Comprehensive Specialized Hospital (HUCSH) for his internship. Taylor is a general surgery resident at MCW and also represented the American College of Surgeons as the Operation Giving Back fellow during his time in Ethiopia. Taylor has been collaborating with HUCSH since May of 2022 and has helped to develop, establish, and manage a perioperative surgical registry at the hospital. During his internship, Taylor was able to observe the impact of this registry and make technical modifications to improve data collection. His internship project was focused on building sustainable research and quality improvement capacity for the faculty and residents at Hawassa. While at HUCSH, Taylor conducted a thorough analysis of the surgical data collection process and the system used to store and organize the data and patient charts. In collaboration with other physicians at HUCSH, Taylor helped to develop a postoperative complication tracking sheet which was placed in all patient charts and filled out by the physicians caring for the patient. This initiative has already improved the system and resulted in 0% missingness of data. Taylor also collaborated with the residents at HUCSH and together developed nine abstracts that will be submitted to the College of Surgeons of East, Central, and South Africa. Taylor plans to conduct semi-structured interviews with key stakeholders involved in surgical data collection in LMICs. Questions will focus on challenges, barriers, and facilitators of capturing surgical data and establishing registries. During his internship, Taylor met with many individuals he plans on interviewing for this project including members of the Ministry of Health and members of Global Partners for Improving Surgical Systems. Taylor plans to continue working with HUCSH and return to Ethiopia for additional long-term projects and continue involvement in global surgery.
Asil completed her internship focused on supporting and assisting refugees, immigrant populations, and families. She collaborated with three Milwaukee organizations, the Milwaukee Muslim Women’s Coalition, the Muslim Community and Health Center of Wisconsin, and the Sebastian Family Psychology Practice from May 15 – June 1, 2023. Through this internship, she gained firsthand experience and understanding of the challenges faced by refugees and immigrants and intends to continue working in this field for her thesis work and beyond. Her internship activities included observing client care and home visits with Sebastian Family Practice furthering her knowledge about serving immigrant and refugee populations. She learned about the operations, programming, administrative structure, and management of Milwaukee Muslim Women’s Coalition and the Muslim Community and Health Center of Wisconsin. Alongside the Milwaukee Muslim Women’s Coalition, she was invited to attend a meeting with The Honorable Nkosi Zwelivelile Mandela and participate in a community event commemorating "75 Years of The Palestinian Nakba" at Turner Hall. Throughout the internship, Asil learned about the mental health needs of refugees and immigrants and how these Milwaukee organizations are making a difference in the community. She learned how to work effectively in new environments as well as develop connections with Milwaukee area organizations that are strengthening the Milwaukee community and increasing the well-being of its residents. This experiential learning opportunity enhanced her understanding of the Milwaukee Muslim Women’s Coalition’s mission of leading positive community change through advocacy, dialogue, education, and using faith-based values to ensure dignity and equity for all.
Abigail completed her internship focused on informal settlements in Kampala with partner, Resilient Africa Network (RAN) Uganda from May 23 – July 7, 2022. RAN is a partnership of 20 African universities in 13 countries led by Makerere University to “strengthen the resilience of communities against natural and man-made stresses by nurturing and scaling innovations from the different universities”. Abigail worked to understand the limitations of Informal Settlements on residents’ access to clean water, sanitation, hygiene, municipal sewerage, potable water, and waste disposal and how that impacts infectious disease, injury, violence, malnutrition, poor mental health, and substance abuse. Informal settlements are formed differently and responded to differently by governments and each has its own health consequences. Few studies have explored differences in informal settlements in low- and middle-income countries.
Carolina completed her internship focused on the Impact of Malnutrition and Diarrheal Disease Among Children from Rwanda, with partners, Health Builders (HB), from May 6 – 13, 2022. Health Builders is a robust partner in community health care that enables millions of community members to have access to health care by partnering with local and national governments by increasing and building capacity of quality health care. The World Health Organization declared diarrheal disease as the second leading cause of death in children under five years old. The goal of her internship was to learn about HB’s healthcare management of diarrhea disease, develop and provide comprehensive and practical educational resources to employ at the school level with the objective to reduce the risk of diarrheal disease and intestinal parasites among children from low-socioeconomic backgrounds . The outcome of the development of educational resources will also address HB’s work towards United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goal #2, focusing on ending hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture. Carolina gained greater understanding on the clinical services, developed an understanding of diarrheal disease and intestinal parasites prevention and control by every clinic, and understanding diarrheal illness and intestinal parasites in the context of malnutrition.
Courtney completed her internship focused on mother’s depression and coping mechanisms in Kampala with partner, Child and Family Health (CFH) Uganda from June 23 – July 7, 2022. Founded by Dr. Harriet Babikako, the Foundation provides primary care to mothers, children, and families in various communities throughout Kampala by “Bridging gaps Through service delivery, capacity building, community interventions, research, policy development, and advocacy to improve access, use and availability to healthcare, nutrition and food security, relevant education and livelihoods to children, youth, women and people with disability in rural and urban poor populations.” “As someone who has only ever travelled a max of 5 hours via plane before, travelling to a completely different part of the world was extremely exciting. I experienced: the people and culture, partnerships, and the environment.” Alongside the CFH team, she was invited by community leaders of Kawempe Kiwanda and Bwaise Katoogo to meet Ugandan mothers. She conducted a total of 24 one-on-one quantitative interviews and observed a qualitative focus group led by the CFH team. She entered the interviews conducted into a REDcap server, as well as 172 other completed questionnaires. She learned how to work effectively in a new environment as well as develop strong networking and personal connection skills that made the experiential learning more impactful and propels her into a future career in public and global health.
Dominique completed her internship focused on health systems and the integration of community-based health insurance in Rwanda with partners, Health Builders (HB), from May 6 – 13, 2022. Health Builders is a robust partner in community health care that enables millions of community members to have access to health care by partnering with local and national governments by increasing and building capacity of quality health care. “I learned about the health care system of Rwanda and understand what made it successful and how do they continue to break barriers in the health care world.” Rwanda is a country of resilience and preservation that has not only lived through one of the most tragic moments in the 20th country but continues to build, support, and strengthen its economy. This is in part due to policies contributing to the community’s health and accessibility. Existing literature on Rwanda’s Community-based National Health Insurance primarily focuses on innovative strategy and management such as barriers and limitations, learned lessons, impact, rapid assessment and tracing. The health coverage in Rwanda is addressed as being ideal and meets the needs of their population and transform healthcare. Few researchers have studied the community-based health insurance, predominantly its vigor observed in less-than-ideal circumstances to evaluate preparedness, such as governance involvement, response, solidity, interventions, and disease control methods.
S. Ryan Jacobus completed his internship focused on mental health in Rwanda with partners, Health Builders (HB), from March 14 – 31, 2022. Their mission is “[…] strengthens management, improves clinical care, and builds health care infrastructure so every person has access to high quality health care, allowing them to live dignified, healthy, and prosperous lives.” There is special emphasis on mental health in Rwanda given the traumatic fallout from the civil war. Through this opportunity in experiential education, he and his partners at HB conducted key informant interviews with site managers and staff at 14 different facilities (health posts, health centers, district hospitals, and schools) on their perspectives on the state of mental health care. The information gathered revealed common themes- the most outwardly apparent mental health problems were the highest reported diagnoses (schizophrenia and psychosis); however, these are likely not the most prevalent and may be umbrellas for more nuanced issues. Secure, consistent funding is needed to support existing and novel programs to address the less obvious, underlying issues, with intersectoral collaboration. Next steps include key informant interview data review, summarize the qualitative information, co-design low cost and effective projects to fill mental health stigma and assessment gaps, and funnel funds from private business.
Sarah Cornell is the first graduate of the Master of Science in Global Health Equity degree program at the Medical College of Wisconsin. Due to the COVID-19 global pandemic, it was not possible for her to complete her thesis work in Rwanda with partners, Health Builders. As an experiential educational experience, she instead completed a partnership visit with the master’s founding director, Dr. Laura Cassidy. In London and Oxford during October 2021, they met with a variety of professionals from international non-governmental organizations, community-based organizations, academics, governments, private foundations, and journalism to discuss global efforts across MCW. This experience helped broaden her future career path to pursue further research in health disparities. Building partnerships that co-develop healthier communities together in a sustainable manner is the focus in injury prevention and management, education, and program development.
Interested in applying?
To learn more about the MS Global Health Equity Internship, contact Tifany Frazer, Instructor and Internship Preparation: Cultural and Ethical Global Engagement Course Director
