Kenya: Healthcare Delivery in a Developing Country

Instructor: Dr. Wairimu Ndirangu

Dates: June 1- June 22

Costs: $5,225 + airfare*

Listing: AFS 248/ANTH 248 H

Units: 1.5 SLU Units/5.4 Credits

Course Description: This community-based learning course explores critical issues about health care in a resource-constrained environment both in Kenya and Uganda. The following are a few of the questions that the course strives to answer:

-  What formal and in­formal institutions are most effec­tive in providing preventive and primary health care?

-  How can communities develop participatory approaches to the management of HIV and other emerging diseases?

-  Why do highly preventable diseases still continue to burden Africans?

-  What are the belief systems and health-seeking behaviors in different populations, both rural and urban?

-  How do traditional healing prac­tices complement western medical approaches to eradicate disease?

-  How does health care delivery in East Africa compare to other developed nations?

-  What is the role of global warming in the emergence, spread and virulence of tropical diseases such as malaria, cholera and other water borne diseases?

Highly acclaimed health care professionals and researchers will address these and other issues. Stu­dents will be placed in clinics, teaching hospitals, and community and rural health programs, contributing to the work of the organization while as­sessing its role in the broader provi­sion of health care. The course will be of interest to students concerned about health, social welfare and eco­nomic justice.  It will not only expand the student's current interest in the subjective areas of concern but provoke further questioning in why health care delivery is such an important subject of study. The course integrates fun activities that help students appreciate the landscapes of the continent.

*This course can be taken independently, or after completion of one of the two toher courses offered in Kenya this summer, and would only require the original round trip airfare. 

*This is an estimated cost for the program, and
is subject to change. 

*Students may take one course in Kenya Summer Session 1 followed by another in Session 2. Students chosing this option will receive an $1,000 discount off the total program fees.