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Overview

The University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) School of Public Health offers a Master of Public Health (M.P.H.) degree in cooperation with the Peace Corps Master’s International Program.  UAB establishes and monitors academic requirements, and the Peace Corps places MI students overseas as Volunteers. Students apply to both the Peace Corps and UAB School of Public Health and must be accepted by both. MI students complete all coursework before starting a Peace Corps assignment overseas. Assignments are developed by Peace Corps in-country staff at the request of host countries.  Upon completion, the in-country assignment will count as your internship. MI students graduate with a unique combination of an advanced degree and two years of substantive professional experience in an international setting. 

Volunteer Assignments

Becoming a Master's International (MI) student requires a combination of focus, flexibility, and dedication. As an MI Student, you will spend one to two academic years on campus completing your coursework. Upon receiving your overseas assignment and traveling to your host country, you will serve for twenty-seven months, three of which will be the language, cross-cultural, and technical training period. After completing training you will receive your Peace Corps assignment. Peace Corps assignments are strategically developed by in-country staff based upon the needs and requests of the country.

All Peace Corps volunteers receive approximately three months of in-country training (in language, technical, and cross-cultural skills) before starting their two-year assignments in a developing country. Health-related assignments may include health education (such as training local teachers about nutrition and hygiene), community mobilization (for example, organizing communities to construct latrines), or other activities such as needs assessment or program monitoring and evaluation.

During Peace Corps service, Volunteers participating in the MI program work toward a thesis, professional paper, or other culminating project, under the direction of their academic advisor and with the approval of Peace Corps overseas staff. Participating faculty recognize that while overseas, an MI student's primary responsibility is his or her Volunteer duties. Rather than determining a research topic in advance, MI students allow their Volunteer assignment to shape their overseas academic requirement.

MI students understand that the Peace Corps provides a unique opportunity to apply what they learn on campus to benefit a host country community. Like all Volunteers, MI students seek ways to creatively apply their knowledge and skills to the assignment in which they are placed.

The Peace Corps works in countries from Asia to Central America, and from Europe to Africa. In each of these countries, Volunteers work with governments, schools, and entrepreneurs to address changing and complex needs in education, health and HIV/AIDS, business, information technology, agriculture, and the environment.

Volunteers work and live within communities both large and small, and rural and urban. They speak the local language, whether that is French, Spanish, Romanian or Hausa. Most importantly, Peace Corps Volunteers discover the richness of another culture the best way possible: by living it.

One of the most serious worldwide threats to public health and development is the spread of HIV/AIDS. Volunteers in HIV/AIDS education and prevention train youth as peer educators, collaborate with religious leaders to develop appropriate education strategies, provide support to children orphaned by HIV/AIDS, and develop programs that provide support to families and communities affected by the disease.

In addition to HIV/AIDS prevention, Volunteers also work on basic health care issues. By focusing on prevention, human capacity building, and education, Peace Corps Volunteers help improve basic health care at the grass-roots level, where their impact can be the most significant and where health needs are most pressing. In helping communities take more responsibility for their own health care, Volunteers work to ensure the sustainability of their projects.

As a Master's International Student, you have an unparalleled opportunity to live and work overseas while completing the MPH. You will earn more than your degree, returning with feelings of independence, confidence, and accomplishment. The benefits of the Master's International Program can be countless and comprehensive. The extent of benefits, both professional and personal, depend upon your experience and intent while completing your coursework and serving as a Volunteer.

You give and you get. The chance to make a real difference in other people's lives is the reason most Volunteers serve in the Peace Corps.

But that is not the only benefit of Peace Corps service. Volunteers also have the chance to learn a new language, live in another culture, and develop career and leadership skills. The Peace Corps experience can enhance long-term career prospects whether you want to work for a corporation, a nonprofit organization, or a government agency.

Benefits of Peace Corps service include:

• language, cross-cultural and technical training
• transportation costs to and from the country of service
• living and housing expenses while in overseas service
• medical and dental coverage
• vacation time and allowance
• cancellation or deferment of certain government education loans
• readjustment allowance upon completion of service (which students often use to defray tuition costs)
• career counseling and job search facilities as a returned Peace Corps Volunteer

The benefits of Peace Corps service don't end with one's overseas service. The experience will affect your life long after you return home. It's an experience to draw upon for the rest of your life. As is often said, the Peace Corps isn't simply something great. It's the beginning of something great, and the rewards last a lifetime.

The Peace Corps provides Volunteers with a living allowance that enables them to live in a manner similar to the local people in their community. It also provides complete medical and dental care and covers the cost of transportation to and from your country of service.
 
The Peace Corps recognizes that returning from overseas requires some adjustment, so when you complete your service, we provide just over $6,000 toward your transition to life back home. The money is yours to use as you wish: for travel, a vacation, making a move, or securing housing.

The safety and security of Peace Corps Volunteers is a top priority. The Peace Corps devotes significant resources to providing Volunteers with the training, support, and information they need to stay healthy and safe.

Yet because Volunteers serve worldwide, sometimes in very remote areas, health and safety risks are an inherent part of Volunteer service. Volunteers can reduce these risks by following recommendations for locally appropriate behavior, exercising sound judgment, and abiding by Peace Corps policies and procedures. In the effort to ensure a productive, healthy, and safe experience for Volunteers, the Peace Corps reviews work and housing sites in advance, collaborates on project development with local communities, and develops and tests plans for responding to emergencies.

In addition, the Peace Corps continually updates materials for Volunteers with specific information about safety and security risks in the areas where they serve. This enables Peace Corps Volunteers to make informed decisions and have a safe, healthy Volunteer experience.

Before establishing a program, the Peace Corps makes a thorough assessment of the health and safety conditions of the country. And in choosing sites at which to place Volunteers, we carefully consider factors such as access to medical, banking, postal, and other essential services; availability of communications and transportation, particularly in cases of emergency; existence of suitable housing arrangements; and proximity to other Peace Corps Volunteers.

In every country in which Volunteers serve, the Peace Corps maintains a medical unit staffed by one or more medical providers. They inform Volunteers about local health issues and provide them with the basic medical supplies and vaccinations they need to stay healthy. If a Volunteer becomes ill and cannot be treated properly in the country of service, the Peace Corps will transport the Volunteer to an appropriate facility in a nearby country or to the U.S. 

Admission Requirements

Interested individuals must apply separately for admission to the UAB School of Public Health and the Peace Corps, preferably at least six months prior to starting an academic program. Applicants to the UAB School of Public Health MI Program should apply first to the department of their choice and indicate an interest in the Peace Corps Master's International program on their application.