The three day visit last month organised by the Department of Clinical Education and Leadership gave an opportunity for the students to a gain a first-hand experience of the day to day functioning and activities of WHO and the UN.

The visit included a tour and presentations from WHO experts on global public health issues in areas such as maternal and child health, communicable diseases, non-communicable diseases, essential medicines and pharmaceuticals and HIV/AIDS.

The students described the experience as fascinating and inspiring. For some of them, it was a ‘dream come true’.

Dr Mehak Pervaiz, a dentist from Pakistan said: “Being in the field of Public Health, visiting WHO headquarters was like a dream come true for me.

“I got to meet so many people working at WHO and gained an insight to WHO’s functioning mechanism and their role in global public health”.

Dr Merin Dickson, a GP from India added: “I never expected that I would get such an opportunity to enter WHO as a student. I hope that this trip is sustained for future public health students of our University to fulfil their dreams. I appreciate all your efforts to make it possible.”

Dr Shuby Puthussery, Senior Lecturer in Public Health who coordinated the visit remarked: “The visit proved to be an amazing learning experience for our students. The students actively engaged in the sessions and grabbed every opportunity to interact with the speakers displaying a strong sense of professionalism throughout.

“Some of them are keen to pursue internship opportunities with global organisations like WHO and the UN, and visits like this facilitate University’s commitment to enhance the employability element in our curriculum.

“I sincerely thank all the WHO and UN staff for their presentations for our making time for students to interact with them freely in spite of their busy schedules. It was also remarkable to see our current PhD student, Anand Sivasanakara Kurup, working as an evaluation officer in WHO, and as an insider to the headquarters of a prime organisation in global health policy.”