Alumni Comments

"The RWHIC has given me the insight into all aspects of women's health, not just the scientific aspects. This is crucial to being a good doctor and helping patients. The RWHIC gives students a wide exposure to issues related to womens and reproductive health."

"The cross-disciplinary nature of RWHIC helped me understand the public health system as a whole. Some public health training focuses on specific skill or content development and, while RWHIC is content specific to reproductive and women's health, the requirement to take courses in so many other departments provided me with the wide scope of knowledge and ability to understand the public health infrastucture. This has been helpful in my current work and future career direction."

"The RWHIC gave me the opportunity to explore and gain experience in program and policy areas of women's health. This background has proved invaluable as I interact and participate in high-level policy discussions. I appreciated the special curriculum devoted specifically to areas of reproductive and women's health, the network with other students interested in same areas, and the ability to learn about different perspectives and points of view."

"Coursework that required mini grant-writing activities and critically analyzing journal articles (i.e. reproductive epid course) were particularly helpful in leading journal clubs and guiding researchers through protocol and grant-writing processes. The cohort size is beneficial for networking purposes, and students do get a more well-rounded public health education (more exposure to the various public health disciplines). From a research perspective, it is helpful when I work with researchers addressing women's health issues--none of their research topics are foreign to me."

"The interdisciplinary approach is by far the greatest strength of the program. I really enjoyed interacting with colleagues from other departments, hearing differing perspective, and challenging one another to consider alternative viewpoints. It is also good how we were required to take courses in each department."

"Focusing on a particular topic area in addition to a particular approach to public health enhanced my ability to think about health issues from a wider perspective and to approach a health problem from many sides."

"By completing coursework for the RWHIC I had the opportunity to increase my knowledge of the population I want to serve and work with in the future. The RWHIC provided me with a better understanding of the critical issues in these areas of health care. The courses offered to complete the RWHIC were eye-opening and gave me great motivation to work actively in these areas following graduation. The year-long seminar in our first year of studies provided opportunities for the RWHIC students to discuss issues of importance and concern to us, rather than having a rigid structure in which we could not contribute our opinions."

"The RWHIC assisted me in securing funding for an international internship. The maternal and child health course taught me about block grants, Title X, and performance measures which were concepts that come up in my projects. This concept of an IC is really unique to UofM."

"The RWHIC provided me with a firm understanding of women's health - the epidemiology og their diseases and conditions, the unique barriers they face in accessing care, and the social implications of their illnesses. The RWHIC is an incredible vehicle for introducing students to a topic in a holistic way - the mixing of students from different departments and backgrounds exposes students to new perspectives and disciplines."

"The RWHIC was helpful when I applied for a summer internship with the National Health Law Program. My primary project for the summer was research on implementation of the SCHIP fetal coverage option. I really enjoyed the first year seminar - a great opportunity to discuss issues with students from other departments and to "create" a course with student-led presentations/discussions."

"I really enjoyed the outside guest speakers and the articles selected during seminar."

"The RWHIC provided me with the substantive background necessary to design projects cross-cutting reproductive and women´s health issues. It also primed me on how to interact and negotiate with various levels from MOH to community leaders. I also appreciate the global perspective on RWH that the RWHIC provided."

"RWHIC exposed me to areas in the field of women's health in which I lacked prior experience/knowledge (e.g. MCH, issues related to quality/continuity of care, demography)."

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Updated June 22, 2007