The COVID-19 crisis has brought a whirlwind of changes that have impacted everyone in our community — including this year’s graduating class of medical students at UW School of Medicine. 

In the last few weeks, the students were pulled from their clinical rotations early.

Then, the difficult and unprecedented decision was made to hold the School’s Match Day ceremony online.

While completing a Masters of Public Health in the Department of Global Health, students have several ways to gain research and fieldwork experience around the world. Students have fellowship opportunities that allow for hands-on training in a multitude of countries, but the Peace Corps represents another way to apply classroom curriculum at UW to the real world. 

Dr. Eteni Longondo (MPH, 2005) has been appointed head of the Ministry of Public Health in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). After studying medicine at the University of Kinshasa in his native DRC, Longondo received a Master of Public Health from the University of Washington. 

In addition to his work with the Ministry of Public Health, Longondo's experience also includes working as a doctor for Congo's national soccer team, serving as a general practitioner in Switzerland, and work with World Vision and United States Agency for International Development (USAID).

Mina Halpern’s interest in global health issues began when she worked as a peer educator at Planned Parenthood while attending high school in Olympia. She says this experience sparked a passion for the field of HIV, eventually leading her to the University of Washington, where she graduated with a Master’s in Public Health in 2006.