Learning global public health through international practice: role of #DMUglobal mass trips

Global public health knowledge is critical to provide healthcare professionals with the necessary skills to respond to outbreaks of infection. To promote infectious disease prevention, detection and response awareness, fifty final year students from three different human health science programmes (BSc Biomedical Science; BMedSci Medical Science and BSc Audiology) at De Montfort University (DMU, UK) travelled to New York (USA) early in 2019with a novel programme to promote internationalisation named #DMUglobal. Students were requested to monitor in situ the presence of emerging zoonotic human parasites in animal faecal samples found in Central Park using a specific immunoassay card and identify potential interventions and decontamination techniques to protect the public. On return to DMU, students completed, in groups, a scientific poster with applicable public health interventions and recovery options. 87% of the students enjoyed the practical performed, and 78% producing and defending the poster, showing high levels of understanding. All participants considered that the skills gained will help with their studies and future careers. In conclusion, despite the need for more comprehensive studies to ascertain the degree of knowledge acquisition, the results collected suggest that internationalisation facilitates the learning of emerging diseases and global health. Moreover, students were able to acquire soft and transversal competences during this innovative experience such as mobility, critical thinking and research skills.