My summer experience in Dar es Salaam was a tremendous cultural learning experience. I benefited greatly from the extremely warm hospitality of Tanzanians and so, I made it a point to interact with the people around me as much as possible, in as much Swahili as I could use.
With regards to public health, I realized the complex mechanisms involved in setting up and operating a clinical study and specifically, realized how important it is to have a very comprehensive plan, down to every last question on a questionnaire, in order to ensure that what you’re measuring is actually what you seek to explore.
Furthermore, through the need for a significant cultural adjustment on my part, I learned that global health work requires significant commitment and that if I truly want to improve health in Tanzania, India or elsewhere, I would be most equipped by learning much more about the local people, language and culture.