The Center for Business, Health, and Prosperity offers Prosperity Science Internships during the summer semester in Ghana. These internships are a unique way for students to set themselves apart by developing real-life skills to support their future career and educational goals. Interns work with sponsoring organizations (government organizations, non-profits, or entrepreneurs) to help them improve prosperity while earning university credit and experiencing the beautiful country of Ghana. It is a hands-on global opportunity for students to put their classroom skills to the test.

In the summer of 2022, the Center hosted four interns. Each intern worked with their assigned organization on different projects such as franchise models and supply chain management process manuals for the Health 2 Go program, a capabilities assessment for Engage Now Africa, and a marketing and outreach plan for Momzi, a maternity and early childhood brand based in West Africa.

To get a full look at how the Center’s internships work, we interviewed Tan Le, who interned during the summer of 2022.

INTERVIEWER: Tell us a little about yourself.

Tan Le (TL): I am double majoring in Health Society & Policy and International Studies with an emphasis on Global Health. I am also working towards a certificate in Interdisciplinary Health Communication. The certificate would go nicely along with some of the internship projects I worked on such as having knowledge of how to run a health campaign and gauging health literacy and theories to effectively provide information to people who may not understand the problem yet.

My career aspiration is an MD/MPH degree, and my long-term goal is to work on health care reform and to work in a global health care setting.

INTERVIEWER: What made you decide to do a Prosperity Science Internship in Ghana in the summer of 2022?

TL: Jean Oh from the Hinckley Institute pushed me towards this route. An internship is required for the International Studies portion of my double major. I wanted to set up my own internship originally. I tried to set up an internship with UofU Health Emergency Medicine Program in Vietnam (where I am from). The program was doing work in Vietnam already, so I wanted to see if an internship was an option. I reached out to them, but they were not able to create an internship because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

I then reached out to Jean Oh, and she sent some options my way. One of those options was the internship opportunity in Ghana. I ended up choosing the Ghana option to get outside my comfort zone. I was unaware of the work done in Africa. I had never thought of Africa as an option for me, but I knew it would be a really unique experience and a culture shift from anything I was familiar with.

The other reason for selecting the internship in Ghana was the Health 2 Go part of the internship was really interesting to me. At the time, I did not know I would be working on a supply chain project. I read about the Health 2 Go program, and I learned the program was community driven. I found the community-driven aspect new and wanted to explore it more in-depth.

The drivers for me for the Prosperity Science Internship were a combination of Jean Oh encouraging me to explore this experience, an interest in going somewhere different than I am used to, and the community-driven aspect of the Health 2 Go Program.

INTERVIEWER: Tell us a little bit about the project you worked on during your internship.

TL: I helped Cassie Cowdell, Health 2 Go Coordinator, develop a supply chain guide for Health 2 Go franchising materials.

INTERVIEWER: Had you had any previous experience with supply chain work within community health?

TL: I had some experience working in community health, but no experience working with supply chains. Community health wise I felt like the classes I have taken gave me a good foundation and understanding of health as a system, but no supply chain experience at the time.

INTERVIEWER: Do you feel like you grew from the experience?

TL: Learning about supply chain issues was interesting. I think supply chain issues became a little more in my field of vision during the pandemic while working in health care when we ran out of items. I saw how the supply chain issues were impacting me and the care of the patients. For me, learning a little bit about how supply chains work was interesting because it is often a forgotten part of the health care system. Learning about the supply chain was nice because I had never thought about it prior to going to Ghana. Following my internship, I got a fellowship with the Center for Medical Innovation on the supply chain project.

I learned you need a reliable supply chain to run any program.

INTERVIEWER: What was the most rewarding portion of the internship and the travel?

TL: Meeting new people was really cool. Meeting our Ghanaian friends and learning their perspectives. As well as meeting with other students who were in Ghana with different programs.

Specifically, with the internship portion, the fieldwork and getting to travel with Ghana-based Health 2 Go Coordinator, Gideon, to Wawase was really fun.

INTERVIEWER: Why do you think other students should take part in a Prosperity Science Internship or other courses that have student experiences in West Africa?

TL: Specifically with Ghana, which is a low to middle-income country, the country is in a position that provides lots of new opportunities, specifically in the field of health care. The country has a want and ability to develop. It is a unique opportunity to work on something that has the potential to be impactful.

In other internships, you may do busy work. With this internship, I felt like it was going in a direction that could have an impact on people.

INTERVIEWER: What was the most fun/exciting highlight of your time in Ghana?

TL: Elephants! Mole National Park was really cool.

Another highlight was Elmina Slave Castle which caused a lot of introspection within me. It was very humbling and a reminder of the human condition. It was a memorable experience.

INTERVIEWER: Any final thoughts to share with future students?

TL: You are going to hit the ground running with Professor Griffin, so do your research and work before you get to Ghana.

Also, bring mosquito repellent.

Interested in learning more about a Prosperity Internship or applying for the summer of 2023, learn more at Eccles.link/BHP under student experiences. Our Center student experiences are open to all majors across the University of Utah.

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