Service Learning

Adrian College is committed to the role of experiential and service learning in the liberal arts. Our students participate in observational and professional internships, job shadowing opportunities, volunteer service and service learning in health care, around the corner and around the world.

The Institute for Health Studies coordinates two concentrated service learning experiences, one in Nicaragua, and one in Chicago. Under the course names Global Health Experience and Global Health Research, the Nicaragua experience is two weeks in length, usually occurring in December. The three week Chicago course is called Urban Health Experience: Community Health Partners, and exposes students to the intersection of health care delivery and community action in underserved urban areas. This is designed as a May/Summer course.

While these programs were designed for students planning health careers, we commonly see students use these opportunities to supplement their careers in business, public policy, social work or foreign language. Both are residential, and are designed to expose students to health disparities and policy issues that may be new to them.

In addition, we have a steadily expanding number of volunteer and experiential learning opportunities whose doors have been opened by prior Adrian students. When planning a health career, students should actively seek out every possible experiential opportunity, as they are critical to decisionmaking in admission.

We do believe it is the student’s responsibility to locate and pursue these opportunities. They may occur during the academic year, during the term or summer breaks, or during a period of study abroad. It is up to each student to integrate these experiences with other academic work, and thereby maximize the value of the experience.