Today, we continue our series chatting with faculty from universities around North America who led faculty-led programs in a variety of disciplines to Belize.

In this episode, we chat with Dr. Heidi Hancher-Rauch who led the international component of her Health Promotion course to Belize. Dr. Hancher-Rauch speaks about the importance of incorporating an international component into her course, the ways in which she prepared her students in order to mitigate cultural misunderstandings & views when conducting health fairs in Belize as well as ethical challenges faced when leading a health program to Belize. She also gives inspiring advice for faculty who are interested in running a similar program.

Dr. Heidi Hancher-Rauch has practiced in the field of public health for almost 20 years and is CHES certified. Heidi has served as a university faculty member and researcher for more than 15 years, teaching a wide array of undergraduate and graduate public health courses, including service learning in multiple formats. She currently leads the Public Health Program at the University of Indianapolis, which includes an undergraduate degree in Public Health Education and Promotion, as well as a Master of Public Health with a concentration in Health Disparities. Her areas of expertise include community-based participatory research and program evaluation with diverse community partners, along with health policy and advocacy. Heidi serves as co-chair of the Advocacy Committee for SOPHE and recently was elected as the incoming Trustee for Advocacy and Resolutions to the SOPHE Board of Trustees.