Domestic students usually have a minimum of two years of international health experience. Cooperative learning is thus a strength of the program. More than 100 students have graduated from the IHP since 1986. Nearly all foreign students return home, usually to increased responsibility in the health systems of their countries. Examples include teaching nursing in Zimbabwe, program management in Thailand, research in Nicaragua, and refugee care throughout the world.
Some domestic graduates combine work in the United States and abroad.
For example, one former student divides her time between the Seattle-King County Department of Health and the Peace Corps as a trainer in Senegal and Cote d'lvoire. Others have reported that the crosscultural skills and awareness of the social and economic determinants of health that they learned in the IHP are essential to the work they do in the United States. More than 50 faculty members within the School are involved in international work of some kind. The IHP also sponsors school and university-wide events on topics of international health interest such as annual World Health Day programs. Partnerships with academic institutions in other countries encourage student and faculty exchanges and collaborative research.