Benson Ulo, 2003 graduate of the International Masters of Public Health Program at the Hadassah-Hebrew University Braun School of Public Health and Community Medicine from Kenya, applauds his education for providing him with a “flexible think tank,” where students are equipped to shape public health care worldwide.

Having struggled to gain admittance to medical school, Mr. Ulo found himself forced to interrupt his education. He took on odd jobs at construction sites, just to survive. Three years later, he was fortunate to get a sponsor, which made it possible for him to return to academia to study public health. He subsequently received a scholarship to attend the IMPH program in Jerusalem. This was “an opportunity of a lifetime,” he says, “and has led to multiple rewards in my life.”

At international Medical Corps, his employer since 2004, Mr. Ulo says, his IMPH education has enabled him to design and implement HIV/AIDS and TB programs that have helped thousands of people, with both prevention and treatment in remote areas of his country. Mr. Ulo is currently the director of an HIV/AIDS and TB program in local prisons which, he reports, has greatly improved the health of inmates, bringing down the TB death rate from about 40 percent to zero!

Mr. Ulo shares his work experiences at international conferences and, as a result, believes he influences program design in many other countries.