Study abroad through an internship or research assistantship in Khon Kaen, Thailand, where you'll combine hands-on professional experience with complementary coursework designed to deepen your understanding of global health, Thai culture, and the Thai language. USAC offers three distinct placement formats tailored to different academic levels and career interests: clinical-based internships for pre-med and nursing students, community health internships for public health explorers, and research assistantships for science majors pursuing laboratory work.

If you choose a clinical-based internship, you'll work alongside KKU faculty in Medicine, Nursing, and Associated Medical Sciences at prestigious placements including Srinagarind Hospital (KKU University Hospital), primary care units, specialty clinics, and pediatric centers. You may observe outpatient consultations, surgical procedures, and ward rounds; assist with non-invasive clinical tasks under supervision; and join mobile medical outreach trips to rural provinces. Past students have shadowed physicians during clinic days, observed specialized procedures like liver fluke treatment, and participated in pediatric nursing at KKU-affiliated childcare facilities. This track requires junior standing or higher, a 3.0 GPA, and relevant science/health coursework with prior clinical exposure preferred.

For community health internships, you'll work with KKU faculty in Community Medicine, Public Health, and Family Medicine at community hospitals, village health networks, childcare centers, and public health teams. Activities include shadowing community health teams, observing school health screenings, joining mobile health units in rural villages, conducting health surveys, and designing a capstone project such as a health access campaign or nutrition survey. This option welcomes sophomores or higher with exploratory interest in global health, community health, or health promotion—no advanced clinical coursework required. A 3.0 GPA and virtual interview are required.

If research is your passion, the research-based internship places juniors, seniors, and recent graduates in KKU laboratories focused on tropical medicine, pharmaceutical sciences, medicinal plants, cancer biology, nutrigenomics, and data science for public health. You'll conduct literature research, perform wet lab techniques including extraction and chromatography, assist with cell culture, learn specialized instrumentation like HPLC, attend PhD seminars, and write formal scientific reports. Examples include FRAP antioxidant assays on Thai medicinal plants and bioinformatics analysis for cancer research. This track requires junior standing, three upper-division science courses, prior lab experience, a 3.0 GPA, and a statistics course is strongly recommended.

Across all three internship formats, you'll engage in a selective placement process that considers your career interests, prior experience, academic preparation, and the needs of each host organization. The program emphasizes maturity, flexibility, self-direction, and responsibility—qualities that will set you apart in any global health or research career. By studying and working in Khon Kaen, Thailand's second-largest city and home to Khon Kaen University, you'll gain cross-cultural competence, professional experience in a healthcare or research setting, and insights into public health and medicine in Southeast Asia that few undergraduate or graduate programs can offer.