diff --git a/program_service/app.py b/program_service/app.py
index 3153f37..50ec040 100644
--- a/program_service/app.py
+++ b/program_service/app.py
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ import sentry_sdk
 from sentry_sdk.integrations.flask import FlaskIntegration
 from flask import Flask
 
-from utils import register_all_error_handlers
+from utils import register_all_error_handlers, mongo
 
 # import views
 from views import ProgramView
@@ -25,6 +25,8 @@ app = Flask(__name__)
 app.config.from_object(Config)
 register_all_error_handlers(app)
 
+# init mongodb
+mongo.init_app(app)
 
 # register views
 for view in [ProgramView]:
diff --git a/program_service/config.py b/program_service/config.py
index 532830c..28cb9ac 100644
--- a/program_service/config.py
+++ b/program_service/config.py
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ Configuration
 
 
 class Config:
+    MONGO_URI = os.environ["MONGO_URI"]
     SECRET_KEY = os.environ.get("SECRET_KEY", os.urandom(12))
     CORS_ORIGINS = os.environ.get("ALLOWED_ORIGINS", "*")
 
diff --git a/program_service/utils/__init__.py b/program_service/utils/__init__.py
index a1e0203..3225afb 100644
--- a/program_service/utils/__init__.py
+++ b/program_service/utils/__init__.py
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
 #!/usr/bin/env python3
 from .require_decorators import json_required
-from .error_handlers import register_all_error_handlers
\ No newline at end of file
+from .error_handlers import register_all_error_handlers
+from .db import mongo
diff --git a/program_service/utils/db.py b/program_service/utils/db.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..5866800
--- /dev/null
+++ b/program_service/utils/db.py
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+from flask_pymongo import PyMongo
+
+mongo = PyMongo()
diff --git a/requirements.txt b/requirements.txt
index d0408c6..142d75a 100644
--- a/requirements.txt
+++ b/requirements.txt
@@ -7,3 +7,4 @@ marshmallow
 Flask-Classful
 sentry-sdk
 
+Flask-PyMongo~=2.3.0
\ No newline at end of file