Learn about public health through traditional medicine and intercultural healthcare practices, indigenous customs, community welfare, and social justice.
16
Relevant previous coursework
Spanish
English
Aug 25 – Dec 7
Chile
Santiago
Varies
Global Health & Well-being
Development & Inequality
Chile has one of the best healthcare systems in Latin America, and its capital, Santiago, is considered to have the best quality of life in Latin America.
Over the decades, beginning in the mid-20th century, the country built a healthcare system based on a National Health Service (1952). This service—which originally attempted to replicate the experience of the healthcare model established in post-war England—allowed for the development of healthcare policies for the population that, over time, reduced the high rates of infant mortality, malnutrition, and infectious diseases. It incorporated pioneering healthcare policies on the continent, many of which remain in place today.
By experiencing daily integration in the multifaceted, dynamic, and intercultural city of Santiago, the capital of Chile, you will learn about healthcare practices and evaluate access to urban healthcare services. Through field visits to health centers and government offices, you’ll develop an international perspective on infectious disease management and healthcare systems. You will learn how to collect, analyze, integrate, and report social and public health data, and use that knowledge while completing independent research or an internship.
Learn firsthand about the work carried out by the public health teams of the Chilean Health System; successful vaccination programs; and the challenges and lessons learned. You’ll spend more than three weeks with Mapuche and Aymara communities, where you will learn about intercultural and Indigenous medicine and examine how healthcare policies and politics affect Indigenous people. Throughout the program, you’ll engage with health officials, policymakers, and traditional medicine practitioners and have options to live in homestays or in a student residence.
You will have the opportunity to learn and improve Spanish skills related to health sciences through classroom learning, cultural immersion, homestays, and excursions.
At least one college-level course in public or global health, medicine, nursing, development studies, anthropology, sociology, psychology, community development, environmental science, social sciences, or other related fields recommended but not required.
Students studying on this SIT semester-length program can choose to simultaneously complete a minor, with no additional coursework or cost. At SIT, a minor is a minimum of 16 credits taken within a content area. This standout credential can help boost your future job or graduate school applications.
SIT’s program in Chile offers the opportunity to earn a minor in global health or Indigenous health. Through this program, you’ll learn about public health through traditional medicine and intercultural healthcare practices, Indigenous customs, community welfare, and social justice.
During four days in the city of Arica (on the border with Peru), you will learn how the public health system operates in a small city with high immigration rates and specific local health issues. You will study the health practices and beliefs of a multicultural local population, exploring the diverse processes of community health empowerment that take place here among ethnically different citizen groups living in the same territory.
During five days in the Chilean highlands, near Bolivia, you will directly engage with doctors and Indigenous healers to learn about the practices and beliefs of the Aymara people. In Putre, you will see a rural health system, Chile’s intercultural health practices, alternative medicine, and the Aymara worldview. You will also experience northern Chile’s stunning natural beauty at Chungara Lake and Lauca National Park, and visit the Archaeological Museum, where the Chinchorro mummies—the oldest in the world—are located.
On this ten-day excursion, you will visit Boroa, Nueva Imperial, and Saavedra near the city of Temuco to hear from healers of the Indigenous Mapuche people about intercultural health beliefs and practices, and access to alternative healthcare. You will debate multiculturalism related to healthcare and learn how healthcare policies and politics directly affect Indigenous people and contribute to discrimination and social marginalization. You will also have the opportunity to see the region’s beautiful volcanoes, valleys, and forests.
Please note that SIT will make every effort to maintain its programs as described. To respond to emergent situations, however, SIT may have to change or cancel programs.
Upon successful completion of the program, students will be able to:
The following syllabi are representative of this program. Because courses develop and change over time to take advantage of dynamic learning opportunities, actual course content will vary from term to term.
The syllabi can be useful for students, faculty, and study abroad offices in assessing credit transfer. Read more about credit transfer.
Public Health in Chile – syllabus
(IPBH3000 / 3 credits)
Through this interdisciplinary seminar, students examine theoretical and practical approaches to healthcare delivery in Chilean communities that include both urban and rural contexts. Students explore the relationship between public health, social justice, and community welfare; reproductive and sexual health; HIV/AIDS; mental health issues; and differences between national and private health systems.
Coursework is carried out in English. Some content may be delivered in Spanish with simultaneous translation. Key sessions and debriefing sessions will be held completely in English.
Traditional Medicine and Community Health – syllabus
(IPBH3005 / 3 credits)
Students learn about traditional healthcare practices in Chile and analyze the role of these practices in overall community health. The course focuses on the Mapuche and Aymara peoples. Students explore indigenous conceptualizations of health and healing, the connection between healing and spiritual beliefs, and Indigenous cosmovisions. Intercultural health and challenges to “legitimizing” and “mainstreaming” traditional Indigenous healthcare are studied. Disparities in healthcare access among diverse populations are also analyzed.
Coursework is carried out in English. Out of respect for the sacred roles of Indigenous doctors and shamans, a few sessions or field visits may be led in Spanish or other indigenous languages, but translation will be available when needed. Key sessions and debriefing sessions will be held completely in English.
Spanish for the Health Sciences I – syllabus
(SPAN2003 / 3 credits)
Spanish for the Health Sciences II – syllabus
(SPAN2503 / 3 credits)
Spanish for the Health Sciences III – syllabus
(SPAN3003 / 3 credits)
Spanish for the Health Sciences IV – syllabus
(SPAN3503 / 3 credits)
In this course, students hone their speaking, reading, and writing skills through classroom and field instruction. Students read professional health science literature as they learn the formal terms and local expressions needed to discuss health policy issues, to conduct field research, and to interact in settings (e.g., clinics and community health centers) related to the program themes. Students are placed in small classes based on an in-country evaluation that tests both written and oral proficiency.
Public Health Research Methods and Ethics – syllabus
(IPBH3500 / 3 credits)
This research methods course is designed to prepare students for an Independent Study Project or Internship. Through lectures, readings, and field activities, students study and practice a range of methods appropriate for researching health topics. They examine the ethical issues surrounding field research related to public health and are guided through the World Learning / SIT Human Subjects Review process, which forms a core component of the course. By the end of the course, students will have chosen a research topic or internship, selected appropriate methods, and written a solid proposal for an Independent Study Project or internship related to public health, traditional medicine, and community empowerment in Chile. All coursework is conducted in English.
Independent Study Project – syllabus
(ISPR3000 / 4 credits)
Conducted in Santiago, Arica, Putre or Temuco, or other approved locations appropriate to the project, the Independent Study Project offers students the opportunity to conduct field research on a topic of their choice or perform a health practicum within the program’s thematic parameters. The project integrates learning from the various components of the program and culminates in a final presentation and formal research paper. Students may choose to write their Independent Study project in English or Spanish and, when relevant, incorporate a guided practicum experience into the project as well.
Sample ISP topic areas:
Browse this program’s Independent Study Projects / undergraduate research.
OR
Internship and Seminar – syllabus
(ITRN3000 / 4 credits)
This seminar consists of a four-week internship with a health facility, a social, community, or indigenous organization, a nonprofit institution, a health clinic, or a university in Santiago, Arica, Putre, Temuco or other approved locations appropriate to the propose.
The aim of the internship is to enable the student to gain valuable work experience and to enhance their skills in an international work environment. Students will complete an internship and submit a paper in which they process their learning experience on the job, analyze an issue important to the organization, and/or design a socially responsible solution to a problem identified by the organization. Students with intermediate or advanced proficiency in Spanish may find the most internship opportunities.
Sample internships include:
You may choose to live with a host family in Santiago. Spend seven weeks living with a local family in the cosmopolitan city of Santiago and become immersed in the daily life. Living with a local family is a unique opportunity to gain an in-depth understanding of the people, realities, and challenges facing the region today. While offering an excellent opportunity to improve your language skills, the homestay experience will add warmth and create lasting bonds beyond the program.
Host families come from different social and cultural backgrounds. You will typically enjoy breakfast, lunch or dinner with them, and on weekends you may share family activities together, which could include birthday, anniversary, or other family celebrations.
You may choose to live in a student residence in Santiago. Your residence will be furnished and include a private bathroom, a desk, linens, kitchen facilities, and high-speed Wi-Fi. Rooms may be singles or doubles, depending on availability.
Please note that specific housing locations and amenities are subject to change.
You will have a six-day homestay with an Aymara family in high-altitude Putre, where you will be able to participate in daily activities typical of this small, slow-paced town while learning about traditional medicine practices from such community leaders as shamans and traditional birth attendants.
In a four-day excursion in Arica, you’ll stay in a hotel. You’ll learn about local anthropology, history, traditional health, and Aymara and immigrants’ health problems, with enough time to also enjoy the beauty of Chile’s warmest city.
Then, you will have a five-day homestay with an Aymara family in high-altitude Putre, where you will be able to participate in daily activities typical of this small, slow-paced town while learning about traditional medicine practices from such community leaders as shamans and traditional birth attendants.
Your five-day homestay in the rural village of Araucanía Región near Temuco will be with an Indigenous Mapuche family. Share in daily community life, which might include farming, animal care, or meal preparation, and learn about their impression of the health system and its access for Indigenous peoples in Chile.
A wide range of students participate in this program, representing different colleges, universities, and majors. Many of them have gone on to pursue academic or professional work that connects back to their experience abroad with SIT. Recent positions held by alumni of this program include:
Thomas J. Watson Fellows
MD/MPH student at the University of Miami’s Miller School of Medicine, Miami, FL
Bilingual agricultural safety educator at the New York Center for Agricultural Medicine and Health, New York, NY
Medical student at Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland
Member of Teach for America Corps
Medical student at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
Medical student at the University of Southern California’s Keck School of Medicine, Los Angeles, CA
Member of the healthcare reform team at Planned Parenthood of Northern New England
Maternal health birth doula through AmeriCorps at Sea Mar Community Health Centers, Seattle, WA
SIT Study Abroad is committed to ensuring that international education is within reach for all students. We believe in the transformative power of immersive, intercultural experiences and are dedicated to supporting students in their educational journey.
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Depending on your passport of origin, you may need a visa for this program. Please contact your admissions officer for more information.
SIT Study Abroad Chile: Public Health, Traditional Medicine, and Community Empowerment
