Learn about public health through traditional medicine and intercultural healthcare practices, indigenous customs, community welfare, and social justice.
16
3 semesters Spanish, Relevant previous coursework
Spanish
Spanish
Aug 28 – Dec 10
Chile
Arica
Global Health & Well-being
Development & Inequality
Live in ethnically diverse Arica, Chile, home to many different cultures and healthcare practices as well as unequal access to health services. From this strategic location near the borders of Peru and Bolivia, you’ll learn about transnational issues such as infectious disease management and examine healthcare from international perspectives at health centers and government offices. You’ll also 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 first-hand about the work carried out by the public health teams of the Chilean Health System; the process carried out to combat COVID-19; successful vaccination programs; and challenges and lessons learned. 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 will engage with health officials, policymakers, and traditional medicine practitioners and have homestays with three different families in both urban and rural areas.
You will also learn Spanish language skills related to health sciences through classroom learning, cultural immersion, homestays, and excursions.
Three recent semesters of college-level Spanish or equivalent and the ability to follow coursework in Spanish, as assessed by SIT. 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.
During a seven-day excursion to the Chilean highlands you will study the healthcare practices and beliefs of the Aymara people. You will see a rural health system, Chile’s intercultural health practices, alternative medicine, and the Aymara cosmovision. You will also experience northern Chile’s impressive natural beauty at Chungara Lake, Lauca National Park, and the Lauca Biosphere Reserve.
On this 10-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.
During a six-day visit, you will learn about the characteristics of the intercultural health model developed among the traditional healers of the Licanantai People, an Indigenous people who have lived in this area for centuries. We would also observe how the National Health System operates in this extreme territory and in its relationship with urban areas. On those days, you will also have the opportunity to learn about the work of Indigenous communities directly in managing their health, along with enjoying tourist attractions of incomparable beauty such as the Valley of the Moon or the Tatio Geises
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. All coursework is conducted in Spanish.
Traditional Medicine and Community Health – syllabus
(IPBH3005 / 3 credits)
In this second seminar, 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 in particular. Students explore these 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. All coursework is conducted in Spanish.
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 Spanish.
Independent Study Project – syllabus
(ISPR3000 / 4 credits)
Conducted in Arica, Santiago, Valparaíso, 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 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; or a university in Arica, Putre, Makewe, or Santiago. 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. The internship will be conducted in Spanish.
Sample internships include:
While in Chile, you will live with three homestay families who can offer insight into the relationship between families, health, and well-being. You will deepen and challenge your understanding of family and community at three sites, comparing urban mestizo to rural indigenous communities, allowing you to form a more comprehensive understanding of each.
Host families come from different social and cultural backgrounds. You will typically enjoy breakfast and lunch with them, and on weekends you may share family activities together, which could include birthday, anniversary, or other family celebrations.
During your first homestay you will spend seven weeks with a carefully selected family in a residential neighborhood of Arica.
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.
Your six-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:
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 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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SIT Study Abroad Chile: Public Health, Traditional Medicine, and Community Empowerment
