Overview
This program, aimed at students and professionals in health-related fields, will provide you with resources for building French language skills for public health, with an emphasis on topics such as epidemiology, biostatistics, global health, and mental health, among others.
Your program will be delivered through a three-credit immersion course in Antananarivo, Madagascar, which will employ experiential learning opportunities and lessons in grammar and vocabulary related to the program theme. Discussion sessions will provide opportunities to practice and develop French language skills for use in medical contexts and other practical healthcare scenarios.
Antananarivo, the economic capital of Madagascar, has the most advanced network of professionals in medical and public health services on the island. While in Tana, you will have opportunities to practice your French through interactions with medical and public health professionals. You will also visit urban and rural health care centers in Andasibe and the surrounding area, where you will examine intercultural healthcare systems for the local community and learn about the challenges facing rural health care workers. In both Antananarivo and Andasibe, you will live with a host family to advance your French outside of the classroom.
SIT is also offering a supplementary online French Language for Health Sciences course during the fall semester.
Highlights
- Build your French language skills related to public health issues.
- Discover how Malagasy culture and healthcare issues are intertwined and learn how to apply this to sustainable and effective public health policy solutions.
- Practice French for public health by working alongside health workers and collecting data with study subjects in Madagascar.
- Experience daily life with homestay families in Antananarivo and Andasibe.
Prerequisites
4 semesters of college-level French, students are recommended to complete SIT's summer online component first, or have the equivalent of 4 semesters of college level French when starting the J-term program.