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Global Health in Costa Rica

Global Health in Costa Rica

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Child Family Health International
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Location
  • Costa Rica
    • San José
Length
4 to 16 weeks
Industry
Biology Conservation and Preservation Dentistry Ecology Environmental Studies Healthcare Life Sciences Public Health
General grants/scholarships
Health & Safety
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Program Details

Compensation
Unpaid
Timeframe
Year Round
Housing
Apartment
Language
Spanish

Pricing

$4,595
What's Included
Accommodation Some Activities Airport Transfers Some Meals SIM cards Travel Insurance Wifi
What's Not Included
Some Activities Airfare Some Meals
Jul 06, 2026
Oct 25, 2019
Wish List
1 traveler is looking at this program

About Program

CFHI’s Costa Rica programs, offered in partnership with ICDS, provide immersive, interdisciplinary learning experiences that combine academics, community engagement, and cultural immersion. Designed for students interested in global health, sustainability, Spanish language, and social justice, these programs foster a deeper understanding of the complex social, environmental, and cultural factors that shape health and development in Latin America.

Program options include Health Care in Latin America, a semester program exploring healthcare systems and public health; Spanish and Health in Latin America, a 4-week program combining Spanish for health sciences with regional health learning; Spanish and Sustainability Practices, focused on sustainability, food security, and community-based learning; and Sustainable Development and Social Justice in Latin America, which examines equity, development, and social change through an experiential Latin American lens.

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Program Highlights

  • Earn transferable U.S. college credit through academically rigorous coursework with ICDS.
  • Strengthen your Spanish language skills while engaging with local communities and Costa Rican culture.
  • Learn from local experts through field visits, experiential learning, and interdisciplinary coursework.
  • Choose from semester or short-term programs tailored to your academic and professional interests.

Video and Photos

Costa Rica
Costa Rica
Costa Rica

Diversity & Inclusion 💙

CFHI is deeply committed to supporting BIPOC participants in our programs, building our programs and operations from a basis of anti-oppression, anti-racist, and anti-colonial approaches. We work closely with our Global Team to provide participants with location-specific information regarding local customs, norms and recommendations. During pre-departure preparation, we encourage participants to discuss their identities, needs, abilities, and concerns and set up 1:1 planning calls to ensure questions are answered, and a robust support system is established before travel. In addition, our local teams and CFHI leadership are available 24/7 to offer support and assistance.
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At CFHI, we are dedicated to fostering an inclusive and supportive environment for participants of all identities, including those within the LGBTQIA+ community. We firmly believe in equal access to quality global health education, ensuring that everyone can engage and thrive. We collaborate with our local teams to provide resources and support to participants that is specific to each program and location. During pre-departure, participants are encouraged to discuss their unique concerns and set up 1:1 planning calls to ensure questions are answered and a robust support system is established before travel. Through these efforts, we aim to foster an environment where participants can learn, grow, and make meaningful connections while participating in global health experiences.
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CFHI encourages participants to discuss their accommodation needs with CFHI after acceptance to their program to ensure we understand the accommodations needed and be well prepared to support them. Before departure, our team will work directly with each student and their institution (if relevant) and will make every possible effort to implement learning and physical accommodations and adaptations, remove barriers and allow full access to the extent possible without fundamentally altering the program's essential structure and standards. If it is not possible to accommodate a student on their first choice of program due to significant structural barriers or similar, CFHI will work with the student and their institution to select another suitable program option.
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CFHI encourages participants to discuss their accommodation needs with CFHI after acceptance to their program to ensure we understand the accommodations needed and be well prepared to support them. Before departure, our team will work directly with each student and their institution and will make every possible effort to implement learning and physical accommodations and adaptations, remove barriers and allow full access to the extent possible without fundamentally altering the program's essential structure and standards. If it is not possible to accommodate a student on their first choice of program due to significant structural barriers or similar, CFHI will work with the student and their institution to select another suitable program option
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Impact 🌎

Sustainability is at the core of our partnerships at CFHI. Our longstanding global partnerships, spanning more than 10+ years, reflect our ethical and Fair-Trade approach. CFHI's organizational values emphasize our interconnectedness as humans sharing one planet. To expand educational opportunities while reducing our organizational carbon footprint, we offer a range of virtual/online programs. Additionally, several programs focus on Planetary Health and encourage participants through our Planetary Health Pledge to commit to actionable initiatives that contribute to a healthier planet. Through these efforts, we are dedicated to nurturing sustainable and enduring relationships with our partners and the planet.
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CFHI is a leader in community-based Global Health Education Programs with over 30 years of experience and in Special Consultative Status with the United Nations. CFHI's work has centered around offering safe, ethical, and sustainable global health education opportunities to trainees and academic partners. Our research and scholarship have focused on documenting the harm caused by neocolonial and paternalistic approaches to global health engagement and collaboratively developing standards and best practices rooted in Fair Trade Learning Principles, Asset-Based approaches, and appropriate legal and regulatory frameworks. Through immersive experiences, participants are embedded in existing health systems, deepening their understanding of host countries' health landscapes, refining intercultural communication, exploring complex health realities, and cultivating a commitment to global health ethics.
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Questions & Answers

Staff Interviews

These are in-depth Q&A sessions with program leaders.

Emily Miller

Program
Global Health in Costa Rica
Job Title
Program Coordinator, Academic Partnerships & Affiliates
Emily comes from a small rural town in Maryland and didn't see much beyond that until after college. She then lived abroad for four years, teaching English as a second language in Spain and leading community development and service-learning trips in Nicaragua. She considers global health not just a professional pursuit but a personal one and cares deeply about social justice and equity issues.
Emily Miller standing at the top of a volcano smiling

What is your favorite travel memory?

One of my favorite travel memories is the first time I couchsurfed in Porto, Portugal. Initially, I was nervous to travel alone and stay with people I had never met before but they turned out to be an amazing group of people. I also found traveling alone to be really empowering especially in Porto, which I feel is a very underrated city.

How have you changed/grown since working for your current company?

When you work in global health, often things do not go as planned. So I feel like the muscle I have continuously strengthened is the willingness to be flexible and adaptable. Sometimes it’s challenging to live with that ambiguity but the outcomes of situations mostly turn out better than first anticipated.

What is the best story you've heard from a return student?

I had a group of undergrads that went to the Philippines for two weeks and when they returned they were able to explain a lot about health disparities. They had a really comprehensive understanding of health disparities and the complex linkage between the social determinants of health. This is one of my favorite stories because the students were really able to learn what our company aims for.

If you could go on any program that your company offers, which one would you choose and why?

Out of all the programs our company offers, I would either want to go to programs in the Philippines or India because I have never been to Southeast Asia. One program that specifically sticks out to me is the Maternal and Child Health program in Pune, India because the way the program is set up sounds awesome.

What makes your company unique? When were you especially proud of your team?

CFHI is really unique because of its unwavering commitment to ethical practices and evidence-based practices. There are a lot of organizations that don’t always get to prioritize these and for me its been a great experience to have leadership be so committed to those. I’m always really proud whenever an emergency comes up and the whole team is so quick to respond and provide support - even if the emergency occurs off-hours.

What do you believe to be the biggest factor in being a successful company?

I think one of the biggest factors in being a successful company is that the employees feel the work that they do has a sense of purpose. When everyone feels committed to the work that they are doing and understands the significance and importance of the work, they are always going to be putting in 110%.

Location

Location:
San José
Currency:
Costa Rican Colón
Weather:
Jan-Mar
79 F / 57 F
Apr-Jun
81 F / 63 F
Jul-Sep
88 F / 73 F
Oct-Dec
86 F / 73 F

Costa Rica is known for its Pura Vida lifestyle and San José is a great place to get familiar with the lifestyle. One of the best ways to discover San José is through the arts; whether you like theatre, dance, or music, this is the quickest way to the heart of Costa Rica.

About Child Family Health International

Child Family Health International (CFHI) is a 501(c)3 nonprofit that conducts socially responsible global health education programs for medical, pre-medical, nursing, PA, MPH, and other health science students. CFHI's 25+ programs in 10 countries connect students with local health professionals -transforming perspectives about self, global health...

  • Go Overseas Award
  • Go Overseas Award

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