SIT Argentina: Public Health in Urban Environments

I think the program overall was very structured and rigorous but also fun. During the first two months you take a lot of classes and focus on academics. Traveling happens through the program. During the final month, you do an internship or independent study and have a lot of free time. Traveling happens on your own. The city of Buenos Aires where you live is a very lively city with lots to do, whether thats daytime cultural activities or night life. I lived with one host mom about a ten minute walk away from my classes and very near many bus and subte stops. All of the classes and activities are in Spanish, and the host families speak very little english as well. It is a full immersion program! The Argentine dialect and accent is a bit difficult to adjust to at first, but after a couple of weeks everything gets much easier! I loved my time there, and grew a lot as a Spanish speaker and person overall.

I decided to travel to Argentina for my semester abroad with a structured program because, unlike many countries in Europe that I would feel comfortable navigating, I felt less familiar with Argentina and South America as a continent. SIT proved to be a very helpful and supportive program throughout the semester. It provided us with many opportunities to travel for leisure, but more importantly, allowed us health opportunities, such as entrance into clinics and shadowing sanitary agents, that we would not have otherwise. Because of this, I think this program would be ideal for students that want experience in health environments and are looking for a global perspective of health systems. This program requires a medium high level of Spanish to experience it fully since it involves all Spanish classes and an internship in Spanish. Overall, this program was a very educational experience that would be ideal for a student who would like to have fun, experience a new culture, learn Spanish, and have fun with the benefit of having a structured program to guide them through the process and provide the social circle of other American students.

I had an incredible experience this semester. This program offers endless opportunities to develop your Spanish and learn about Argentina's public health system. From the classes to all of the hospital and clinic visits, I ended the program with a clear picture of how the Argentine health system works, and it has left me wanting to go back and learn even more. I really enjoyed the amount of traveling we got to do around Argentina during the program to different provinces, and we were offered many unique perspectives of the health system. I especially loved my Spanish class at the University of Buenos Aires and the homestay experience. The program staff are extremely attentive, caring, and diligent and truly only want the best for students in the program. Buenos Aires is a wonderful city to live in and there is always something fun to do or go see. If you're deciding whether or not to do this program, DO IT!

This semester was a great opportunity to improve my Spanish, learn about public health, and explore both the city of Buenos Aires and many distinct regions of Argentina. This program is best for students interested in public health who want a more structured, academic experience. The traveling included in the semester is a great way to learn more about the country, and my home-stay experience could not have been any better. I highly recommend this study abroad program! I would definitely choose it again.

My semester abroad in Argentina with SIT was a pivotal period in my life. The people, the mix of cultures, and the sense of adventure all caused me to fall in love with the country. The structure of the program taught me so much about public health in Argentina. We were exposed to top specialists, traveled to different provinces, and engaged in various projects that left room for personal enhancement of our lecture content. Additionally, by traveling to other provinces outside of Buenos Aires, we were able to not only interact with the material we were learning, but also prepare for our independent internships or research projects. I believe that it is because of this that I as able to be successful and completely enjoy my time with the Red Cross Argentina. It is important to note that the quality of the program staff, really makes the program. I have studied abroad three times during college, and I have yet to encounter a program staff so genuinely loving and concerned with the welfare and enjoyment of their students. Go, go, GO!

If you're a pre-health student, this program really allows you the opportunity to explore not only health systems from within the classroom, but also at the institutional level. I was able to shadow physicians and social workers, travel all around the country, and meet wonderful mentors. Each of the program coordinators and mentors were so loving and helpful with my transition to life abroad, and I felt like I could come to them with any problems. The only thing that I would have liked to had more of in this experience is greater freedom with time. The program was highly structured, which was useful at the beginning of the program, but it would have been nice to have more time to explore the city without those long class hours. Overall, I would definitely go back!

This program is an incredible opportunity for personal and academic growth. I learned so much about the Argentine healthcare system and improved my Spanish 10 fold. I loved that the classes had guest lecturers on their specialty topic because we were able to learn from the top professionals in that area. My favorite aspect academically was the ability to conduct my own research project in another province. I learned so much from this experience. Personally, I made incredible friends who I know I will be friends with for the rest of my life. I also loved exploring the city; I come from a small suburb and was really pushed outside of my comfort zone in a new large city which was great. I also loved my host mom and had an incredible experience living in her home. I would highly recommend this program if you are looking to push yourself outside of your comfort zone and really learn about healthcare in Argentina!

Argentina was amazing and my program was intense. Our classes were based in Buenos Aires but we did a lot of traveling (almost every 2 weeks!) to other provinces in the country, so it was a lot of flying and first-hand exposure to real world situations. We visited hospitals, health centers and met with various professionals to learn about their healthcare system. Everything was in Spanish so it took me about a month to adjust, but by the end of it I was pretty much doing my own independent study project without a problem. Along with all the educational excursions, I got to see some really cool sites, visit wine country, go hiking and the most beautiful site I visited were the waterfalls at Iguazú, which is one of 7 natural wonders of the world (pics below!)