SIT Argentina: Public Health in Urban Environments

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!)

I enjoyed this program and made some great new American friends but I wasn't able to interact in the local culture as much as I had wanted to. It was hard to make friends outside of the program and the majority of the program is female. I liked my classes though because they were all public health focused which was a nice change-up from my university and I was able to really understand the Argentinian public health system. Buenos Aires is an AMAZING city and I loved living there.