SIT Study Abroad: Chile: Public Health, Traditional Medicine, and Community Empowerment

When I left for Chile initially, I will admit to being nervous. Many of my friends were going abroad together to larger programs more endorsed by my school, or to English speaking countries with diminished cultural barriers. However, I knew that I wanted a more unique experience, and one that was also justifiable with my pre-health aspirations. The SIT Chile program was truly that and so much more, and I am so glad I left my comfort zone to pursue it! In this review I will talk about a few of my favorite places we visited.

Our journey began in Santiago, but the next stop of Arica was where we spent the majority of our time. In Arica, I had the opportunity to integrate into a loving and supporting host family, with whom I talked for hours over meals, went on weekly ice cream trips, had fun at the beach, went on shopping trips to the mall, grocery store, and corner store, and more. They were the family I spent most of my time with, and by the end of the program I had become incredibly close with them.

Near Arica, we visited the city of Putre. Putre was my favorite place of the entire trip, however I will admit this occurred after an rocky start. When I first arrived, while I got along perfectly fine with my host family, I did not feel the strongest of connections. However, when I ultimately decided to return alone for my internship period, the program was exceptionally accommodating in allowing me to change to a different host family with whom I had interacted with. I became very close with my second host mother, who worked at the hospital I was doing my internship at. She would pack lunches for me, watch movies with me, and helped me integrate into the hospital community with whom outside of work I would go out to eat or get pizza and play card games. During my internship in Putre, I was completely integrated into the local community despite being the only white person. In my internship I had the opportunity to go on rounds in the breathtaking surrounding communities and assist the staff in delivering primary care in the rural Chilean Altiplanos. In the community I had the opportunity to partake in the Aymaran Cruz de Mayo festival, which involved singing, dancing, hiking and eating traditional Chilean barbeque. I became very close with the Aymaran indigenous medicine doctor who worked alongside western medical practitioners in the hospital, and during this festival he essentially adopted me into his family. I also had the opportunity to participate in the Aymaran K'illpa in the nearby community of Visviri, who also accepted me with open arms. Being accepted into and experiencing the communities of Putre and Visviri has left a profound impact on me, and I am so grateful to the SIT Chile program for facilitating this.

A few of my other favorite places we visited during my time in Chile with our program were Temuco, Entre Rios (near Nueva Imperial) and Pucón. These southern cities were incredibly green, with visually stunning rolling hills, lakes and coastal towns. They also held strong ties to the local indigenous Mapuche culture. In Entre Rios, I was fascinated to learn how an incredibly strong traditional Mapuche indigenous culture works in combination with the western medical system. I also lived with a large family on their farm for week, where I enjoyed banter with my host sister, assisting the middle aged family members on the farm, and being spoiled with delicious traditional Chilean meals by the grandparents. Temuco was a larger bustling town, a capital of the south, while Pucón was essentially an alpine vacation getaway.

Separate from the program with a few friends during long weekends we also visited La Paz and San Pedro de Atacama. If you go on this program be sure to make time for independent travel, as the experiences I had in these locations were amazing.

Overall, the program provided me with exceptional support from both the directors and host families. The experience and global health minor I gained will be directly applicable to my future aspirations in pre-health. The academics were usually lighter, although there were times which were demanding. However, I always found that putting in effort was enough to warrant good grades, even with my initial difficulties of Spanish mastery. If you are willing to put yourself out there and experience immersion into a beautiful culture, then this is the program for you!

I absolutely loved this study abroad program, and would recommend it highly to anyone considering exploring public health in a meaningful way! The coursework was very manageable with LOTS of real world experience, and the program really integrates you both into Chilean life and traditional medicine practice. My host family was incredible, I loved the cohort of students I was privileged to study abroad with, and I have zero regrets about the experience! If you want to get out of your comfort zone and come away with a life-changing public health experience, this is the program for you!

The most impactful part of my time was living with the host families. I grew extremely close with my host family, and hope to remain in contact with them for many years now. They made me feel right at home and supported during my best and most challenging times. Arica is a perfect town to study abroad for the warm and loving culture, the beautiful coast, diverse community, and it was the perfect size to become familiar with everything and everyone. While the social elements were definitely the dominant part of my experience, which was a learning experience in itself, especially with developing Spanish skills, the actual classes and assignments were extremely fulfilling. While difficult because of the Spanish integration, the program avoids any kind of busy work and always leans into experiential learning. You learn from local communities who oftentimes do not receive the attention or support that is deserved. This program will change how you define healthcare. If you want to go into healthcare, this program is essential.

I had a unique experience abroad in Chile as it was my first time ever leaving the United States. Being in such a new environment with people I didn't know was definitely scary, but ended up being an amazing experience. I had to learn how to be adaptable in a new home, with new friends, and in a completely different country. With these challenges, I also felt supported and comfortable due to the SIT staff and the new friends I made. Learning to rely on a different language was difficult, but learning from mistakes and using any opportunity to communicate in Spanish was extremely helpful. At times the academic aspect of the program felt a little unorganized, but seeing things firsthand made up for any missing pieces during lecture.

My experience was unique because there were political protests for over a month during my time in Chile. However, I found most staff members to be supportive of our wellbeing and receptive to any issues that came up. The trips to Temuco and Putre were very fun, as we were able to visit local health facilities, learn about traditional medicine practices, and have fun outings to hot springs and natural areas nearby. The homestay was a great experience as well, and I feel like I improved my Spanish the most by talking to my host parents at meal times and around the house. The academics were interesting, but not quite as hard as a traditional college semester in my experience. I had a good experience with my final project at the end of the semester as well, with a great advisor.

The most valuable aspect of my three months in Chile was the plethora of opportunities, both spontaneous and built into the program, to engage with the community surrounding us and learn eperientially. Through this program, I was able to attend innumerable community events and get to know the heart of the city and its people as part of our curriculum. I found this focus on experiential learning to be incredibly informative and it rounded out what we were learning in the classroom. This community focused learning model was capped off by an internship with a major global nonprofit that allowed for experiential learning every day for a month.

I certainly enjoyed my time in Chile and am grateful that I had to opportunity to go, but the program left a lot to be desired. My main complaint is that that the academics were very poor. The academic director changed a year ago so any reviews from before then don't accurately represent the current program. While the academics weren't hard, we were usually stuck in class until dark so we didn't have any time for anything else. Most days we passively listened to lectures all day with no opportunity to discuss, analyze, or synthesize what we were being told. Especially because everything was in Spanish, it would have been very helpful for comprehension to discuss the material. We voiced this to our academic director several times but nothing changed. I honestly don't think he has any idea what a discussion-based class looks like, let alone how to lead one. The "intensive medical Spanish" course usually consisted of playing games or walking around town, which was fun but didn't teach me any Spanish, especially medical Spanish. I honestly had more rigorous Spanish classes in high school. Finally, it was also hard to become part of the community, get any exercise, or explore the city because we were in class from about 9:00-1:00 and 3:00-7:00 every day and the schedules were always changing last minute. I had to go out of my way to make friends with some Chileans, and this proved to be the most rewarding/fun part of my whole experience. Again, I really did enjoy my time in Chile, but feel like SIT did not deliver the program that it promised and would encourage you to sign up for a different SIT trip.

I enjoyed the variety of experiences I had doing this program. We took several trips so we got to see a good portion of the country. The host families were all nice and wanted to help their students and have them be involved with family activities. It was difficult to adjust to all of the sudden changes at first, but the staff were all helpful at in country orientation. The academics weren't very rigorous, most likely because you are encouraged to do a lot of investigating on your own time and experiencing the culture beyond books. I would have liked a more detailed methods course that gave more practical examples, but the traditional medicine and public health courses were interesting, with a fair number of guest speakers. I loved the ISP (independent study project) period, as it allowed for the most freedom and you can investigate a specific topic that really interests you.