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Class status:	2nd Year, 3rd Year, 4th+ Year	Type of program:	Field Study, Intensive language training, Specialized courses for study abroad students
Academic area:	Health, Languages, Latin American Studies, Public Health, Social Sciences	Language of instruction:	Spanish
Language courses offered in:	Spanish	Prior language study required:	5 semesters
Open to non-UConn students:	No	Required GPA:	2.75

The Program

This program is designed for students with intermediate and advanced Spanish language skills who wish to explore health care issues from a social science perspective. Students should expect to learn about overcoming challenges in health care from the context of a developing nation.

Program Snapshot:
* Intensive Spanish language training with a focus on 
   public health terminology.
* Specially-designed interdisciplinary courses in public 
   health taught by well-trained professors and
   researchers.
* Hands-on field experience to learn about healthcare
   in Argentina guided by local
   practitioners.
* Analysis of the connections between healthcare
   and the social environment.
* Homestay, immersing you in Argentine life.
* Visits to sites of historic and cultural importance in
   Buenos Aires.
* Weekend excursion outside of Buenos Aires.


The Academics

All students are required to take the following three courses:

Dimensions of Health Care: Theory and Practice
This course introduces students to local health care realities through a theoretical and field work component. Students learn of, through observation and participation, the challenges and local constituents, and the approaches they create to overcome challenges in different contexts.   Students discuss their experiences with on-site tutors and through a weekly virtual forum  with their peers and resident staff. A final project is developed as part of the field experience. Main activities include: investigation, evaluation, observation, site visits, and community education.

Public Health Studies: Argentina Case Study
This course addresses scientific and social problems of health as a social construction. For this purpose, the course focuses on social health determinants, the health situation in Argentina, and organization of the health system. Concepts of public health are covered: essential functions in public health, population health analysis (utilization of basic epidemiologic tools and indicators and qualitative methodologies), policies, and quality of care. The course also introduces issues of gender and human rights into the health care delivery model. The course requires students to consider the impact of different stakeholders: policy-makers, health providers, and community members. The course also explores the relationship between national health and international health paradigms regarding global health issues and cooperation.

Advanced Spanish Conversation and Grammar
This is an advanced Spanish language course, focusing on grammar, reading, and oral expression. It is designed to improve both active command of the language by means of readings and discussion, and to increase students? mastery of Spanish grammar in communication contexts and in writing.  Special attention is given to medical terminology.

In order to earn credit at UConn for courses completed on this program, individual courses must be approved by a designated UConn course evaluator and assigned a UConn course number. Complete instructions for this process can be found under Getting Academic Credit on the navigation bar on the left of the Study Abroad Homepage.


The Experience

Students spend four weeks in Buenos Aires, the capital city of Argentina. A vibrant port city with a population of 13 million including the greater metropolitan area, Buenos Aires offers its visitors the chance to experience the perpetual cultural intrigue that can only be found in a city of this size and prestige. In addition, each student spends three weeks doing fieldwork in the Buenos Aires metropolitan area or one of three sites outside Buenos Aires: Mendoza, Mendoza Province; Concepción del Uruguay, Entre Rios Province; or Olavarria, Buenos Aires Province.

The Argentine branch of the Facultad Latinoamericana de Ciencias Sociales (FLACSO) hosts the CIEE Study Center in Buenos Aires. FLACSO sponsors the largest and most prestigious postgraduate teaching and research program in the social sciences in Latin America. Students take specially designed CIEE courses at FLACSO. In addition, students are hosted by provincial universities depending on their off-site placement: the Universidad Nacional del Cuyo (Mendoza), Universidad Nacional de Entre Rios, and the Universidad del Centro Municipio del Centro (Buenos Aires province).

A three-day orientation session at the beginning of the program introduces students to the city of Buenos Aires and Argentina in general. Students participate in sessions on safety, banking, and transportation. They receive an overview of the academic program, meet the instructors, and take a Spanish language placement exam.

Housing and two meals per day are included in the program fee. Students live with host families for the duration of  the program, both in Buenos Aires and during their field placement. Students who decide to stay in Buenos Aires for the field component remain with the same family. Local housing coordinators in the field sites outside of Buenos Aires place students in local homestays.

Participants have an e-mail account at FLACSO. There are numerous computers provided for the exclusive use of CIEE program participants at FLACSO. Students are encouraged to bring laptops with a wireless connection as there is wireless access at the CIEE office, and a study lounge for participants and library access at FLACSO.