IES Abroad Santiago – Health Studies

Hi everyone, I studied abroad in the wonderful Santiago, Chile for a full fall semester. One of the immediate differences you will notice are the seasons- they’re reversed from the northern hemisphere! That being said, my host mom paid extra attention when I first moved in to make sure I was warm enough at night and ate plenty of fruits so that I wouldn’t get sick from the sudden change in climate. And this was just one example of how cared for I felt in Santiago. My host family made sure I not only had my basic living needs met, but also that I felt comfortable in their home as part of the family. I shared almost every meal with them and got to spend time with their friends and extended family. The IES staff in Santiago also made me feel very cared for and looked after during my time there. Academically, I participated in the health studies program where I attended a class called “Spanish for Health Care Professionals” and observed health care professionals in a hospital setting. In class, we learned how to talk to people about nutrition, pain, and insurance as well as study vocabulary for different items that are found in a healthcare setting. This vocabulary was incredibly useful during my clinical observations where I visited various private clinics and hospitals as well as public hospitals and a Ruca, which is a hut used by the indigenous group for alternative medicine. During my four months, I never traveled outside of Chile, but I did travel to the northern region to see the driest desert in the world, the Atacama Desert, and get to backpack for 6 days in Patagonia’s Torres del Paine.

If you really want to practice your Spanish, come to know a Spanish speaking culture that many don’t hear much about but is so rich in history and fabulous people, then I would recommend this program to you. Santiago de Chile is a fabulous place to be whether you are an outdoorsy kind of person or more of the city life, Santiago has it all. IES does a fabulous job of thinking through everything and are prepared for the good the back and the ugly. Being a part of their program, the onsite administration and teachers make you feel like you are their number one priority. They genuinely care about every person and want to make sure they have the greatest experience abroad. They will help you with anything and everything; if you are struggling with your host home, trying to find a class to take at the local university, maybe you want some travel suggestions (literally one woman on staff helped everyone call hostels/busses/you name it if we needed help). They go above and beyond and love welcoming you into their home. For me, I have danced ballet professionally in the states and wanted to make sure I could find a good company while I was abroad to keep up my dancing. One of the staff introduced me to a company and I actually had the opportunity to perform on a well known stage for a paying audience in CHILE! (That was a dream come true). Looking at the academics, the courses are wonderful and they offer a nice variety. It was slightly hard to find specific courses for some people at the university, though this may have been due to the strikes at one of their partner universities making it unavailable for us to take classes there. I was able to take a ballroom class filled with 50+ Chileans and 3 “gringas” including myself (to Chileans anyone not from Chile can be considered a gringo/a). This was a great way for me to get to know many friends, I would highly recommend trying to find a dance class even if you don’t go to Chile because there is something about learning basic dance moves that is fun and breaks barriers allowing friendships to flourish. I got the opportunity to also be in an observations program which was honestly one of the main reasons I chose this entire program in the first place. It is just that, observations. This is very helpful for really any pre health professional because you really get to dive into seeing how other health care systems work and actually see different facilities in another country. I will let you know, this is strictly observations, you are not allowed to take vitals or anything. But most health professional schools want you to have some type of observation hours so it is a win win. I got the chance to study with the two lovely ladies who have already posted reviews about this program (Monica and Nina hey guys!). Hopefully in reading our reviews you can see different experiences of the same, literally the exact same program (Fall 2016). Speaking of Monica and Nina, I loved that IES was a program that pulled students from all over. I got the chance to go out on a limb, goto a country that I had never been to, with no one I knew, and had the time of my life. We had 19 people in our program and I loved the opportunity of getting to know every single one of them. There were a few from the same schools but otherwise we all were in the same boat and that to me was an experience I was looking for. One last plug, specifically for the Fall semester in Chile. Though it is our “Fall” it is their Spring. EVERYTHING happens in Chile at this time, you get a “spring break”, there are Fondas which are basically Chile’s State Fair, and a few other holidays. The weather though cold in the beginning is lovely towards the middle and end. If all of this doesn’t convince you... then take a look at these photos!

My time in Santiago, Chile was one of the greatest yet hardest experiences of my life. I came in with a pretty good level of Spanish but quickly realized that classroom Spanish and a background of 7 years in class isn't real life Spanish... especially Chilean Spanish. I remember being afraid to say things incorrectly at the beginning, but by the end understood better that it really is okay to make mistakes and was more comfortable asking questions/really trying to understand the language in its entirety. My host family was great, and although we started at a slow place with getting to know them, by then end I felt like family. I also learned that it takes a lot on the student's part to build that relationship, and I feel like it is extremely valuable to build those because the home is where you get a lot of good practice with no pressure. But again, the way you feel about making mistakes is ultimately up to you. The more you accept yourself for them, the more you will learn and improve. While the Spanish learning, cultural learning, traveling were great experiences, I had a major health issue going on. I share this to demonstrate how safe and cared for I felt the entire time that I was dealing with this issue. If you have a health condition, please don't let it stop you from studying abroad. I have a complicated story with too many details, but I made 1 hospital visit and 3 doctor visits (all in Spanish) but was accompanied by program advisors who made me felt very comfortable and understood... despite any potential language issues. My host family was very caring and always asked how I was feeling, and the school even let me take a week off from classes. It was hard, my days were long and tiring with this issue... but would I take it back and not go? No way. I will never regret my decision to stay because I made long lasting relationships, seriously improved upon my Spanish skills more than I ever would staying at my university, and got to experience another part of the world that functions slightly differently from what I'm used to... and these are experiences I will carry with me forever. Chile is an amazing country that is highly dismissed. If you have the opportunity to go, do it. You won't regret it.