One of the main benefits of studying abroad is to gain a broader cultural perspective. One of the best ways of doing that is by pursuing an education within that culture. It helps you to get better adapted to the environment, the language, and most importantly the people. Another bonus is that you can take interesting classes that maybe your college didn’t offer but can still carry over as credit.  

Some people from my CEA CAPA program met in the main entrance of Veritas University to take a group photo during our break in between Spanish. 

During my time abroad I am taking four classes at Veritas University in San José, Costa Rica: Medical Spanish, Cultural Photography, Holistic Health Approaches, and Costa Rican Healthcare and Tropical Medicine. When deciding on which destination to study at, the education aspect was very important to me. I wanted to take classes where I could use the knowledge from it everywhere and I also wanted to take classes that I knew I wouldn’t be able to take at home.  

My typical lunch in between classes. My favorite is a chicken Caesar salad and a coke from Fresh Market which is down the street from Veritas University! 

For the CEA CAPA San José program, Medical Spanish is an important class for health majors. That class interested me the most because as a future medical provider, it is very important to connect with the patient and to be able to communicate with them properly even in their native language.  

In Medical Spanish, our first group activity was learning how to take each other’s blood pressure, saying the measurements and following the procedure. Here’s my partner Sam looking at the stethoscope.  

I took Basic Medical Spanish in January and I learned so much like how to take a patient’s blood pressure, how to ask the patient questions to help fill out their personal information, and how to describe illnesses, symptoms, and accidents. 

 Here is me and my classmates with our Spanish profesora during the last day of class. 

I chose Cultural Photography because I cannot take art electives at my school in the US and I have always been interested in photography. In that class, we learn the basics of the camera and different settings like shutter speed and exposure while also learning about ethics, especially when capturing someone’s culture.  

Learning about the different kind of ISO in Cultural Photography.  

Practicing how to take long exposure with my classmate Sophia! 

Holistic Health Approaches is a class where I learn about traditional alternative medicine, herbs, alternative therapy methods, and nutrition. This also is important for a future healthcare provider to be able to provide alternative remedies and practices a patient can follow alongside medication or other treatments.  

In Holistic Health Approaches we learned how to do Emotional Freedom Techniques through tapping on certain parts of the body to relieve stress and emotions. 

Costa Rican Healthcare and Tropical Medicine is a split class where in the beginning I learn the history of Costa Rica and their healthcare system and then later on in the semester, I will learn about the different kinds of tropical medicine.  

First class field trip to Museo Calderón Guardia, dedicated to Dr. Rafael Guardia, the first president to implement Universal Health Care in Costa Rica.  

My classmates and I explored Sanatorio Durán, a former hospital used to treat tuberculosis in Costa Rica. 

All of these classes pique my interest in the medical field and I learn different things every day! The class structures are very different at Veritas University than at my home university, however: 

1. The classes are longer. Spanish was every day for three hours with a 30-minute break. The electives are two hours long with 15-minute breaks and they occur Monday-Thursday.  

2. Most of the electives have class field trips according to the topic of the class. At my home university classes are an hour and 15 minutes and we don’t go on field trips. 

These differences in education structures help enhance my study abroad experience.