Nursing Programs Abroad in Costa Rica and Ecuador
Community health education and medical Spanish built for nursing students, alongside an interprofessional cohort. February and July every year.
Most nursing students who want an international experience end up on a program designed for medical students, with nursing added on. This one is built around the communication work nurses actually do, and around the Spanish that work requires.
This is not a clinical program. You are not placed in a hospital or clinic, and you do not observe or assist in patient care. The patient-facing work here is community health education. You work directly with community members, in Spanish, on health topics those communities identified.
Who This Is For
Undergraduate BSN students, RN-to-BSN students, graduate nursing students, nurse practitioner students, and practicing nurses building Spanish for their work.
There is no Spanish minimum. Instruction is set to your level, from beginner through advanced.
Your cohort is interprofessional by design. You work alongside medical, PA, pharmacy and public health students, which is how care is delivered and rarely how it is taught.
Timing and Length
When
Twice a year, February and July.
Length
Three and four week programs within a four-week block. Start dates and lengths are flexible in most cases.
What the Program Includes
Documentation
We provide records of hours and activities for your program.
Community health education
You work with the immersion team delivering health education in underserved communities, on topics those communities identified. The conditions are the ones these communities live with: elevated blood sugar, elevated blood pressure, malnutrition. You prepare the material in Spanish before departure and deliver it directly to community members.
Medical Spanish instruction
Roughly 20 hours a week at our partner language school, set to your level and oriented toward patient teaching, symptom description, and health education. This is the vocabulary nursing practice actually uses.
Host family lodging
One student per household, so the language practice does not stop when class does.
Why Nursing Students Choose a Spanish-Based Program
Spanish is the second most spoken language in the United States, and nurses spend more time in direct patient communication than almost anyone else on the care team. Building Spanish is not a detour from your training. It is preparation for the patients you will have.
Health education is also nursing work. Teaching a patient how to manage blood pressure, explaining a medication, checking that someone understood what they were told: that is the same skill set, practiced in Spanish, with people whose first language it is.
For Nursing Programs and Faculty
We work directly with nursing schools on group enrollment, faculty-led cohorts, and custom program design. See our programs for institutions or request a proposal.
Frequently Asked Questions
Reserve Your Spot
Reserve your spot, or call (888) 879-2575. Related programs: medical electives in Costa Rica and Ecuador, global health electives, and all international rotations.
