Adventure TravelerEveryone knows that immersion is the best way to learn medical Spanish. So the question now becomes: “What is the most effective way to do immersion, and who is a partner I can trust?”
My Spanish has improved so much! I am able to actually have a fluid conversation in Spanish and it’s so wonderful. I cannot even begin to describe how much better my Spanish is now. I can now talk in the past tense and use indirect/direct pronouns with confidence – that is huge for me!!!
Registration is open for 2018 Programs…
2-Week Total Medical Spanish Immersion Programs
Nicaragua: January 27 – February 10, 2018 | June 30 – July 14, 2018
Costa Rica: February 10 – February 24, 2018 | July 14 – July 28, 2018
3-Week Total Medical Spanish Immersion Programs:
Nicaragua – Costa Rica Combo Program: January 27 – February 17, 2018 | June 30 – July 21, 2018
Costa Rica Only Program: February 10 – March 3, 2018 | July 14 – Aug 4, 2018. The 2 week medical Spanish immersion program plus:
Travel: Fly out of Costa Rica (SJO)
4-Week Total Medical Spanish Immersion Programs & MD, PA, NP International Rotations
Nicaragua – Costa Rica Combo Program: January 27 – February 24, 2018 | June 30 – July 28, 2018. The activities and details of the 3 week Nicaragua – Costa Rica combo program plus:
Travel: Fly out of Costa Rica (SJO)
5-Week PharmD International Rotations:
Nicaragua – Costa Rica Combo Program: June 23 – July 28, 2018 or June 30 – August 4, 2018. Most PharmD rotation blocks begin one or two weeks into our normal medical Spanish immersion programs. Depending on the season, your rotation will begin either in week 2 or week 3 of the general medical program. Since your start date is staggered, you will complete your rotation two or three weeks after the 4-week medical program completes.
Travel: Fly out of Costa Rica (SJO)
6-Week Total Medical Spanish Immersion Programs:
Nicaragua – Costa Rica Combo Program: January 27 – March 10, 2018 | June 23 – August 4, 2018. The activities and details of weeks 3 & 4 of the general medical Spanish immersion program plus
Travel: Fly out of Costa Rica (SJO)
For me, this trip taught me lessons that they do not include in the medical school curriculum. I was able to gain an understanding of the culture of many of my future patients. No other experience in school has taught me this much about another culture, about healthcare abroad, and about myself. And Spanish has been a goal of mine for years, and after this trip I feel that I have finally made some significant progress. It’s true that immersion is the best way to learn. I am excited to be able to use Spanish with my patients in a few months to connect with them on an entirely different level than I could have before.
I loved being put outside of my comfort zone. I was nervous about living with a family I didn’t know and not being able to speak the same language as them but they were very accommodating and very nice. I loved that the instructors (Rory, Safiro, and Dr. Steve) continually encouraged me to speak in Spanish. If I could do the whole thing over, I would stay for the 4 week program instead of the 2!
Get the inside scoop from Rory, the program director, on the most common questions re: safety, fit for beginning learners, date flexibility, if spouses, s.o.’s and family can join.
Learning medical Spanish matters for a variety of reasons:
When you learn medical Spanish on immersion with Common Ground, you learn it by participating in a well-rounded total Spanish immersion context that includes medical outreach work (volunteer medical projects in underserved communities), medical Spanish classes, host family lodging and weekend adventures. You work hard and you have a lot of fun; but the bigger picture, the real reason that we invite you to participate in this medical Spanish immersion trip, is that you take medical Spanish back to your home community and you give better care to your patients for a lifetime!
Common Ground’s medical Spanish immersion programs are unique in several ways from other options available to healthcare professionals and students. Primary, the differences relate to pre-trip preparation, integration into the local communities and the type of medical outreach work we do, out-of-class learning experiences, and program supervision. For a more detailed explanation of how our programs are different, read our blog post here: (https://commongroundinternational.com/immersion-in-costa-rica/medical-spanish-immersion-trips/). If you’re not sure how to choose between the programs you’re considering, we’ll also be happy to give a free comparison/contrast with any other program you’re considering. It will be our pleasure to help you make a well-informed decision on which program will be best for you.
This live activity, Medical Spanish Immersion in Nicaragua & Costa Rica, from 07/03/2017 – 03/16/2018, has been reviewed and is acceptable for up to 22.50 Prescribed credit(s) by the American Academy of Family Physicians. Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.
Provider approved by the California Board of Registered Nursing, Provider #14584, for 20 Contact Hours per week of immersion.
We accept healthcare students and professionals from across the country on these medical Spanish Immersion programs. While everyone has unique careers and varying professional aspirations, the one thing that EVERYONE has in common is a sense that they need Spanish for their work with patients. Some of the students are participating in a formal International Rotation in Costa Rica through Common Ground, and others are just trying to bolster their Spanish before they hit the job market. There is usually a high number of RNs and Nurse Practitioners on our programs as well. Regardless of your profession, our goal is to match your expertise with a need in the communities where we work to benefit the local population. We have a small team of physicians and PAs that help supervise our programs in Costa Rica and ensure that our outreach work remains ethical, accurate, and applicable to the local populations that we serve.
Preparation is one of the key elements of our Mission Statement for responsible international medical work. You can and should be preparing as much as possible with your Spanish language before traveling. As mentioned elsewhere, beginners are accepted onto the programs without hesitation – however you will never regret a single minute of Spanish preparation before you travel. There is a truism when it comes to language immersion programs: the more you know before you travel, the more you learn while abroad. The reality is that the stronger your foundation is in Spanish before participating in a program, the more you have to build on when you are in-country. You will also be joining a series of live webinar meetings online to help you prepare for logistics and plan the medical outreach work that you’ll be participating in. We typically have 4 meetings in the 2-4 months preceding a program that systematically help you prepare for your travel.
Yes, of course. Our Medical Spanish Immersion Programs are designed to improve your Spanish while you help communities with specific needs and learn about concepts of health and factors that affect healthy living in Latin America. We strongly believe that improving your Spanish proficiency is key to providing enhanced service to your Spanish-only patients in your home community. As a beginner, you face frustrations and challenges that intermediate and advanced level speakers don’t face (it takes you longer to get comfortable with your host family, you strain harder to follow conversations and presentations that we receive, and you work harder to develop and facilitate your charlas) – but it’s totally worth it and every trip beginners thank us for allowing them to participate because they can’t believe how much progress they’ve made with their Spanish.
We work with a few different non-profit groups that focus on bringing health education & healthcare to the poor and under-served in several different communities around the Central Valley of Costa Rica and the Granada area of Nicaragua. We spend significant time in schools or other public meeting places in these communities to deliver our preventive health education and respond to the identified needs of the community. For more information on our guiding principles for health work abroad, please see our mission statement.
Of course this is variable, but in general we see individuals with high blood sugar, high blood pressure, malnutrition, oral health needs, STIs, anxiety, depression, and a handful of other common conditions. In general you can expect a large amount of preventative health education to women and children. We focus heavily on educating our patient populations so that they can make informed health decisions when we’re not present. You will receive much more detailed information about the specifics of the medical outreach work and the communities in which you’ll be working during pre-departure orientation.
During your pre-departure course, we may ask you to collect both physical and financial donations for your work on immersion. Your donations will relate directly to any charlas that you will be giving in select communities. For example, if you’re giving a talk on oral hygiene, we will suggest that your charla group try and secure toothbrush and travel toothpaste donations to accompany your charla. Other situations may lend themselves more to health education materials as donations. You will receive more details on the talks you will be delivering and have the opportunity to define your own donation items during your pre-departure preparation.
Medical liability insurance is not required for the work we do. We do not provide medical care as a general rule. If we have the opportunity provide primary care to patients, it will always underneath the supervision of a local healthcare worker and his/her organization. Because we want to always provide sustainable medical outreach services, we spend a lot of time educating patients about healthy lifestyle options in resource poor settings. This is great for you as a participant as well; you get to practice explaining the very same educational topics that you need to explain to your patients back home as well. For more information on our guiding principles for health work abroad, please see our mission statement.
Since our work is primarily educational, nothing is REQUIRED. However, you may have opportunities to use some basic equipment during a health education piece. Simple and portable items like: your stethoscope, otoscope, ophthalmoscope, bp cuffs for adults, children and infants, thermometers, glucometers, etc. We’ll be able to give you more specific information relating to the specific program you’re applying for after application.
Of course! We’re happy to have your family join you on your immersion program. This does require some additional planning – so we will want to know that you’re thinking about bringing a spouse and/or children sooner rather than later.
