SPA 204 traveled to Colombia from March 9-16, 2024 for the first time as part of the Medical Caravan!
The group was led by SPO lecturer Paloma Moscardó Vallés who explained that the idea was for our students to know how medicine is taught in other countries and to learn more about their health systems. The majority of SPA 204 students seek to become doctors, which makes it essential to strengthen both language skills and other skills such as empathy, in this case with Spanish-speaking Americans who represent a large and growing group in this country. This class aims to enhance all of this with the help of the Colombian partners.
To this end, Princeton students were paired with medicine students at the University of Caldas with the objective of strengthening sociolinguistic, cultural and academic interactions. Prior to the trip, the students had only worked together virtually. SPA 204 students were also able to learn more about academic aspects of the Department of Health Sciences at the university, all while interacting with their peers in both languages. They attended several classes with the peers and a couple of talks about the management of the pandemic and the structure of medicine studies in Caldas.
There was also a field visit to Villamaría, a village close to Manizales, where the University has several collaborative projects with the community (a garden and a kitchen) to provide meals for the 460 children of an illegal settlement, health, job trainings etc.
In addition, students enjoyed exposure to various cultural aspects of Colombian life such as a tour of a coffee farm, a visit to the Recinto del Pensamiento, where they learned about the importance of physical activity in nature surrounded by hummingbirds and butterflies, the Historic Center of Manizales and even a folklore class (both theorical and practical).
A shoutout for our colleagues and Colombian partners who were the best hosts one can imagine. It was a very intense but beautiful experience!
Check out the video created by our partners in Colombia highlighting the visit - Spanish only or Spanish with English subtitles