Course Offerings
BETH 315/415: Health and Health Care in Comparative Perspective: Costa Rica and the United States - Course and Community Service in Costa Rica: January 2-14, 2012 Approved for Global and Cultural Diversity Credit
International Bioethics Education Program
Instructor: Nicole Deming, J.D., M.A.
This 3-credit course gives students the unique opportunity to observe patients and practitioners encounter in a radically different health care system. Costa Rica has one of the most comprehensive and successful health care systems in the Western hemisphere, featuring the innovative use of mid-level health care workers organized in basic comprehensive health care teams. This has resulted in a longer life expectancy than the United States, despite a per capita GDP of only $10,000 per person.
Students will gain firsthand experience of Costa Rican health care through field experiences at a national hospital in the capital city, San Jose; a peripheral treatment clinic in a smaller town; and observation of the work of an integrated basic health care team in a native reserve. Following each visit, students will discuss the practical and ethical dilemmas that practitioners face in the context of the Costa Rican health care system. Specific topics include: health inequalities within and between nations; the ethics of transplantation, medical research, and end-of-life care; and health care in rural environments and with indigenous populations.
This course is open to undergraduate, graduate, and post-graduate students from any discipline. Prior to the trip, students attend six hours of lectures at Case Western Reserve University. Following the trip, students meet with instructors for an additional two hours, and will be expected to complete an original research essay.
The course will be integrated with community service experiences.
Pre-Trip Classes:
Thursday, December 1, 2011, 4:00-5:30 PM, School of Medicine, Room T-501
Friday, December 9, 2011, 4:00-5:30 PM, School of Medicine, Room T-501
Post-Trip Class:
Friday, February 3, 2012, 4:00-5:30 PM, School of Medicine, Room T-501
Flight Information:
CO1414 02JAN CLE to EWR 625A 802A
CO1553 02JAN EWR to SJO 925A 153P
CO1081 14JAN SJO to EWR 1245P 649P
CO 86 14JAN EWR to CLE 815P 950P
Photo Courtesy of CostaRicaPhotos.com
More Course Offerings
- Winter Break 2013
- March 2013 courses
- French Perspectives on Controversies at the Beginning and End of Life-Paris, France
- Public Health Ethics: Focus on the Netherlands
- Ethical Issues in Public Health and Genetics (Buenos Aires, Argentina)
- International Women's Health Issues: Focus on Netherlands
- European Perspectives on Bioethics--Salamanca, Spain
- Bioethics Themes as Expressed in Spanish and American Culture: Film, Television, and Literaure--San Sebastian, Spain
- Summer 2013