Awesome Learning About South African Healthcare Past Review

By Alexander B (Political Science, Economics, Middlebury College) - abroad from 08/23/2014 to 12/05/2014 with

SIT Study Abroad: South Africa - Community Health and Social Policy

What did you gain/learn from your experience abroad? Was it worthwhile?

I learned a lot about South African healthcare and the challenges they face. This knowledge can be applied to my learnings about other healthcare systems. It was definitely a worthwhile experience. I also got to go to amazing and beautiful places and make new friends. It was a good break from regular college life.

Personal Information

How much international exposure did you have prior to this program?	2 weeks - 1 month

Review Your Program

* Overall educational experience Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc.	Not the same as education in the US. Specifically, the quality of the lecturers was lower. Some of the assignments are frustrating and the organization of the academics takes some time to get used to, but I still learned a ton.
* Host Country Program Administration On-site administration of your program	There were a few mistakes that made some of the excursions more difficult.
* Housing: How satisfied were you with your living arrangements?	Living was great. I had no issues.
* Food:	Lack of vegetables in home stays. That was my only issue.
* Social & Cultural Integration: How integrated did you feel with the local culture?	We were in the SIT office for most of the day for a significant portion of the program. How much integration there is into the culture during ISP time and other times is up to the student.
* Health Care: How well were health issues addressed during the program?	Other people in the group had bad experiences with healthcare. I had no health issues during my time abroad.
* Safety:	We got good safety advice. There were basically no issues the whole time.
If you could do it all over again would you choose the same program?	Yes

Finances

* Money: How easily were you able to live on a student's budget? (1 = not very easy/$200+ on food & personal expenses/week, 2.5 = $100/week, 5 = very easily/minimal cost)	I had an easy time. Others did not. If you want to eat the best food available or buy a lot of stuff other than food (especially alcohol), you will go over the budget given by the program.
Not including program expenses, about how much money did you spend on food and other expenses each week?	$20
Do you have any general money-saving tips for future study abroad participants?	How much extra money you spend is totally up to you. There are lots of options available. Get food at stores rather than restaurants if you want to save money.

Language

* Did your program have a foreign language component?	Yes
How much did the program encourage you to use the language? 0 = No encouragement, 5 = frequent encouragement to use the language	I was encouraged many times by the program to use the native language, but I didn't use it very much because everyone spoke English
How would you rate your language skills at the beginning of the program?	None
How would you rate your language skills at the end of the program?	Beginner
What was the highest level language course you had completed prior to departure?	None
How many hours per day did you use the language?
Do you have any tips/advice on the best ways to practice the language for future study abroad participants?	Study with friends.

Other Program Information

* Where did you live? Select all that apply	Host Family Apartment Hostel
* Who did you live with? Select all that apply	Americans Host Family Other
* Who did you take classes with? Select all that apply	Americans
About how many local friends did you make that you will likely keep in touch with?

A Look Back

* What did you like most about the program?	Excursions Learning about South African healthcare
* What could be improved?	Quality of academic lectures Work load is too much to enjoy the experience at times
* What do you know now that you wish you knew before going on this program?	Nothing. I expected the academic quality to be lower than it is at my home institution. Other people did not expect that and were disappointed with the program.

Reasons For Studying Abroad

To help future students find programs attended by like-minded individuals, please choose the profile that most closely represents you.	The Avid Adventurer The wardrobe you packed was better suited for a semester of camping than club hopping. Outdoorsy, you might forgo a crazy night out for an early all-day adventure. You'd rather take in the rich culture of an old town than the metropolis of a modern city, but for you getting off the grid is ideal.

Individual Course Reviews

Course Name/Rating:	Approaches to Community Health in South Africa
Course Department:	NA
Instructor:	Zed McGladdery
Instruction Language:	English
Comments:	The quality of this class was not as high as it would be in the US. This was especially the case for guest lecturers. However, the material and assignments of the class were very interesting and valuable.
Credit Transfer Issues:	No issue

Course Name/Rating:	The Practice and Provision of Community Health in South Africa
Course Department:	N/A
Instructor:	Zed McGladdery
Instruction Language:	English
Comments:	Academic quality, especially that of the guest lecturers, was lower that it is in the US. Subject matter and assignments were valuable and interesting.
Credit Transfer Issues:	No issues

Course Name/Rating:	Social and Community Health Research Methods
Course Department:
Instructor:	Zed McGladdery
Instruction Language:	English
Comments:	Visiting lecturers were not as high quality as lecturers are in the US. Subject matter was valuable. The issue with this class was that the professors presented a lot of technical information that was hard to follow and hard to learn within the time given. However, we had no tests on the material so that didn't negatively impact grades.
Credit Transfer Issues:	No issues

Course Name/Rating:	Intensive Language Study: isiZulu
Course Department:	N/A
Instructor:	Beverly
Instruction Language:	English
Comments:	Bev was very bad at teaching. She didn't understand what was hard for the students and didn't listen well to the students' concerns. I didn't use Zulu outside of class almost at all because most people I interacted with spoke English. Overall, this class was frustrating even though I learned a reasonable quantity of Zulu.
Credit Transfer Issues:	N/A