SIT Study Abroad Madagascar: Traditional Medicine & Healthcare Systems (Summer)
Examine how history, geography, biodiversity, and demographics shape traditional and allopathic healthcare, and explore plant-based and traditional medicine.
WHY STUDY TRADITIONAL MEDICINE IN MADAGASCAR?
In Madagascar, one of the world’s globally recognized “megadiverse” countries, traditional medicine is practiced as an available, accessible, affordable, and effective method of healthcare. With flora and fauna not found anywhere else in the world, the nation’s unrivaled biodiversity plays a distinctive role in its traditional healthcare practices. From your base in the lushly exotic capital city of Antananarivo, you’ll explore traditional and allopathic healthcare, travel to rural areas to learn about ethnobotany, home and folk remedies, and healthcare access, and meet with leading academics, allopathic doctors, and Malagasy students. The Malagasy people are extremely heterogeneous due to their diverse roots in Asia, Africa, the Middle East, and Europe. Along the way, gain a deeper understanding of how religious and cultural beliefs affect communities’ approach to healthcare, and journey through world-renowned rainforests and mineral forests in search of rare plants and wildlife.
Please visit the SIT Study Abroad website for details on the program, coursework, educational excursions, and housing.
MONEY MATTERS
SIT is an all-inclusively priced study abroad program – including academics costs, excursions, accommodations and meals, airport transfers, and health insurance. Be sure to discuss how study abroad costs are handled at your school with your study abroad advisor and read the website for more specific information.
SCHOLARSHIPS
SIT has awarded an average of over $1.3 million in scholarships and grants to SIT Study Abroad students in the past three years. All scholarships and grants are need-based. Awards generally range from $500 to $5,000.
CONTACT SIT STUDY ABROAD
· Visit our website: studyabroad.sit.edu
· Request more information or email us: studyabroad@sit.edu
· Call an admissions counselor: 888-272-7881
· Contact a former student.
· Apply to SIT
Read more about our admissions process here.
Major Topics of Study
- Current healthcare models in Madagascar and debate the social and political dimensions of healthcare delivery
- Postcolonial history and contemporary Malagasy politics as applied to healthcare policy and delivery
- The strong links between global healthcare challenges and economic, social, environmental, and political factors
- Ethnobotany, home and folk remedies, and the extent to which health beliefs are grounded in cultural and religious practices of local communities
Please visit the SIT Study Abroad website for details on the program courses (including syllabi), educational excursions, and housing.
There is no "typical day"on an SIT program. Activities may take place on any day of the week and at any time of day to be in accordance with local norms and to take advantage of once-in-a-lifetime learning opportunities. Thus, the schedule and structure of the program are likely very different from what students are used to on their home campuses. The summer progresses in phases:
- Summer programs last for six or seven weeks. Much of that time is spent in the field, with visits to sites relevant to the program theme.
- Throughout the summer students participate in:
- thematic seminars and educational excursions
- language instruction focused on improving practical communication skills, and
- one to two homestays, typically.
- On some programs, students complete a practicum or research project.
- At the end of each program, students participate in debriefing and reentry sessions.
- SIT Study Abroad offers a field-based, experiential approach to learning.
- Each program has a small group of students (typically 10–35).
- On an SIT program, students gain high levels of access to many different stakeholders and experts relevant to the issues the program is examining.
- While some learning will be conducted at the SIT program center, extensive learning is done outside the classroom — in host communities, field stations, NGO headquarters, ecological sites, health clinics, and art studios.
Money Matters
Be sure to discuss how study abroad costs are handled at your school with your study abroad advisor.
SIT tuition and room and board fees include the following:
- All educational costs, including educational excursions
- All accommodations and meals for the full program duration
- Transportation to and from the airport, and on all educational excursions
- Health and accident insurance
- SIT awards nearly $1.3 million in scholarships and grants annually.
- All scholarships and grants are need-based.
- Awards generally range from $500 to $3,000.
- Contact the financial aid and/or study abroad office(s) at your college or university to learn if your school’s scholarships and grants and federal and state aid programs can be applied to an SIT Study Abroad program.
Contact SIT Study Abroad
