Study Abroad Opportunities

In the regional hospital of Concepción, the pharmacists along with technicians and pharmacy students during their final rotation year work to supply nearly 1,000 patient beds with medications, with delivery runs three times daily. Apart from a central pharmacy, an intravenous, operating room, and pediatric service specialty pharmacy are also integral services.

The central pharmacy in the Hospital Las Higueras functions through the work of three pharmacists performing the prescription verification to serve the entire patient population of the hospital. Although the pharmacists admit to resource and infrastructure struggles, they hope to expand the clinical resources on the internal medicine, pediatric, and geriatric specialty service floors.

The central pharmacy in Hospital Liruqén was one of the most inspirational pharmacy visits in which we participated. The hospital pharmacy staff is composed of recent graduates from the University of Concepción's Facultad de Farmacia who have developed extensive pharmaceutical care services throughout the newly opened hospital near the town of Tomé.

Although there is a lack of official pharmacy services performed and offered by matriculated pharmacists at certain public health clinics, such as the SECOSF, the aspect of these centers that is to be admired is the extent to which health care services are offered and established in rural areas. Although only a botiquin of medicines is available, patients can be immunized as well as be treated for primary and certain secondary care services, such as gynecological and dental care.

To learn more and apply, visit the program's page on UC's Study Abroad website.

This is a 3-week faculty-led study abroad that focuses on comparing the practice of pharmacy in the US healthcare system with pharmacy practice in Australia. Australia primarily operates under a universal healthcare system, though it also has a smaller private-payer system. This allows for a unique opportunity to directly compare different health systems at the same time and easily highlight the obvious and more subtle differences. Students will have the opportunity to complete experiences in community and hospital pharmacy settings, visit pharmacy organizations, in addition to participating in classes and interacting with student pharmacists at the University of Sydney College of Pharmacy.

The majority of time is spent in Sydney.  While in Sydney, activities are planned to visit the Blue Mountains, Sydney Opera House, and other local attractions. After spending about 2 weeks in Sydney the group goes to Cairns and Port Douglas to snorkel at the Great Barrier Reef.

To learn more and apply, visit the program's page on UC's Study Abroad website.

The Tanzania Outreach Brigade is completed in conjunction with the Village Life Outreach Project (VLOP). The organization’s mission is to unite communities to promote life, health, and education. These objectives are accomplished by serving three villages in the Rorya District of Tanzania – Roche (Row-shay), Nyambogo (Nigh-am-bo-go) and Buerere (Burr-reh-ray). A typical brigade consists of 4 teams – Life, Health, Education, and Building – that reflect the thrusts of our mission statement. Each team has designated tasks to complete, and while some brigade members are assigned to a specific team, many will often get to work with multiple teams to maximize overall productivity. Successful brigades require a significant time commitment from volunteers, including pre-brigade planning and post-brigade evaluations. The entire brigade is completed over 4 weeks. Approximately 2weeks is spent in the US preparing for the trip and 10-12 days are spent on the brigade to Tanzania.

The patient care experiences include field clinics and patient home visits in the beautiful country of Guatemala. These experiences are conducted in the Western highlands and the Boca Costa region of Guatemala, in association with Maya Health Alliance | Wuqu’ Kawoq (mayahealth.org).

Wuqu Kawoq is a non‐governmental organization committed to helping the poor, marginalized, and indigenous peoples in rural communities overcome barriers to health. One of the biggest barriers is language as more than half of all Guatemalans speak the Mayan language. Often, the health care providers in the health centers, clinics, and hospitals do not speak the same language as their patients. All of the Wuqu’ Kawoq field staff speak Spanish and a Mayan language to work closely with every patient.

In partnership with the UC Department of Family and Community Medicine, the James L. Winkle College of Pharmacy supports Wuqu Kawoq’s central beliefs that you should not have to choose between your culture and your health, that you should be able to talk to your doctor in your own language and everyone should have the highest quality health care.

Learners also provide training sessions for nurses, health promoters, and other staff.

Aviano Air Force Base is a 10-bed NATO military hospital serving more than 9,000 active duty, dependents, retirees, and NATO partners. Clinics/Wards include Multi-Service Unit, Labor and Delivery, Women’s Health, Family Practice, Internal Medicine, Pediatrics, and General Surgery. The pharmacy offers inpatient, outpatient, and clinical pharmacy services. The rotation involves inpatient and outpatient care with a focus on small hospital management. The pharmacy runs a PharmD Clinic with services that include cough/cold management, seasonal allergy management, tobacco cessation, medication therapy management, and hyperlipidemia management. The PharmD Clinic providers have full provider privileging and prescriptive authority.

To learn more and apply, visit the program's page on UC's Study Abroad website.

The Scotland experience is coordinated in conjunction with Robert Gordon University in Aberdeen.  The experience is in partnership with students from other colleges of pharmacy in the US. Students will get to experience different areas of practice with the United Kingdom as well as attend some classes at the University.

To learn more and apply, visit the program's page on UC's Study Abroad website.