Global Education

In the School of Nursing and Health Sciences, we want our students to develop a deep understanding of global health issues, enabling them to address complex challenges such as health disparities. Whether they plan to be a future nurse, hospital administrator, or policy maker, global education equips students with the knowledge, skills, and mindset necessary to thrive in an interconnected and diverse world. Global education also broadens their perspectives, fosters adaptability, and promotes collaboration with health care professionals worldwide. It instills a sense of social responsibility, nurtures empathy, and prepares students to be leaders in advocating for health equity and social justice.

Spanish Minor for Health Professions

In collaboration with the Department of World Languages and Cultures, the School of Nursing and Health Sciences has developed a Spanish Minor for Health Professions. The minor is offered to students within the SNHS and students in complementary disciplines like biology or social work. The coursework provides a combination of language and culture studied through didactic classes along with immersive “real world” opportunities in community-based medical settings where there will be significant interaction with patients and health care professionals. This blended experience will have a transformational impact on students, and the patients, families, and communities they will serve.

Sample courses include:

SPN 110 – Elementary Spanish Health Professions  
SPN 111 – Intermediate Spanish Health Professional
SPN 214 – Intercultural Communication Spanish Speaking Worlds

Study Away Programs

For years, students majoring in health policy and management have benefited from a robust offering of global education programs. With the addition of the nursing and health sciences majors, the school has partnered with the Center for Global Education to enhance our catalog of offerings. The programs under development provide opportunities for students to experience cultural immersion and language learning through a nursing and health sciences lens. They are also shorter than the traditional semester-long programs to accommodate curricular scheduling challenges, particularly for nursing students.

Global Health Summer in London
In May 2023, the first cohort of SNHS students participated in this immersive, six-week summer educational experience. The program – which is administered through CAPA – provides students with a unique opportunity to gain a new perspective on nursing and to compare the health care systems of the US and the UK. In addition, the program explores questions of universal health care, including issues of inequality in accessing it.

In addition to the CAPA program, study away programs are being developed in Baja California, the 12th-largest state by area in Mexico, in Ghana, and in Puerto Rico.

Study at the Pontifical Catholic University of Puerto Rico

The School of Nursing and Health Sciences has partnered with the Department of World Languages and Cultures to offer a three-week cultural immersion experience in Puerto Rico during the College’s May-mester. This program is interdisciplinary in nature and aims to foster cultural immersion for Spanish language learners and heritage speakers as well as enhancing their cultural and structural competencies of nursing and health sciences.

Housed on the campus of the Pontifical Catholic University of Puerto Rico, the program incorporates visits to health centers in rural and urban areas in which students will conduct clinical observations by shadowing medical personnel. The mission of the University celebrates and promotes the life and dignity of the human person according to the values of the Gospel and is also the home to the oldest nursing school in Puerto Rico.

This 6-credit course will also include opportunities to learn about the rich history, culture and artistic traditions of Puerto Rico as they reflect on the history of the Dominican order in Latin America.