All fees are based on a 4 or 8 week program. For longer programs, additional fees are calculated on a weekly basis. While only 4 and 8 week options are available on the application page, CFHI also offers the option for you to participate in any program for 5, 6 or 7 weeks, or to apply to multiple programs at once- see how.

• Application Fee: $95
• Program Fee 2012 for 4 weeks: $2565
• Program Fee 2012 for 8 weeks: $4872 *This price represents a 10% off discount on the second month of the program.  
• 2013 dates open for applications. Program fees are subject to change.  

Payment Schedule: The application fee is charged upon application to the program. Within 2-3 weeks, applicants will be accepted or rejected for participation in the program. Upon acceptance, a transferable, but non-refundable deposit of $350 is due within 30 days. The final balance of the program fees is due 6 weeks prior to your program date.

* For equivalent costs in other currencies please click here for currency converter.
Please note that all bank check or money order payments must be made in U.S dollars only. Credit card payments are converted to U.S dollars automatically.

Discounts
Longer-Term Participation- All participants who go on CFHI programs for 8 weeks or more are eligible for 10% off program fees starting week 5 and beyond.

Group Discounts for groups of 4 or more may be available for CFHI programs. If you have a group of 4 or more people that are interested in applying contact students@cfhi.org for more details.

Fundraising
Scholarships may be available depending on budget allocation each year. Please visit the scholarships page for the latest information/availability for CFHI scholarships.

Once accepted, students may also do their own fundraising through Firstgiving.org.  Please click here to view a sample fundraising page. Please note that some important restrictions apply to funds raised through Firstgiving.  To review the terms of use, click here.


What’s included?

• Pre-departure and on-site orientation materials and guidance
  
• Two meals and a private room with a homestay family for the program’s duration (Saturday – Saturday). The local coordinators will charge you for additional nights outside the program dates.
  
• International Emergency Medical and Medical Evacuation Insurance
  
• Airport pick up on arrival
  
• Twenty hours of Spanish classes. Additional language training beyond 20 hours: $6/hour
  
• All preceptor, hospital and coordinator fees
  
• Weekly meetings with coordinator and Medical Director
  
• A limited number of extra activities such as salsa classes, cooking classes organized at the language school etc.
  

• Airfare to Quito, Ecuador
  
• Airport Drop-off
  
• Passport or visa fees
  
• Inter-city transportation between Quito and Puyo
  
• Local transportation to and from clinic sites
  
• Other expenses of a personal nature like weekend and after-hour activities. This includes but is not limited to local transportation, tourist trips in and around Quito or Puyo, and any personal expenses incurred.
  

• Photos
• Practical Information
• Recommended Vaccinations

• Wikipedia
• Official Quito Site
• Wikipedia Puyo
• Ecuador: A country study
• Recommended Books on Ecuador
  
  

• For information about Ecuador's health indicators provided by the World Health Organization, please click on the following link: WHO-Ecuador

This program is open to participants who are 20 or over at the time of participation.We accept students of all nationalities with interest in international health and relevant educational background. Participants may be any of the following:

• Medical Residents, MD & DO
• Medical Students, MD & DO 1-2
• Medical Students, MD & DO 3-4
• Pre-Medical Students
• Post-bacc pre-medical students
• Gap year pre-medical students
• Graduate nursing students
• Nursing Students
• MPH Students
• Physicians Assistants Students
• Naturopathic students
• Those with anthropological interest in traditional medicine and cultures
  

If you do not fit into one of these categories, please contact us to see if you would be eligible to apply.

Language Ability

Please Note: Please use CFHI's language recommendations below as a guideline to assess your own language skills. Most important overall is your general ability to communicate with those around you, versus accuracy with grammatical tenses.

This program is open to those who speak:

• Conversant Spanish- You can interact with a degree of comfort with locals. You can easily describe experiences and events in the present/past tense and have some knowledge of other tenses.
  
• Fluent Spanish- You can understand with ease virtually everything heard. In addition, you can use language flexibly and effectively for social and professional purposes. You can easily use a variety of grammar tenses.
  
  

The following sites are a sample of possible activities during this program. Restrictions may apply for pre-clinical and pre-med students. CFHI's rotations are designed to offer you clinical and observational experiences relevant to your level of medical education. CFHI programs can be predominately observational depending on your previous clinical training, your level of Spanish, local laws that prevent foreigners from directly providing healthcare services and whether the preceptors who will be supervising you trust your clinical skills. Rotation availability depends on local conditions.

QUITO

Hospital Carlos Andrade Marin del IESS
During the first week in Quito, participants will get a chance to rotate at Hospital Carlos Andrade Marin del IESS (Instituto Ecuatoriano de Seguridad Social). To visit their website, click here. This semi-public tertiary hospital includes all specialties  (Área Materno Infantil, Servicio de Estomatología, Servicio de Oncología y Radioterápia, Servicio de Neurología, Servicio de Nefrología, Servicio de Urología, Servicio de Gastroenterología, Servicio de Oftalmología, Servicio de Obstetricia, Servicio de Cardiología, Servicio de Rehabilitación, Cirugía General, Centro de Alto Riesgo Obstétrico, Comité de Infectología).

Track B: Indigenous Health

PUYO
Ethno-cultural orientation
Upon arrival in Puyo, participants will have an ethn-ocultural orientation in which they will learn more about the indigenous cultures of the area, including the groups, the languages and values common in the provinces of Pastaza and Morona Santiago.

Omaere Ethno-botany Park
This site is located in the center of Puyo. Indigenous guides will provide important cultural and medicinal information about the 7 different ethnic groups that inhabit the Pastaza province. They will inform participants about the different indigenous beliefs related to health. Participants may contribute to the development of projects being run at the park presently, such as the medicinal plant garden, building of eco-friendly latrines, native huts, etc. The main objectives of the park are to promote the conversation of the wet tropical forests and increase respect and acceptance of Indigenous Amazonian cultures.

Subcentro de Salud Arajuno
A rural government-run primary healthcare clinic located about two hours by bus from the city of Puyo. Most of the patient population is of Kichwam nationality (Indigenous group). All Public Health Ministry services are offered at this clinic. The clinic also offers a project on culturally appropriate labor and delivery services. Services offered include primary healthcare services, as well as house and community outreach visits. Participants are generally encouraged to participate and provide healthcare education presentations for patients at the clinic and communities they may visit with local preceptors. The clinic sees about 8 to 16 patients daily.

Indigenous Community visits
Students are invited to visit and experience a local indigneous community first-hand. Participants will learn about the health of the Shuar culture. Students will learn about the importance of plants for the Shuar: to flavor food, heal wounds, cure headaches, to fish, to sow and harvest fruits and vegetables, to hunt; in general, to survive in the jungle and continue their way of life. Participants will also have the opportunity to learn about Shuar culture and family life. For instance, that Shuar men may have as many as four wives and ten children with each wife.

Click here to view video footage taken by a CFHI student during a site visit to an indigenous community.

Shiwa Kocha
Shiwa Kocha is a small Kichwa community two hours hike from the town of Arajuno. Shiwa Kocha has 96 inhabitants and was founded by Indigenous groups before Ecuador came into existence. While in Shiwa Kocha, participants will learn about the philosophy behind the Kichwa's way of living and the benefits of maintaining their traditional ways. Students will learn about how the Kichwa people treat ailments with traditional medicines and plants, the use and the sacred meaning of the waterfall, and about the way in which the Kichwa have protected their way of life in the face of adversity and constant pressure from outside agencies. The elders teach what they feel is most important in life: to listen, to reflect and learn to respect others and most importantly to cultivate one's inner strength. They believe that when one learns these skills and can utilize them in one's personal life, we become more respectful to the natural environment.

Uwijint
Uwijint is a small (30 inhabitant) community, located a four hour hike away from the road between Puyo and Macas: the trail is very difficult to traverse. While in Uwijint, participants will learn about the health of the Shuar culture, and the notion of "penker pujustin" (the good life / the welfare of the Shuar people). Students will learn about the importance of plants for the Shuar: to flavor food, heal wounds, cure headaches, to fish, to sow and harvest fruits and vegetables, to hunt; in general, to survive in the jungle and continue their way of life.

Within the Uwijint rotation, participants will also have the opportunity to learn about Shuar culture and family life. Uwijint is an entirely self sustaining community, where community members live in harmony with nature so as not to alter the sensitive equilibrium of the jungle ecosystem.

All rotations are subject to change depending on local availability and general Ecuadorian holidays. Local coordinators will try and make alternate arrangements if a particular activity or facility is not available during the program month.

• CFHI Arrival and Departure Dates
• Clinical Rotations
• Academic Credit Assistance
• Language Training Component
• Guided Service-Learning
• Accommodations
• Communication
• Program Months

Clinical Rotations
CFHI's rotations are designed to offer you clinical and observational experiences relevant to your level of medical education. The program includes the following educational aspects:

• Pre-trip orientation materials & web conference opportunities
• Orientation upon arrival, including cultural adjustment exercises
• Weekly meetings with Medical Director and Local Coordinator
• Clinical rotations Monday-Friday, excepting holidays or work stoppages, working with a local physician who has opted to participate in CFHI as a teaching preceptor
• Information sessions that highlight the health care system in that country, common cases you will encounter and other site-specific information
• Post-trip debrief materials & other on-going alumni activities/services

Academic Credit Assistance
If you expect that you will need academic credit for your CFHI program, you will be responsible for getting your university's approval. CFHI can help you and provide you with the appropriate material (printing out this website information generally is not sufficient), however we are not an accredited institution and cannot award credit ourselves. Please click here to read more about ways in which CFHI can help you obtain academic credit from your university.

Language Training Component
We recommend you study as much Spanish as possible before you go, as it will greatly decrease personal frustration you may experience during the CFHI experience. All of the activities listed above will be conducted in Spanish, except for the orientations and alumni services. Please note that the majority of our local partners in Puyo do NOT speak English and will not be able to translate for you in the clinical sites.

Click here for a general overview of Spanish-language course learning objectives.

CFHI students will take Spanish language classes at the Amazing Andes Language School, located in the same area as most of the host families. Amazing Andes staff are responsible for arranging all host families and offering 20 hours of language classes within the first week of the program. Classes may be taught in small groups depending on the makeup of the student population.

If you would like to continue with additional language classes beyond the 20 hours that are included in the CFHI program, you are welcome to schedule these by the week so they do not interfere with your scheduled clinical rotations. If you set up extra hours of Spanish class, please note that they are not included in the program fee, so you will have to pay the local coordinator of the program directly for the extra hours of Spanish class.

The language school also provides coordination for other activities such as salsa dancing classes, cooking classes, and tours of the city and important landmarks. They are available to arrange weekend trips for the students if there are enough interested, and are always available to give suggestions and guidance for things to do and see.

Guided Service-Learning
Local preceptors will lead informal discussions concerning traditional medicine, indigenous organization, and ancestral philosophy. This program will provide students with a basic understanding of the Amazonian indigenous cultures, focusing on those most prevalent in Pastaza and Morona Santiago provinces. There will also be opportunities to support alternative community development programs emphasizing environmental protection, and the promotion the strengthening of cultural identity and respect for traditions. Participants will take part in required weekly meetings to discuss the objectives of the program and to process the experiences each week so that learning opportunities are maximized.

Accommodations

• Quito: Quito homestay families are chosen and screened by Amazing Andes language school. Most host families live in close proximity to the school, allowing for participants to walk to and from their language classes and meetings with ease. In some cases, students may stay with one other student in the homestay, but in all cases, students will have their own room.
• Puyo: During your time in Puyo, Viviana Lopez will be responsible for your homestay arrangements. Here you will also stay with local families. Often times, a small group will all stay together. Due to the size of Puyo, you will most likely be able to walk to any destination in town.
• Jungle Communities: When hiking into the jungle communities, participants will stay in the villages themselves. Participants will stay in a traditional Shuar house, which has slatted floors raised off of the ground and a thatch roof. All participants need to bring a backpack, sleeping bag, free standing mosquito net, and water bottle along with a filter when staying in the jungle.

If you decide to arrive early or stay with the homestay family in Quito after your program has ended, you will need to pay around $14.00 USD per night for the time spent outside of the CFHI program. These fees should be paid directly to the local coordinator of the program.

Communication
You will be assigned a mobile phone for the duration of your stay. All-important phone numbers will have been pre-programmed along with a limited amount of airtime for emergencies. To make calls over and above the airtime included, you can purchase pre-paid phone cards at various locations locally.

You will be required to sign a $100 release form in order to receive the cell phone. You will not be charged the $100 fee if the phone is returned in good working order to your program coordinator. To learn more about how to make phone calls to and from your program country, click here. (*CFHI does not endorse any services provided by these sites nor does it guarantee the accuracy of their information).

Please note that there may be no cell phone reception in jungle communities.

Program Months
All CFHI groups of participants fluctuate in size through out the year. The summer months tend to be the busiest time of year, so please plan ahead and apply early if you want to secure a space in a specific program during the summer months. During the rest of the year, the group size in a program can be small, especially during the fall months. However, we will NEVER cancel a program due to the size of the group, even if there is only one participant.

CFHI is a nonprofit organization committed to providing students a unique opportunity to experience another culture and healthcare system in a responsible way. Though we work closely with our global partners to provide you the best possible trip, the nature of international travel means that we cannot anticipate all challenges that may occur. It is important that participants realize they must remain flexible in the face of situations that may be difficult to understand. Participating in a CFHI program means that you are an informal ambassador to the community you visit and your professional behavior is of the utmost importance.

Child Family Health International (CFHI) offers service-learning programs around the world. CFHI would like to stress to prospective applicants and institutional partners, that service-learning is not an episodic volunteer experience, and our student programs are not designed to provide service to those who would otherwise not have healthcare. The main objectives are to broaden your public health knowledge, experience a different culture, and develop creativity in problem-solving. CFHI has assembled a global family of outstanding local healthcare professionals who are at the forefront of healthcare delivery in their countries. You will have the rare opportunity to shadow these unique women and men observing and learning to work in a clinical and public health environment with limited diagnostic and therapeutic resources.

1. What problem do we address?

2. How do we address the problem?

3. How does the community benefit?

4. How do participants help in the clinic?

5. What kind of educational experience is the CFHI global health elective?

6. What are the objectives of the program?

7. Where do CFHI students come from (past participants' universities/colleges)?

8. What role can domestic Institutional Partners (universities, collaboratives, et. al.) play?

9. What is Service-Learning?

1. What problem do we address?

In today’s world we often see the uneven distribution of healthcare that leaves many impoverished communities underserved. Economic, political, and social factors all contribute to people’s access to healthcare, both internationally and at home. Increasingly, we need culturally and linguistically competent healthcare providers around the world to address these inequities.

2. How do we address the problem?

Child Family Health International’s (CFHI) Global Health Service-Learning Programs combine instruction, experience, service, and reflection to create a model that supports physicians and clinical sites abroad, addresses the healthcare needs of the underserved, and adds an unforgettable experiential element to each program participant’s education.

CFHI programs bring service-learning to hospitals and clinics around the world, allowing participants to gain insight on the contextual constructs of illness and healing in foreign settings. Program Alumni return from the host country with new perspectives on healthcare systems and delivery in places where resources and supplies are extremely limited. To read further on the potential benefits of international experiences for health students, we recommend the paper “The Effect of a Global Multiculturalism Track on Cultural Competence of Preclinical Medical Students” by Godkin and Savageau (2001).

Since 1992, CFHI has arranged for nearly 4,000 pre-medical, medical and other students of the health professions, from over 400 top universities in the and the world, to work and study in Bolivia, Ecuador, India, Mexico, and South Africa

3. How does the community benefit?

While a student’s ability to practice medicine may be limited by clinical knowledge or language skills, the participant’s contribution to the community is not an illusion. For example, we provide each participant with a box of donated medical supplies to carry with them for distribution among partner facilities. In addition, our partner physicians at each program site are compensated for their willingness to mentor CFHI students. This supplementary income promotes job retention in countries where physicians are paid small salaries, often by financially strapped governments. Furthermore, the exchange of information between students and their preceptors provides an invaluable experience for participants, the patients, and the physicians.

4. How do participants help in the clinic?

Each of our program sites has many locally qualified and experienced healthcare providers, so the participant’s primary motivation for participation should not focus on a concept of humanitarian aid, in which one expects to provide medical care to people that would otherwise not receive it. The participant’s main objective should be to actively observe, according to current language abilities, level of training, and local laws, in order to develop a high level of community health awareness. While abroad, this happens in the social and cultural context of the program site.  Child Family Health International (CFHI) would like to stress to prospective applicants and institutional partners, that service-learning is not an episodic volunteer experience, and our student programs are not designed to provide service to those who would otherwise not have healthcare.

5. What kind of educational experience is the CFHI global health elective?

CFHI's rotations are designed to offer you hands-on  or observational clinical experience (depending on your clinical and language skills as well as local laws), much like what you would experience during a rotation in the . The program includes the following educational aspects:

• Pre-trip orientation materials & web conference opportunities
• Orientation upon arrival, including cultural adjustment exercises
• Weekly meetings with Medical Director and Local Coordinator
• Clinical rotations Monday-Friday, excepting holidays or work stoppages, working with a local physician who has opted to participate in CFHI as a teaching preceptor.
• Information sessions that highlight the health care system in that country, common cases you will encounter and other site-specific information.
• Post-trip debrief materials & other on-going alumni activities/services

If you are attending a program in a Spanish-speaking country, we recommend you study as much Spanish as possible before you go, as it will greatly decrease your personal frustration during the CFHI experience. Most activities listed above will be conducted in Spanish, except for the orientations and alumni services.

MD Consult and FIRST Consult bring the leading medical resources together into one integrated online service to help physicians efficiently find answers to clinical questions, make better treatment decisions, and stay abreast of recent developments. MD Consult has been adopted by over 90% of North American medical schools and by over 1,700 health care organizations in 46 countries worldwide. FIRST Consult offers an evidence-based resource for the Point of Care, peer-reviewed content and a differential diagnosis tool.

(Please view the FAQs on the right had panel for more information)

6. What are the objectives of the CFHI Service-Learning program?

CFHI’s International Health Service-Learning Programs help participants:

• Develop a larger sense of cultural competency
• Observe and develop existing clinical skills
• Broaden public health knowledge
• Develop creativity in problem-solving
• Deepen their commitment to service
• Promote medical supply conservation

Prospective participants may apply online. Our participants are 21 years of age and over, come from around the globe, and are dedicated to a diverse array of professions in health.

7. Where do your students come from (past participants' colleges/universities)?

CFHI has provided global health education programs to nearly 4,000 health science students since 1992.  Our participants come from over 35 countries and 400+ of the most prestigious universities in the world, and represent a huge variety of the medical profession’s student population.

8. What role do domestic institutional partners (i.e. universities, collaboratives) play?

In addition to providing quality programs for individual students, CFHI is dedicated to building relationships with institutions of higher learning for relevant international programs. Creating and sustaining international programs is a long-term and labor-intensive process. Our international partnerships with physicians and clinic sites are established and reliable, and CFHI can offer the expertise needed to administer an international program to match institutional needs. Some of our current partnerships include:

• Princeton University—Health Professions Advising Office and the Pace Center for Service-Learning: CFHI developed a domestic and international health service-learning program that combined 5 weeks of international work in Quito, Ecuador with 40 hours of service in Spanish-speaking health centers in urban New Jersey.

• Oregon University System—IE3 Global Internship program: CFHI designed 11-week clinical internships in and that focus on cultural competency and valuable clinical experience within the structure of an internship. The internship promotes planning and goal-setting for students in the clinic setting.

• College Corps—CFHI currently working with College Corps, a project started several years ago by Harvard University undergraduate students, to offer 8-week programs in Bolivia, Ecuador, India, Mexico or South Africa, for pre-med students.

• University of California Davis—has teamed up with CFHI to offer a quarter-long study abroad program in Oaxaca, that highlights Latino/a Health Internship Program for undergraduate students. This course is certified by the university as a 20-unit course entitled "Bi-National Health".

If you are an administrator and would like to discuss partnership possibilities we would be excited to hear from you! Please contact Program Staff at CFHI at students@cfhi.org or by phone at (415) 957-9000 x304 and ask for Rea (pronounced Ray).

9. What is service-learning?

Child Family Health International (CFHI) would like to stress to prospective applicants and institutional partners, that service-learning is not an episodic volunteer experience, and our student programs are not designed to provide service to those who would otherwise not have healthcare.

The following is an excerpt from the Campus Community Partnerships in Health (CCPH) website (http://depts.washington.edu/ccph/):

Service-learning is a structured learning experience that combines community service with preparation and reflection. Students engaged in service-learning provide community service in response to community-identified concerns and learn about the context in which service is provided, the connection between their service and their academic coursework, and their roles as citizens.

Service-learning differs from traditional clinical education in the health professions in that:

• Service-learning strives to achieve a balance between service and learning objectives - in service-learning, partners must negotiate the differences in their needs and expectations.

• Service-learning places an emphasis on addressing community concerns and broad determinants of health .

• In service-learning, there is the integral involvement of community partners - service-learning involves a principle-centered partnership between communities and health professions schools.

• Service-learning emphasizes reciprocal learning - In service-learning, traditional definitions of "faculty," "teacher" and "learner" are intentionally blurred. We all learn from each other.

• Service-learning emphasizes reflective practice - In service-learning, reflection facilitates the connection between practice and theory and fosters critical thinking.

• Service-learning places an emphasis on developing citizenship skills and achieving social change- many factors influence health and quality of life. The provision of health services is not often the most important factor. In service-learning, students place their roles as health professionals and citizens in a larger societal context.
  
  

Citation: Seifer SD. (1998). Service-learning: Community-campus partnerships for health professions education. Academic Medicine, 73(3):273-277.