WU Healthcare in France
May 16 – June 22, 2024 (5 weeks)
The WU Healthcare in France program offers students a transformative opportunity to directly engage with the French healthcare system, enhance their French language skills, and deepen their cultural understanding in a fully immersive environment. Set against the picturesque backdrop of Nice and France’s Mediterranean coast, this five-week program combines real-life experience in French hospitals with a profound exploration of health and human well-being in coursework.
Students spend weekday mornings at the CHU Hôpital – Pasteur, where they have the unique opportunity to shadow doctors in a field related to their interests. This internship (“stage d’observation”) allows students to observe medical professionals in action, gaining insights into patient care, treatment procedures, and the overall functioning of the French healthcare system. Washington University and the Department of Romance Languages & Literatures have partnered with the CHU Hôpital – Pasteur for more than three decades, ensuring that students are placed in an internship aligned with their studies.
In the afternoons, students engage in a site-specific culture course. Designed to complement the first-hand perspective gained from the medical internship, this course explores the historical and cultural aspects of health in Nice and the South of France. Through the lens of health, students delve into the rich cultural heritage of the region, discovering the interplay between various art forms—including visual, literary, culinary, horticultural, athletic, and therapeutic arts—and French culture in an authentic context. With health-oriented guest lectures and academic excursions to gardens, markets, museums, and villas, students gain a holistic understanding of wellness in a captivating setting.
According to the World Health Organization’s first ever assessment of the world’s health systems, the French system ranked number one in best overall healthcare among the 191 member countries surveyed, and the Faculté de Médecine in Nice stands among the highest-ranked medical schools in France.
