In June and July 2024, six Bachelor of Science in Nursing students and one Doctor of Philosophy student, visited Costa Rica to undertake a two-week Global Field Experience through UMSON’s Office of Global Health.
Accompanied by Martine Kirwin, DNP, FNP-BC, RN, assistant professor, the students traveled from the capital San José to areas in the far southern and southwestern reaches of the country, close to the border with Panama. The group explored comparative global health and global learning. This included examining Costa Rica’s national health system and universal health insurance program; understanding migrant and indigenous rights and health issues; unraveling environmental health, including the impacts of monocropping, crop exportation, and deforestation; and discussing planetary health. The field experience also focused on health equity, inner work, bias, and social justice. Of note was time spent at Asomobi, the Association of Organized Women of Biolley, a women’s entrepreneurial organization that started coffee farming and roasting to transform their community.
