Want to learn more about the world of medicine? Learn the basic concepts of health care and public health by practicing it first-hand in the heart of Central America.
Beyond the clinic's doors, take in the full range of Costa Rica's outdoor adventures. Go whitewater rafting, zip line through the rainforest canopy, and hike some of the most breathtaking trails on the planet. In just 12 days, get a world of experience that no classroom can offer.
| Dates | Grades | Length | Tuition | Availability |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| June 27 - July 8 | HS | 12 days | $4,480 | Open |
| July 11 - July 22 | HS | 12 days | $4,480 | Open |
| July 25 - August 5 | MS | 12 days | $4,480 | Open |
Broadreach combines your thirst for fun and adventure with tangible skill development, real-world educational opportunities and a genuine commitment to service. While on program, you’ll earn internationally recognized certifications and documented community service hours. It’s what we call “Earn & Learn,” and it’s what you’ll take home as evidence of your many accomplishments.
Costa Rica Intro to Medicine 12-Day Adventure offers 25 hours of documented community service and may pursue 2 certifications.
This 12-day service intensive program immerses students in the world of medicine as they volunteer at a nonprofit clinic. To experience both the clinical and health education aspects of community medicine in Costa Rica, students will teach nutrition and hygiene at a soup kitchen, observe clinical interactions with professional medical staff, chart patients’ vital signs, establish medical record systems, work in a pharmacy and assist psychologists. Students also take a whole foods processing workshop and earn certifications in CPR and First Aid.
During this Costa Rica adventure students partake in intense learning in hopes of receiving two well deserved certifications:
Through service, gain a more meaningful connection to the cultures and communities you explore while taking an active role to address important global issues at the local level. While in Costa Rica, work with clinics in the local community on health education campaigns and specific projects that are dictated by the needs of the community at the time. The projects give you the opportunity to use the methods you learn in class to make real life contributions to the health of the local community. Possible community service projects include:
The adventure begins in Alajuela, a charming suburb of San Jose where we get acquainted with the country from two unexpected vantage points: the river and the sky. Go whitewater rafting, and then take a zip line tour above the canopy. Flying fast and high above the trees, you’ll learn about the rain forest’s ecology and botany in one of the world’s most environmentally progressive countries.
Get hands-on experience as you volunteer at a nonprofit clinic and help serve the medical needs of Alajuelita. Assist with patient intake, establish record systems and chart patients’ vital signs. Develop health education initiatives on topics ranging from nutrition to hygiene and teach mothers, teens and children at a local soup kitchen. Observe clinical interactions with professional medical staff, work in a pharmacy and possibly aid psychologists with art therapy.
Travel to Mastatal, where the mountains and the forest reach to the Pacific white sand beaches, and hike some of the most beautiful trails in the world. Learn about whole foods processing, practical medical techniques and gain an introduction to wilderness first aid while earning your First Aid and CPR certifications. Bask in the gorgeous rainforest mist as you hike to a waterfall and soak in the sounds of the chattering monkeys and birds. Return to Alajuela for a final dinner with your group to absorb everything you’ve seen and done over the past week and a half. Then get ready to fly home—full of new knowledge, skills and a practical awareness of what it’s actually like to work in medicine.
The clinic was such an interesting and new way to see the medical world. It gives you opportunities to experience medicine first-hand as a high school student. This trip made me excited to do more traveling in the future!
I was expecting to just learn about medicine, which we definitely did, but we also explored cultural differences and even a little history. Costa Rica was one of the best experiences of my life and I’ll never forget the people I met, the places I visited or the things I did.
Shane had the most amazing time at this program in Costa Rica. He has bonded for life with 11 other kids from around the nation, and has matured in a way that I could not have imagined. It was such a wonderful experience for him in every way, specially because he was terrified before he made the trip. This was the first time he’s flown by himself, or been in a different country by himself. So thank you all for making him feel safe, happy and just a little bit out of his comfort zone, so that he can see that new adventures may be a little scary at first, but the eventual experience is priceless. Thank you again and look forward to more Broadreach programs for both my boys.
My favorite place was the clinic and shadowing the doctors. I learned and talked to the community and I was able to get a better understanding of what I want to do in the future.
The trip was a once in a lifetime experience and we really bonded over our community service in the clinic and our interest in the medical field. It was something that I will never forget.
I’ve never been among so many different people and cultures. The new adventures, experiences, medicine and people I interacted with I will carry with me for the rest of my life.
The trip was a really great experience for me. There were lots of fun new things to do/try here and the culture is amazing. Costa Rica is a gorgeous place and 10/10 will come back. My favorite part was clinic work and exploring the new culture.
Tuition is all inclusive for instruction, food, accommodations, and activities from the time you arrive in country. However, you are responsible for your airfare, spending money (we suggest about $150-200 depending on the program), any required textbooks, and student expenses such as medical fees. Some trips require scuba gear which can be rented, purchased or in some cases borrowed from Broadreach. Finally, for our high school trips that offer college credit, you can elect to receive an official Lesley University credit transcript for approximately $180 per credit hour. For more information about expenses that might apply to your program, click here.
Airfare is not included in the program tuition cost, mostly because students join our programs from all over the U.S. and other countries around the world. Some programs also have internal flights which are not included in the program tuition, and we’ll provide details on exactly how to book those once you are enrolled.
For most programs, we have a few recommended flights and an arrival time range, and we usually give you the option to book flights on your own or through our travel agency partner. A few programs have required group flights, which we set up in advance. Students travel independently, but often meet up along the way, and we collect student itinerary details. Broadreach instructors will be waiting in the arrivals hall of the destination airport to greet each student, and they’ll be wearing special shirts and holding a Broadreach sign. We also mail students Broadreach shirts to wear while traveling which makes it easy for them to identify each other. Typically, making travel arrangements and the actual travel days go very smoothly.
Most participants come alone, so there is no need to be concerned if you don’t know anyone else on your program. It’s normal to be a little nervous about not knowing other students in advance, but within a day of starting your program you’ll be laughing and sharing exciting adventures with new friends.
Safety is our top priority, and it is something we evaluate from every angle throughout the year. We’re very proud of our safety record over the past 26 years of running international programs for students. There are so many ways to address how we handle safety, including the extensive experience and training of our instructors, the specific locations we choose to visit, the relationships we have established with our local partners, and the 24/7 support we provide our groups. We have extensive program-specific risk management plans and safety standards that we adhere to. We’d be happy to talk about safety in more detail for the program you’re considering if you’d like to call our office.
We require that students have at least $100,000 of emergency evacuation coverage and some kind of international medical coverage, as well as coverage for scuba diving for programs that include diving. We offer two different policy options, or if you already have a policy that meets this criteria, we would just collect those policy details after enrollment.
Our Tuition Protection policy covers cancellations for medical reasons up to 100% and for any other reason up to 75% (except for residents of NY state). It’s also a great comprehensive travel insurance policy, including medical coverage, emergency evacuation, travel delay, baggage (loss or delay), etc. The cost of the policy ranges from $319-379 based on the program duration. For more specific coverage details, please call our office.
Students will call home within a few hours of landing in the destination airport to let parents know they have arrived safely and have met up with the group. For most programs, students will have the option to call home once a week, typically on Sundays. Timing for calling home depends on the schedule of the trip and location. Usually, students call home with the in-country instructor cell phones or via Skype if good internet service is available. If you’d like to learn more about our full communication policy, please call our office.
Broadreach instructors are highly experienced, passionate, energetic and supportive. The average age of our instructors is 28 years old, and depending on the program, they meet specific qualifications (a Master’s degree in the subject area, PADI Open Water Scuba Instructor certification, foreign language fluency, Wilderness First Responder certification, etc).
We do our best to accommodate allergies and food preferences but we consider the situation, country and the program to determine whether it will be a good fit for the specific dietary restriction. It’s important that you let Broadreach know well in advance of any food preferences or allergies so we can determine whether your restrictions will work on your program.
Absolutely! Just call our office and we can put you in touch with past participants who have joined the programs that interest you. Our alumni families are happy to share their first-person experiences.
We require a non-refundable deposit of $1000 to lock in your spot, and then the final balance can be spread out and paid in a few different ways. The final payment is requested by about 3 months before departure. Our optional tuition protection plan covers cancellations for medical reasons up to 100% and cancellations for any other reason up to 75% (except for residents of NY state).
We provide an extensive packing list for each program that we revise every year based on student and instructor feedback, and most of the items you probably have already. If you’d like to look at a packing list for a certain program, just let us know and we can email the most current version to you.
Our levels are loose guidelines to help families determine which programs might be the best fit. Discovery level programs do not require any prior experience and are great first-Broadreach options. Explorer level programs build on existing skills and knowledge, and often delve deeper into the program focus. Expedition level programs are usually in more remote or challenging locations, require prior experience, and often include more student ownership of the experience.
In the fall, we have a few different early enrollment discounts – please call our office for more information. We also offer a 5% discount on the second enrollment from the same immediate family in a summer. This offer is available to an individual student or siblings. The 5% discount will be applied to the program of lesser cost, and cannot be combined with any other discounts.
We do offer some scholarships through the Broadreach Foundation. Please visit www.broadreachfoundation.org for more information and to apply online for scholarships.
