China: Community Health and Traditional Chinese Medicine (Summer)

• Critical health issues such as HIV/AIDS, China’s reproductive policy, women’s and children’s healthcare, and the reform of China’s healthcare system
• Indig­enous ethnic minority healing systems, including Bai traditional herbal medicine, Naxi Dongba shamanism, and Tibetan medicine
• Chinese traditional healing practices such as Qigong therapy, medicinal food therapy, foot massage therapy, hot spring therapy, and music therapy
• The pharmacopoeia of TCM herbal medicine and techniques of massage, acupuncture, moxibus­tio n, and cupping

Please visit the SIT Study Abroad website for details on the program courses (including syllabi), educational excursions, and housing.

Program Structure

There is no "typical day"on an SIT program. Activities may take place on any day of the week and at any time of day to be in accordance with local norms and to take advantage of once-in-a-lifetime learning opportunities. Thus, the schedule and structure of the program are likely very different from what students are used to on their home campuses. The summer progresses in phases:

• Summer programs last for six or seven weeks. Much of that time is spent in the field, with visits to sites relevant to the program theme.
• Throughout the summer students participate in:
  • thematic seminars and educational excursions
  • language instruction focused on improving practical communication skills, and
  • one to two homestays, typically.
• On some programs, students complete a practicum or research project.
• At the end of each program, students participate in debriefing and reentry sessions.

What Makes SIT Unique

• SIT Study Abroad offers a field-based, experiential approach to learning.
• Each program has a small group of students (typically 10–35). 
• On an SIT program, students gain high levels of access to many different stakeholders and experts relevant to the issues the program is examining. 
• While some learning will be conducted at the SIT program center, extensive learning is done outside the classroom — in host communities, field stations, NGO headquarters, ecological sites, health clinics, and art studios.

Money Matters

Be sure to discuss how study abroad costs are handled at your school with your study abroad advisor.  

SIT tuition and room and board fees include the following:

• All educational costs, including educational excursions
• All accommodations and meals for the full program duration
• Transportation to and from the airport, and on all educational excursions
• Health and accident insurance

Scholarships:

• SIT awards nearly $1.3 million in scholarships and grants annually.
• All scholarships and grants are need-based.
• Awards generally range from $500 to $3,000.  
• Contact the financial aid and/or study abroad office(s) at your college or university to learn if your school’s scholarships and grants and federal and state aid programs can be applied to an SIT Study Abroad program.

Contact SIT Study Abroad

• Visit our website: studyabroad.sit.edu
• Request more information or email us: studyabroad@sit.edu
• Call an admission counselor: 888-272-7881
• Contact a former student.
• Apply to SIT.