This program is proud to partner with the National Biodiversity Institute (INBio), which boasts a catalog of over 3 million specimens, to provide opportunities for you to better understand and explore the rich biodiversity that Costa Rica has to offer. Especially relevant for Public Health students, this institute has conducted groundbreaking medical research by providing well-known companies such as Merck with chemical extracts from wild plants, insects, and microorganisms.
Courses are taught on campus at the Universidad Interamericana in Heredia, which incorporates traditional brick and plaster architecture with casual courtyards, lounge areas and state-of-the-art computer labs. Classes are small and interactive, with many hands-on field trips and exploratory excursions, through which you will discover this Central American treasure.
Additional information on Academics is also available.
Public Health 121 (4 units)
Through first-hand encounters such as visits to Costa Rican medicinal plant markets and local guest speakers specializing in areas such as natural plants and pharmaceuticals, this course examines health and disease in contemporary American and Costa Rican culture and society with definitions, models, and practices of what has come to be known as “orthodox” or “conventional” medicine. Selected “alternative” or “complementary” modes of promoting health and well-being including homeopathy, herbology, and chiropractic. Instructor: Pedro A. Bolaños, MD.
Public Health 179 (4 units)
Using the concept of “planet as a patient” in order to identify sustainability indicators in the areas of vigor, diversity and resilience of socio-ecological systems, and exploring the links of this notion to the notion of public health in human systems, you will address case studies of living conditions in urban and rural areas. In addition to this integrated analysis of human and ecological systems with special emphasis on environmental change, geographic information systems, and epidemiological studies, you will also explore policy implications – how does the traditional approach to health policy need to evolve to integrate with environmental policy? Prerequisite: Public Health I.Instructor: Professor Bernardo Aguilar-González, J.D., SPEL, M.Sc.
Biological Sciences 65 (4 units) (Fulfills UCI Breadth Requirement II or GE Requirement II)
This course is taught on-site at the National Biodiversity Institute (INBio), and provides students with a biological perspective on the current environmental crisis. Trace the origin, evolution, and value of biological diversity. Examine extinction and depletion processes caused by overexploitation, habitat loss, and pollution. Conservation through habitat preservation and restoration, captive breeding, and cryopreservation. Instructor: Dr. Carlos Valerio, Professor of Biology, has served as an advisor at the National Biodiversity Institute (INBio) in Costa Rica since 1993 and
Alvaro Herrera Villalobos, the National Biodiversity Institute (INBio).
