Notes regarding credits...

This course consists of 40 hours of instruction. However, students may earn 45 hours by attending supplemental sessions and completing additional coursework. Please check with your home university to find out whether you need 40 or 45 hours to earn course equivalents.

Note: A placement exam will be required when you arrive on site.

High Advanced

This course is designed for students who have completed or tested out of a minimum of five semesters (or seven quarters) of college-level Spanish. However, students must take a placement exam to determine the course level into which they will be able to enroll.

This class has a heavy component on health issues in Spain and on the Spanish and European public health care systems. A relatively modest component (about 3 weeks) will focus on environmental studies.

HEALTH MODULE

I. HEALTH CARE SYSTEM IN SPAIN

1. Origins of Social Security in Spain
2. Health care systems of the 20th century
3. The hospitals of the provincial and municipal welfare
4. Self-sufficient institutions
5. The universalization of Social Security in 1985
6. Impact of health care network
7. Present model for Health Management
8. Autonomous health programs
9. Agencies in charge of sanitary coordination
10. Primary and specialized welfare
11. Health centers, regional hospitals, university hospitals
12. Present-day healthcare assistance in Spain
13. Eligibility of health care participants

II. SPANISH HEALTH CARE SYSTEM IN EUROPEAN CONTEXT

1. Public health care coverage in Europe
2. Comparative analysis
3. Economic costs of health care systems
4. Analyze cost increase
5. Aging of the population
6. Pharmaceutical and technological expenses
7. The road to a universal European health care system
8. Compensation mechanisms betweens states
9. The role of private medicine in Spain and Europe
10. Health care system in the US
11. Comparative analysis between public and private medicine
12. Cost analysis in the US
13. Indices of public health in Europe and the US

III. HEALTH INSTITUTIONS IN SPAIN AND SUPRANATIONAL

1. Function of autonomous health care systems
2. Communal health policy
3. Ministry of Health and Consumption
4. Agencies of sanitary caution
5. National center of epidemiology
6. Salud Carlos III Institution
7. European health agencies
8. Examples of health coordination in Europe
9. Euro-transplant
10. Euro-HIV
11. Medical research European agencies
12. International health agencies
13. World Health Organization
14. Private initiatives
15. Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation

IV. THE FUTURE OF MEDICINE IN SPAIN

1. Quality indicators of Spanish medicine
2. Health risks of globalization
3. Development of pandemics
4. Illnesses in third world countries
5. Parasitism
6. Spain’s contribution to research and pandemic prevention

V. CANCER

1. Mechanisms of cellular transformation, generation, and tumor dissemination
2. Carcinogenic agents
3. Oncogenes and DNA repair genes
4. Cancer epidemiology in western countries
5. Evolution of different types of cancer
6. Treatment strategies
7. New treatments

VI. INFECTIOUS DISEASES

1. Infectious diseases of the 21st century
2. Pandemics of 21st century
3. AIDS
4. Infection mechanisms and transmission
5. Epidemiology of infection through HIV
6. AIDS in western countries
7. AIDS in Africa and Southeastern Asia
8. Treatment
9. Economic problems for the treatment of AIDS in developing countries
10. AIDS prevention campaigns
11. Strategies for the development of a vaccine against AIDS
12. Other global infectious diseases
13. Malaria
14. Infection mechanisms
15. Epidemiology of malaria
16. Path to developing a vaccine against malaria
17. Modern-day infectious diseases
18. Severe acute respiratory syndrome

VII. ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AND PUBLIC HEALTH IN THE 21ST CENURY

1. Genetically modified food
2. Production methods
3. Problems and concerns with genetically modified food
4. Health and industrial products
5. Pesticides and preservatives
6. Carcinogenic agents

VIII. NEW THERAPIES IN THE 21ST CENTURIES

1. Organ transplants
2. What are they?
3. Protocols for organ transplants
4. Donation rate
5. Spain and its role in the field in organ transplants
6. National Organ Transplant Organization
7. Gene therapy
8. What is it?
9. Use of gene therapy
10. Problems with bio-security of gene therapy
11. Embryonic stem cells
12. What are they?
13. Ethical problems: use of embryonic stem cells
14. Potential uses for embryonic stem cells
15. Cloning
16. What is it?
17. Ethical boundaries of human cloning
18.

ECOLOGY AND ENVIRONMENT MODULES

IX. THEORIES
1. Environment of Spain
2. Nature
3. Resources
4. Political and social framework
5. Socio-environmental conflicts
6. Environmental policy and management in Spain
7. Areas of analysis
8. Natural resources
9. Natural space
10. Energy
11. Pollution, etc
12. Different perspectives of environmental issues in Spain
13. Possibilities, limits, risks

X. PRACTICE

1. Natural framework: field trip to a natural space
2. Urban framework: field trip to various nature spots in Granada
3. Field work encompassing all topics covered in the course.