Chile NMO GENERAL INFORMATION NAME AND COUNTRY Chile IFMSA-Chile LANGUAGE Spanish or English REQUIRED LANGUAGE Student must have at least one: Spanish (good) or English (good) TIME ZONE (GMT-04:00) Santiago CURRENCY Chilean peso IFMSA STATUS SCOPE Active SCORE Active LCs PARTICIPATING SCOPE Chile (IFMSA-Chile) - Santiago de Chile – Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Chile Chile (IFMSA-Chile) - Chillan – Universidad Católica de la Santísima Concepción Chile (IFMSA-Chile) - Talca – Universidad Catolica del Maule Chile (IFMSA-Chile) - La Serena – Universidad Catolica del Norte Chile (IFMSA-Chile) - Concepcion – Universidad de Concepcion Chile (IFMSA-Chile) - Temuco – Universidad de la Frontera Chile (IFMSA-Chile) - Valparaiso – Universidad de Valparaiso Chile (IFMSA-Chile) - Temuco – Universidad Mayor Chile (IFMSA-Chile) - Santiago de Chile – Universidad Andres Bello Chile (IFMSA-Chile) - Concepcion – Universidad San Sebastian Chile (IFMSA-Chile) - Puerto Montt – Universidad San Sebastian Chile (IFMSA-Chile) - Linares – Universidad Autonoma de Chile Chile (IFMSA-Chile) - Curico – Universidad de Talca Chile (IFMSA-Chile) - San Felipe – Universidad de Valparaiso SCORE NUMBER OF INCOMING PER YEAR 140 SCOPE STUDENTS 45 SCORE STUDENTS EXCHANGE CONDITION SCOPE EXCHANGE CONDITIONS SCORE EXCHANGE CONDITIONS OFFICIAL WEBSITE www.ifmsa.cl EXCHANGE OFFICERS NEOs Paloma Contreras Carlos Javier Alcolado León NOREs Rosa Ávila Pampi Farias NMO LOGO WELCOME NOTE Hello future exchange student!!! We are more than pleased to welcome you in Chile. Here we have a structured organization that will help you althrought your exchange period. The clerkships are very well organized with really great tutors. We appreciate if you want to do your research exchange in our country and we hope that you can learn more about us and our universities/projects that we have for you!. We have an extremely good "Social Program" (that's what really sets us apart), so you better be ready for your BEST month abroad. MAP OF AVAILABLE CITIES (click me!) GEOGRAPHY NOW! CHILE (click me!) OVERVIEW Chile is a country in South America placed in a long and narrow coastal strip wedged between the Andes mountains and the Pacific Ocean. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage and Antarctica at the country's southernmost tip. With a coastline that stretches over 6,435 kilometres, Chilean territory extends to the Pacific Ocean which includes the overseas territories of Juan Fernández Islands (including Robinson Crusoe island) and the Easter Island located in Polynesia, among others. Chile's unusual ribbon-like shape — 4,300 kilometres long and on average 175 kilometres wide — has given it a wide variety of climates, ranging from the driest desert of the world — Atacama Desert — to the north, through a Mediterranean climate in the center, to a snow-prone Alpine climate in the south -Torres del Paine-, with glaciers, lakes and the Tierra del Fuego or Land of Fire. The relatively small central area dominates the country in terms of population and agricultural resources. This area also is the cultural and political center from which Chile expanded in the late 19th century, when it incorporated its northern and southern regions. The northern Chilean desert contains great mineral wealth, principally copper and lithium, and the southern Chile is rich in forests and grazing lands and features a string of volcanoes and lakes. The southern coast is a labyrinth of fjords, inlets, canals, twisting peninsulas, and islands. Chile is part of the Southern Cone of South America along with Argentina and Uruguay. High life expectancy, the highest Human Development Index of Latin America, high standard of living, significant participation in the global markets and the emerging economy of its members make the Southern Cone the most prosperous macro-region in South America. Why choose Chile in the Latin American context Currently, Chile is one of the Latin American's most stable, prosperous and secure nations. From the high Andean plateau to the untouched southern territories at the end of the world, Chile invites you to live adventures in the middle of the world’s driest desert, in the unique rainy temperate forest of South America, in front of millennial glaciers that are waiting to be discovered or under the watchful eye of the Andes in the middle of the buzz of modern citites like its capital, Santiago. These cultural and climatic contrasts have left an imprint on the identity of the country and its people. Warm, energetic, approachable and kind, Chileans share the love for their land, which invites you to build relationships beyond boundaries, to live unique experiences and to discover Chile. That's why too many exchange student choose us for a professional/research exchange, do a lot of tourism to the north/central/south of the country and some of them (and once they fit in the Latin American lifestyle) use Chile as a platform to visit many hot turistic spots in South America like Argentina (Buenos Aires), Perú (Cusco), Brasil (Rio de Janeiro), Bolivia (Salar de Uyuni) etc. HEALTH CARE SYSTEM The health care system in Chile is divided in two. In one hand you have the private service managed by the ISAPRES and the other, the public service managed by FONASA (National Health Fund). More than 70% of the population is affiliated to the Public System. In the past years the Goverment has worked really hard in increasing the coverage of the Publich Health System which turn out in the creation of the called GES (Explicit Health Guarantees). The GES system is based in the asurement of the diagnosis and treatment of the highest morbility/mortality diseases ranging from Hypertension to several kind of cancers. This means if a person is affected with one of this common diseases the treatment and the follow up are for free. Right now the goverment is working in increasing the number of diseases that are include in the new System. Even if you have ISAPRE you get the coverage for the GES. In Chile is mandatory to be part of a Health System, either public or private. If you have a salary is mandatory to pay the 7% of it, if you are affiliated to the private one you can pay the 7% for the basic plan coverage or more if you want to get more insurance. Homeless people are on FONASA and they get healthcare for free. The patients of the public system are supossed to be attend first in the "CESFAM" (Family Health Center) and if is an emergency then they can get attention in the "SAPU" and afterwards they are sent to the Hospital where they can get a more specific treatment. MEDICAL EDUCATION After finishing high school, all the Chilean students who want to continue studing in a University have to take in these next two years, 2021 and 2022, a university transition test (PTU). The Department of Evaluation, Measurement and Educational Registry (DEMRE), as the technical body responsible for developing the topics for the Transitional Admission Tests, admission 2021. And considering you score in the PTU and ones grades in the high school you may apply to each University in Chile (publich or private). We have a lot of faculties where you may study Medicine in the country. They are 33 faculties of Medicine in total and 14 are SCOPE active for incomings and 6 are SCORE active for incomings. In Chile, we have Public and Private Universities in both you have to pay but the prices are differents; in a public one you pay around 3.500-6.000 Eur per year meanwhile in a private one you pay over 7.000 Eur per year. There are just a few students who have full scholarships and most of them ask for loans to the goverment or private banks. Medicine is the longest career to study in the country, it takes 6-7 years to get your Medical Degree diploma. The first 2 years are most theorical (pre clinical) and since the 3rd year you start to go everyday to the Hospital (clinical cycle). Most in the mornings and in the afternoon we still have theorical classes. This goes on until the 5th year. In the 3rd year you study Semiology. Then the 4th and 5th year we have internal medicine, surgery, gynaeocolgy, pedriatric, ophtalmology, dermatology, OTN medicine, legal medicine, etc (depending on your university). The last 1-2 years, 6th and 7th, you work as an intern which include night shifts. In this last 2 years you has to pass in the differents Departments of the Hospital but the ones that take longer are Internal Medicine, Surgery, Obstetrics&Gynaeocology and Pediatrics. By the end of 7th year you have to take the National Medical test of knoweldge in Medicine to practice as a Doctor. When you do that, then you have different choices: you may work as a General Doctor, work in rural areas and gain points to get your residency paid by the Ministry of Health, or go with your grades, National Medical Exam scores and published work to a National Ranking Competion and choice the residency you can sign acording to your ranking. QS Univeristy Rankings: Latin America 2020 15 Chilean Universities in the TOP 100 ● #1: Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile (Santiago de Chile) ● #7: Universidad de Chile (Santiago de Chile) ● #12: Universidad de Concepción (Concepción) ● #13: Universidad de Santiago de Chile (Santiago de Chile) ● #21: Pontifica Universidad Católica de Valparaíso (Valparaíso) ● #24: Universidad Adolfo Ibáñez (Santiago de Chile) ● #34: Universidad Austral de Chile (Osorno & Valdivia) ● #36: Universidad Diego Portales (Santiago de Chile) ● #37: Universidad Técnica Federico Santa María