Students learn both about their discipline and how to navigate new cultures
Adventure abroad can be life expanding. Yet for all the learning opportunity, it can also be daunting to face the unknown. At York, 69 students took up the challenge to live and learn away from home in faculty-led study abroad courses or partner summer schools, in places including Ghana, Brazil and Cuba (Faculty of Health), Colombia and the Netherlands (Glendon College), and Scotland (AMPD).
For three students participating in the Faculty of Health's HLST 4170: Experience Cuba: Enacting the Human Right to Health & Health Equity, spending two weeks to see what their discipline looks like in another part of the world was eye-opening. Yet it also came with a window into elements of cultural adjustments that can be part of the package when travelling somewhere different.
Before leaving, the first task for these travellers was to learn about the course and the country. In Experience Cuba, the main focus was on learning about how Cuba’s health care system worked. With their destination set for the city of Holguin on the eastern end of the Caribbean island, programming included classes at the University of Holguin, visits to hospitals and smaller clinics, and daily excursions to local markets and cultural destinations such as the city’s two local museums. Students also stayed in Cuba's long-established private homestays called casa particulares where locals rent rooms to tourists (similar to today’s Airbnb model).
For recent health policy management graduate Bogdan Hududui, the casa particulares were a highlight of the trip. He stayed with a couple and their children, and ate most breakfasts with them as well as a couple of dinners. Originally from Romania, Hududui says he found the community-oriented lifestyle refreshingly similar to what he knew in Europe. “In Canada, everyone's very individualistic. You don't really know your neighbors. I don't know anybody on my street. But in Cuba, I knew basically everyone, because people would be out and talking on the street,” he says.
Asya Said, a second-year Global Health major, also enjoyed hanging out with her host family, recalling that they managed to communicate well enough between their limited language skills and hand gestures. “We would talk to them, tell them about our day. Sometimes we would dance with them. We would play cards. There was a lot of interaction with our host family. They loved talking to us, and we loved talking to them. They all had different stories to share,” she recalls.
Both students said that they also learned a lot about the differences between the health care systems. Hududui says the focus on preventative medicine hit him first. “Canada's health system is very much focused on taking care of you after you already have an illness or a disease. So if you have like diabetes, it's treating everything after that. But in Cuba, they focus on prevention. Because Cuba isn't a very wealthy country, so they prefer you not to need insulin. They tried their best to give you actual prescriptions for diets, and exercise,” he says, adding that he also found greater acceptance of alternative medicines. Said observed that the communal vibe she felt with her host family extended into the health system. "The health system seems to target communities, listening to what the people needed," she says.
While both students enjoyed the warmth they found in Cuban culture (and climate!), certain elements and realities on the ground took some getting used to. The rolling blackouts that are typical in Cuba were jarring, says Hududui, even when they were on a schedule such as a regular planned six-hour outage. Many places had emergency generators but they were not used that often. Weak sewage systems where the protocol was not to flush toilet paper was also a difference, and the WiFi strength could be unpredictable.
Said, who does not eat pork, says she was concerned before leaving about meeting her dietary requirements. She did research and was reassured to find eggs and fish and chicken as regular staples. She adds that her initial research did not match the reality she found, in a good way.
“When I look at the media, they always portray Cuba as very low income, very scary. There was just a lot of misinformation. I was expecting a lot of bad things. But when I got there, it was the exact opposite. Everyone's so friendly, welcoming. You get to explore and see the communities and how they work with each other,” she says.
In order to deal with cultural adjustments, students were advised beforehand to journal and chat with peers about their experiences. Hududui says that after the initial whirlwind of settling in, it actually hit him on the second day that he would be spending a further 12 days. At that point he was glad that he had brought familiar elements to remind him of home. "If you like music or podcasts, download a bunch before you head out to Cuba, and listen to what will make you feel comfortable," he advises. He also found that making friends on his trip, both local students and in his cohort, helped him to find plans for downtime like weekends to explore the area's beaches, concerts and clubs.
Said says she would definitely recommend the study abroad opportunity to others, has already told friends about it, and is even considering going again herself. "You learn a lot even though it is in a short span, from students and professors, especially if you’re into travelling and new environments."
Hududui says the experience helped him better prepare for his career in healthcare to see a different system in action. “It was worthwhile for me because it gave me a different perspective on how a healthcare system can be improved."
Students who are interested in applying for a faculty-led study abroad course can visit /international/global-learning/faculty-led-study-abroad-courses/ to see what might be a good fit and apply – deadline is January 23, 2026.
All accepted students to the course will receive a $1000 bursary from York International, pre-departure preparation and will join a community of like-minded learners ready to learn! You can also follow us on Instagram @yorkugoglobal.