After a pandemic pause, WashU undergrads were back at Hôpital Pasteur on the French Riviera over the summer, learning why the French live healthier and longer than anyone else in the industrialized world.
France has one of the best health-care systems in the world. The country’s fifth-largest city, Nice — in the south of France — is considered by many as an inspirational location for health, healing and wellness. The region has long beckoned tourists, artists and writers with its cosmopolitan coastal location and vibrant landscapes.
And this summer, it beckoned undergraduate students from WashU, who traveled to France to study “The Art of Health in Nice” and complete an internship at a public hospital. The WashU Healthcare in France program — part of the French for Medical Professionals track in Arts & Sciences — was started 30 years ago by Colette Winn, professor emerita of French in Arts & Sciences, and following a hiatus during the pandemic, is now running again.
“The internship at Hôpital Pasteur is the cornerstone of the program,” says Kat Haklin, the director of the WashU Healthcare in France program and a lecturer in French in Arts & Sciences. “Being completely immersed in French language and culture, students can make considerable ground on the French major or minor in just five weeks in Nice. They also gain important pre-professional experience observing the inner workings of Hôpital Pasteur.”