How can science (and pre-health professional) undergraduates gain an international and multicultural perspective in their education? Unfortunately, there is very little that conventional college/university undergraduate science education in the U.S. can provide. The answer for the students would be to enroll directly in a university in another country for a semester or two, although there are a number of very serious deterrents (e.g., language, prerequisites, calendar, transfer of credits and grades), engage in a summer research internship abroad (such as IREU, RISE, GREET, etc.), or participate in a study abroad experience. About the latter, science students have historically been extremely underrepresented in study abroad; they do not believe it can be done within their seemingly inflexible programs of study, the administrative obstacles appear daunting, and the faculty are not necessarily supportive of the idea. The Boston University science study abroad programs in Dresden, Germany (since Fall 2006), Grenoble, France (since Fall 2009), and Madrid, Spain (since Fall 2012), are models that afford a student the opportunity to study abroad for a full semester as a science major (e.g., chemistry, biochemistry, biology, pre-health professions, etc.) while avoiding the common real and perceived obstacles.

Providing international and multicultural perspectives for the education of science undergraduates

247th National Meeting (2014)

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