Home / Faculty & Advisors / Custom faculty-led programs for health sciences education

Custom faculty-led programs for health sciences education

Build an international program around the outcomes you want your students to achieve. Therapy Abroad collaborates with faculty to connect course content, experiential learning, and community engagement in a program suited to your discipline, student level, academic calendar, and budget.

Learning Outcomes

Start with learning outcomes

What should students understand, demonstrate, or question by the time they return? We begin there. Together, we consider the relationship between your objectives and the opportunities available through local partners. That process helps establish an appropriate balance of observation, professional exchange, supervised activities, cultural learning, and structured reflection.

Your faculty retain responsibility for course content, grading, and your institution’s academic decisions. We collaborate on how the international setting can support those goals and what is feasible with host partners.

You do not need a finished itinerary to begin. A course concept, a clinical education goal, or a question about what is possible is enough to start planning.

Program Formats

Choose a format that fits your curriculum

Program format

Faculty planning focus

Faculty-led course or cohort

Integrate international learning into a course, short-term program, or departmental experience.

Clinical observation and professional exchange

Explore practice settings and systems with clearly defined learner roles.

Graduate SLP OT or DPT placement

Assess site suitability, supervision, duration, evaluation, and university approval requirements.

Interprofessional learning

Connect disciplines through shared questions about communication, function, participation, and care.

Professional and district learning

Explore cultural and linguistic diversity through international workshops and customized group learning.

Clinical Fellowship opportunities for eligible SLP graduates are a separate professional pathway. Ask us about the distinction between these placements, graduate clinical education, and a short-term faculty-led program.

Your Discipline

Design for your students and your discipline

Programs can examine communication and language, disability inclusion, rehabilitation, participation in everyday activities, community health, and the cultural contexts of care. We will help you identify appropriate options for undergraduate learners, graduate clinicians, or experienced professionals. Availability and scope vary by destination and partner capacity.

Curriculum Examples

Turn an academic goal into an intentional experience

The examples below illustrate curriculum planning. They are adaptable design options, not a promise that every activity is available at every site.

Learning outcome

Possible activity

Possible assessment

Analyze cultural and linguistic influences on care

Host-led discussion and structured observation

Reflective analysis using a faculty rubric

Explain barriers to rehabilitation access

Compare community and clinical settings with local professionals

Systems map with context and limitations

Demonstrate interprofessional communication

Supervised case discussion within permitted student roles

Team presentation and peer feedback

Adapt an educational resource to local priorities

Co-develop materials requested and reviewed by a host partner

Partner feedback and rationale for revisions

Apply ethical reasoning

Discuss consent, scope, privacy, and continuity scenarios

Case analysis and facilitated debrief

Every Phase

Support through every phase

Discover

Discuss your academic goals, student readiness, preferred timing, and institutional requirements. Identify the people who need to participate in decisions.

Design

Explore partner settings, suitable activities, supervision needs, and a preliminary schedule. Build in orientation, reflection, and time to learn from local professionals.

Review

Develop the program scope and budget for institutional consideration. Clarify responsibilities, inclusions, enrollment assumptions, and the approvals needed before recruitment.

Prepare

Coordinate participant information, faculty preparation, travel logistics, and expectations for ethical engagement. Confirm student roles and the process for raising concerns.

Deliver

Bring the agreed program to life with faculty, program staff, supervisors, and local partners each working within their assigned responsibilities.

Reflect and refine

Review student learning and partner feedback. Discuss what should continue, change, or be reconsidered before another cohort returns.

Budget

A budget your institution can evaluate

We work with you to establish the scope and cost of the proposed program. Discuss group size, faculty participation, housing, meals, transportation, learning activities, insurance arrangements, and other program components early. Ask how enrollment changes could affect pricing.

Your proposal should make the difference between included services and additional costs clear, including airfare, tuition or credit fees, personal expenses, and any faculty costs. Payment dates, cancellation terms, and conditions for program changes belong in the written agreement.

Clinical Boundaries

Clinical learning with clear boundaries

An international location does not change the need for appropriate supervision or authorize a student to work beyond their preparation. We discuss student qualifications, host-site permissions, supervisor responsibilities, and documentation requirements during planning. Clinical activities must suit the learner’s level and the local setting.

If your department intends to count observation hours, clinical hours, fieldwork, or placement credit, involve the relevant academic or clinical education lead before committing. Your institution determines what it can accept; eligibility depends on the specific activity and applicable requirements.

Cultural Learning

Cultural learning belongs in the curriculum

Learning about language, history, community priorities, and local education and health systems gives professional experiences their context. We can help faculty incorporate guided reflection on assumptions, resource use, and the limits of their own perspective. Cultural activities can reinforce these objectives while giving students opportunities to build relationships and appreciate the destination.

Frequently asked questions

Can you work from our existing syllabus

Yes. Share your outcomes, assessment approach, student prerequisites, and required contact time. We can discuss where an international component fits and which objectives need a different activity or setting.

Can we develop a program across departments

Yes. Begin with a shared academic purpose and clear roles for each discipline. We will discuss whether the proposed destination, partner settings, and supervision model can support the group.

How early should we start

Contact us as soon as your department is considering a program. Institutional approvals, recruitment, clinical agreements, and host capacity all affect the timeline. We can help map the steps against your target term.

Is there a minimum group size

Group size is determined through planning. It affects pricing, staffing, housing, and the capacity of learning sites. We will discuss feasible options for your cohort instead of assuming one size fits every program.

Do you arrange clinical placements for every discipline in every destination

No. A destination may be suitable for a study visit without being appropriate for a required clinical placement. We assess the particular discipline, student level, host setting, supervision, and university requirements with you.

Can a first-time faculty leader work with you

Yes. We walk faculty through the planning process and help identify decisions, responsibilities, and preparation needs at each stage. Bring your study abroad colleagues into the conversation early.

Bring us the course you want to create

A planning call can help you move from an interesting idea to a program your department can evaluate. Share what students should learn, when you hope to travel, and any requirements already on your list.

Request Information

Have a question? Send us a general inquiry, or choose a program to ask about a specific trip. It goes straight to our admissions team.