Mark Wilson gives you some tips on arranging your elective

Costa Rica is between Nicaragua and Panama in Central America, has the Caribbean Sea on its east coast and the North Pacific Ocean on its west. Costa Rica's democratic development over the last century has been healthy compared to other countries in Central America and South America. The country is unique because a clause in its constitution forbids the formation of a national army. The main sources of income are agriculture (coffee and bananas), electronic exports, and, more recently, tourism.

Key facts

• Population-- 3.8 million
• Language-- Spanish
• Capital-- San José
• Currency-- Costa Rican colón (CRC)
• International dialling code-- +506

Medicine

The public health system is one of the best in Latin America. In 1995, the World Health Organization put Costa Rica's life expectancy as the third highest in the world (behind Japan and France and ahead of Great Britain and the United States). People tend to be well educated (95% of people are literate). Costa Rica has a government sponsored network of 29 hospitals and over 250 clinics divided between nine regions sponsored by the government. Private health care is also widespread and the country is well known for its plastic surgery. Health tourism is becoming more and more popular. Malaria was virtually eradicated but has recently been a problem on the Caribbean coast. Other infectious diseases include dengue, filariasis, and Chagas' disease.

Some hospitals

For details on hospitals (especially rural ones) take a look at the Ministry of Health's website and contact them for more details. The main public hospitals in San José are Calderon Guardia, calle 17 a 9 (tel +506 224 4133); San Juan de Dios, Paseo Colon Calle 14 (tel +506 222 0166); Hospital de Ninos (The Children's Hospital), Paseo Colon (tel +506 222 0122). The many private hospitals, with specialties ranging from cardiology to plastic surgery, can easily be found by searching on the internet for "plastic surgery" and "costa rica."

Visas and vaccinations

In the United Kingdom, the Costa Rican embassy is at Flat 1, 14 Lancaster Gate, London W1 3LH (tel 020 7706 8544) and the consulate is at Flat 2, 38 Redcliffe Square, London SW10 9JY (tel 020 7373 7973). Citizens of the United Kingdom do not need a visa to visit as a tourist. A return ticket and passport will allow you to stay for up to 90 days. The Costa Rican embassy does not issue student visas.

In addition to making sure you are up to date on your routine jabs (including tetanus, diphtheria, measles, and hepatitis B), hepatitis A, rabies, and typhoid are recommended. If you are thinking of going into Panama, vaccination for yellow fever (and the certificate) are needed to get you back into Costa Rica. Check with your occupational health department for more information; if you are going to an area with malaria, the current recommended prophylaxis is chloroquine. Prevalence of HIV is around 0.5%.

Medical schools

• Escuela Autonoma de Ciencias Medicas de Centro America, Universidad de Ciencias Medicas (UCIMED), PO Box 638-1007 Centre Colon, San José; tel +506 231 4368; fax +506 296 3944; www.ucimed.com
• Universidad Autonoma de Centro America, Colegio Clorito Picado, Campus Los Cipreses, 1 KM Norte del Servicentro la Galera Interseccion Curridabat-Tres rios, Cipreses, Curridabat, San José; tel +506 271 2829; fax +506 271 3839; www.uaca.ac.cr
• Universidad de Costa Roca, Facultad de Medicine, Ciudad Universitaria Rodrigo Facio, San Pedro de Montes de Oca, San José; tel +506 207 4570; fax +506 207 5667
• Universidad Hispanoamericana, Barrio Aranjuez, 100M Norte, 200M Ests, Hospital Calderon Guardia, PO Box 408-1002, San José; tel +506 256 8197; fax +506 223 2349; www.uhispanoamericana.ac.cr
• Universidad Internacional de las Americas, Escuela de Medicine, Apartado Postal 1447-1002, Calle #23, Avenida 7, Frente Fercori, San José; tel +506 258 0220; fax +506 222 6132; www.uia.ac.cr

The Ministry of Health

Ministerio de Salud, Apartado 10 123, San José; tel +506 223 0333; www.netsalud.sa.cr/ms. The ministry's website has a number of useful links and gives information on health care in Costa Rica with details on each health region. Mark Wilson author of The Medic's Guide to Work and Electives around the World, University College Hospital, London

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