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MEDICAL TOURISM
Costa Rica
Who are those Masked Men?
Costa Rica not only has universal health care,
but Costa Rica is considered to have one of the
best health care systems in all of Latin America
The government runs more than 30 hospitals
and 250 clinics. The Costa Rican health care
system has been in existence for almost 60 years.
Most Americans are shocked to find out that
Costa Rica has been rated higher by the World
Health Organization than the US, and in the last
2000 WHO report the United States rated 37,
below Singapore and Costa Rica.
Requirements to become a doctor
What exactly does one have to do to become a
physician in Costa Rica? Like doctors in the
US, medical doctors in Costa Rica receive formal
university training followed by a postgraduate
residency program. The latter ensures that they
have extensive practice knowledge in their
specialty. In addition, all medical physicians
must meet general requirements to be a member
of the Costa Rican Doctors’ and Surgeons’
26 DECEMBER 2007
More than Cosmetic & Dental Surgery
Association (Colegio de Médicosy Cirujanos ~
medicos@racsa.co.cr). Dentists, on the other
hand, are certified by the Costa Rican Surgeons
and Dentists Association (dentista@racsa.co.cr).
Obtaining a medical degree in Costa Rica
requires some undergraduate studies in the
medical field and a graduate degree in medicine.
It takes six years at the National University of
Costa Rica to obtain a graduate medical degree,
but even then a doctor is not ready for practice.
A prospective doctor must complete a Doctorate
Title in Medicine and one year of social service
at one of the Social State Hospitals.
For postgraduate residency, the amount of time
spent in the various programs depends on the
specialty field. For instance, plastic surgeons
are required to complete an extra eight years of
post-graduate residency study. Four of those
years are spent in general surgery and the
following four years in plastic surgery. That
means a plastic surgeon has totally fourteen years
of study, comprising of graduate study and post
graduate residency study, before they can
practice. Endocrinologists must perform an
additional two to four years post graduate
residency study to become a specialist, and a
doctor must spend five to seven years in post
graduate residency study just to qualify in
general medicine.
Requirements to become a nurse
The University of Costa Rica requires students
who are applying for a nursing degree to perform
aptitude exams with a score of 700 or more to
qualify. The private universities, however, do
not require this exam. It takes from three to four
years for a nurse to graduate from the University
and four to five years in total to graduate as a
licensed nurse. To qualify with a masters in
nursing, a nurse will spend another one and a
half years on top of the license nurse
requirements. In order to work, nurses need a
Costa Rican Accreditation Title and must be
affiliated with the School of Nurses of Costa
Rica. All other nurse titles require accreditation
from the Nurses School of Costa Rica.
While Costa Rica has a public healthcare
system, it has a growing private health care
system which is starting to focus on attracting
Americans to Costa Rica for medical care above
and beyond the prior reputation for inexpensive
cosmetic and dental surgery. Costa Rica is now
becoming known for surgeries such as Hip
replacements, back or spinal surgeries and knee
replacements. In fact, laboratory materials are
all FDA approved and shipped in from the
United States.
For Americans traveling to Costa Rica for
medical care the healthcare is quite affordable.
Many of their doctors not only speak English
but also have received training in the United
States, Canada or Europe.
The Two main hospitals in Costa Rica are
Clinica Biblica and CIMA. Unfortunately, at the
time of writing this article, CIMA hospital had
not finished completing its hospital floor
specifically for medical tourists. CIMA also did
not provide written information to the Medical
Tourism Association regarding its hospital and
other items such as infection rates. We hope to