It’s been a while since our last post—that’s because the ALI had a busy summer in 2026! This July we welcomed 15 students from Latin America to Kansas City who enrolled in our three-week Medical English Program. These students spent an intensive three weeks immersed in the local sports culture, participating in in-patient rounds at nearby partner hospitals on our Health Sciences campus, job shadowing, and studying English.
Students were busy from morning to afternoon, taking in as much as they could about the medical environment in Kansas City–and Kansas City itself.
Despite their busy schedules, we were able to sit down with students and hear about their experience in the camp. Eloisa from Paraguay, and Rayssa from Bolivia spared us a few minutes of their third week to tell us all about their time in Kansas City, and what they valued about their time in the program.
Meet Eloisa,
who is in her final year of a six-year medical program at the Universidad Católica Nuestra Señora de la Asunción in Paraguay.
Her university has an affiliation with Comité Paraguay Kansas, an international alliance office that pairs students to university programs in Kansas and the surrounding area. This is how Eloisa discovered the program.
In her short interview, which you can find in our Instagram reels, Eloisa tells us how she really enjoyed doing in-patient rounds in the hospital, and discussing patient cases with practicing physicians and current UMKC medical students. This educational aspect of the program was the most rewarding for her. She would recommend this camp to any student who wants to experience a U.S. clinical environment, or who wants to pursue a medical career in the United States. She emphasized how this opportunity shouldn’t be missed!
Not only did Eloisa enjoy her time in the classroom—she also made new friendships and special memories while in Kansas City. “I have made some really good friends here…” Eloisa told us, with a soft smile. She went on to tell us about the fun she had visiting local restaurants—like Jack Stack Barbecue—and other Kansas City spots, including the FIFA Fan Festival that happened this summer. Her favorite activity was visiting the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art (which we frequent and recommend to students, read about a Nelson visit here) via the streetcar (which is free)!
We are pleased Eloisa had such a wonderful time with us in the Midwest, and that she was able to establish new friendships and bonds with students in the program, as well as peers and instructors at UMKC. We welcome her back to Missouri any time!
Rayssa, a student from Sucre, Bolivia,
also expressed similar fond sentiments about her time in the program this July. Rayssa was impressed by the size and different areas of both the Volker and Health Sciences campuses of UMKC.
Students in the program traveled between them using the UMKC shuttle for job shadowing/in-patient rounds in the mornings, and English class in the afternoons. Getting to explore and know Kansas City during a historic event was the most exciting aspect of the Medical English program for Rayssa. There were visitors from all around the world who gathered in Kansas City to watch FIFA World Cup matches. Rayssa was able to meet people from all over, and this special time has become an unforgettable memory to her.
While visiting Kansas City while it is a host city during the Medical English camp is likely a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, sports culture remains alive in the city all year! With multiple professional sports covering every single season, any student is able to enjoy the atmosphere of Kansas City’s enthusiasm for sports like soccer, basketball, baseball, American football, and more—no matter when they come for classes at UMKC.
friendliest, amiable people in the United States.” – Rayssa
Rayssa discovered the Medical English program thanks to the CBA, the Centro Boliviano Americano, an institute in Bolivia where people can learn English that also fosters different intercultural exchanges with universities in the United States. Rayssa felt enthusiastic to apply to our program because she would be able to study both things she finds important in her life: learning English and medicine. It was important to her that she not miss out. By her verdict, the three weeks in Kansas City were absolutely worth it.
We are glad she was able to participate, as she learned a lot about how the health system functions in the United States. Learning all the ins and outs of healthcare in the U.S. was her favorite thing about the program, as it is very different from how it operates in Bolivia. This fact is what she believes her peers might find the most intriguing about the program, and tells them that they can learn all about it by participating in the in-patient rounds and learning English in the classroom.
It is a lived experience worth having.” – Rayssa
Rayssa firmly encouraged her peers in Bolivia to be brave and not be afraid to attend this program in Kansas City, Missouri. She believes anyone would gain invaluable experience and learn a lot from the incredible people you are bound to meet. After all, people in Kansas City are known for being some of the most welcoming and friendly people in the United States, Rayssa discovered!
We hope that upon their return home, all of our students had an endless amount of stories and information to share with their families, friends, and peers. It was a short program, but we hope the students that attended the Medical English camp this July 2026 in Kansas City left with an unforgettable, valuable experience that leaves a lasting impression.
In a following blog post, coming soon, read all about how students filled the time in the classroom and more. Hear directly from the Applied Language Institute’s director about teaching this group of students, and see how we celebrated their completion of the program! The subsequent post will be full of images from the program.
Both Eloisa’s and Rayssa’s full interviews can be found on our Instagram reels.
Applied Language Institute: The Blog 
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