USU Airman Expands Medical Knowledge, Cultural Fluency in Senegalese LEAP Training

‘This Experience Deepened My Understanding of Cross-Cultural Medical Practices’:  Air Force Physician Capt. Couger Jaramillo Reflects on LEAP Training in Dakar

View from the boat approaching Gorée Island, off the coast of Dakar in Senegal, historically significant

as a major slave trade port. (Photo courtesy of Capt. Couger Jaramillo)

August 23, 2024 by Capt. Couger Jimenez Jaramillo

Air Force Capt. (Dr.) Couger Jimenez Jaramillo, an assistant professor in the Department of Pathology at the Uniformed Services University, joined a cohort of three other airmen, for a four-week French Language Intensive Training Exercise (LITE) in Dakar, Senegal, sponsored by the U.S. Air Force Culture and Language Center’s Language-Enabled Airman Program (LEAP). 

Capt. Jaramillo with Cultural Assistant

from ACI Baobab Center, Papa

Samba Gaye. (Photo courtesy of

Capt. Couger Jaramillo)

LEAP Scholars are selected by a board for Air Force-sponsored language and cultural training on the basis of an application that includes demonstrated proficiency in a foreign language, prior academic achievement, and commander endorsement. Open to enlisted and officers alike, this mission included Air Force members with varied experiences – from foreign affairs officers to hospital administrators – with the shared goal of enhancing the Air Force’s ability to operate in West African French-speaking nations.  

Each airman experienced comprehensive linguistic and cultural immersion, staying with local host families while participating in rigorous training that blended structured language classes with guided excursions to culturally significant sites alongside local contacts.

“I sought to expand my knowledge of the region’s local medical practices, information that could improve cross-cultural communication and medical operations in the region,” Jaramillo said, “As a result, LEAP assigned me to a host family that included a dentist and a Senegalese soldier with prior experience with UN peace-keeping missions. I learned about significant differences in medical training pipelines between Senegal and the United States as well as important linguistic differences in the ways we refer to individuals with medical expertise. I identified differences in the prescription of antibiotics with important implications for regional antibiotic resistance and the continued use of medications discontinued in the United States and western Europe. Finally, I learned to recognize several local remedies with active ingredients that can alter the efficacy or potency of common American medications”

The informal aspects of the LITE were invaluable as they exposed scholars to religious, historical, and political aspects of Senegal’s identity that influence national outlook and continue to contribute to attitudes and nuances of daily interactions. “These are the kinds of details that cannot be conveyed in a textbook or lecture hall,” Jaramillo continued “I highly recommend the program to anyone with foreign language fluency and a dedication to global health or an interest in international affairs.”

Once accepted to the program, LEAP training is tailored to the proficiency level and interests of the scholar. In addition to immersions such as this, LEAP scholars have the opportunity to enroll in online “eMentor” courses that fit their schedules with dynamic one-on-one options available. Advanced scholars may be supported in undertaking research projects of linguistic and cultural topics with military relevance. Ultimately, motivated scholars may earn the Special Experience Identifier (SEI) and become eligible for taskings requiring fluency in their language of study. 

For more information, visit: https://www.airuniversity.af.edu/AFCLC/Language-studies/