後醫三白欣玉

Exchange Program Reflection

During this past winter break, I participated in the professional exchange program of International Federation of Medical students Association.  Each school will first host a series of tests and interviews to evaluate all the applicants.  After the suitable candidates are chosen, they will be able to choose a few countries they will want to spend up to a month there.  If a match can be made, the students will then be able to do clinical exchange in the hospital of the country of his choice.  This is exactly the process that I had to go through when I first applied, and I was matched up with University Hospital of Patras in Greece.  For three weeks, I was in its General Surgery Department, shadowing the local doctors and students.

My daily itinerary included being at the hospital by nine in the morning, following the doctors and students do rounds, and going into the operation room if there were surgeries scheduled.  Unfortunately, I was not allowed to scrub in during the surgeries, so I could only watch them from afar.  However, some students did let me perform a few simple physical examinations and take ECG on some patients while we were in the ward.  Since for the majority of time, everyone spoke in Greek, I would have to rely on the occasional short explanations or translation by students.

Overall, the experience was more than just a culture shock, it also helped me learn more about where we stand on the international platform.  Greece is currently facing a serious economic crisis, so according to many people I have met here, the government funding to the public hospitals has greatly decreased.  However, this explanation did not fully compensate my surprises when I walk around the hospital.  Although I was placed in one of the largest hospitals in Patras, it felt more like our local community hospitals.  The facility, equipments, and standard of care appeared to be many years behind. 

I was able to observe many surgeries from various doctor in the general surgery department, and they were admirable in their knowledge and skills; however, I could not help but feel like the environment were not up to par with them.  However, as one student here said to me, they make do with what they have and learn however they can.  I was immediately abashed when I heard what he said because before our conversation, I was unconsciously thinking less of their whole medical system. 

As mentioned before, this experience allowed me to truly see what the medical care is like in another country.  Moreover, it made me realize how much we, as students, future doctors, and patients, take Taiwan’s healthcare for granted.  Compared to their facility and training, I think medical students in my university really have great opportunities to learn from amazing teachers and to be given advanced trainings.  As for our patients, they should really feel fortunate that they are given such a high level of care with such a low price tag. 

I would say this was a very eye-opening experience, and I greatly appreciate our school for providing partial sponsorship for us to go abroad.