Healthcare and Cultures #HogsAbroad in Sweden

Hello, my name is Jared Collier and I am a Fulbright Honors pre-med student majoring in Biology and minoring in Music. I had the opportunity to study abroad this summer with the Health Teams Abroad in Sweden program where we studied the differences in the healthcare systems in the US and in Sweden. We studied how societal values impact the way that policies and medical practice is performed in Sweden and why it is so different than the US. We spent two weeks teaming up with Jonkoping University located in Jonkoping Sweden. In the city we had lectures by healthcare professionals while also traveling to hospitals and clinics for study visits. We then traveled to Stockholm where we stayed for one week learning about societal values by going to many museums and more study visits. 

Before we left for the trip we all met once a week for 8-weeks where we looked at US policy, refugee care, cost, medical research and other factors involved in healthcare. While in Sweden we would have lectures from the Swedish healthcare professionals themselves teaching us about their jobs as doctors, researchers, policy makers, and former patients of the system. In the US before the trip we took study visits to places like UAMS, and Welcome Health Clinic where they taught us the American way of patient care. In Sweden we visited private and public clinics, elderly care facilities, hospitals, medical schools, research labs, and rehabilitation clinics.

I learned a lot of things about Swedish culture for example, the Swedish people tend to keep to themselves and try not to bother anyone else. It became noticeable to me when they never sat next to anyone on a bus instead they would just stand as to not disturb the person sitting down making a lot of empty seats on the bus. The Swedes are a very quiet group of people, so we always got looks when we were walking down the street as Americans tend to be louder.

Reindeer pasta

Popular dessert ice cream waffle 

Some of the biggest differences I discovered where that almost all the bathrooms were unisex. Every bathroom door had an occupied or vacant sign on it and the toilets had two flush options. The showers had no threshold to keep the water inside of the tub, so it would run all over the bathroom this meaning that you had to squeegee the water off the ground after you took a shower. Since Sweden is so far north during the summer time the sun never truly sets, meaning the country never got dark it would just get down to sunset and then rise again. Because of the constant light you had to sleep with an eye mask on because it was the only way for it to be dark.

Gamal Stan (old town) 

Picture from 2AM

Vassa: the world's oldest preserved ship

My overall study abroad experience was life-changing and opened my eyes on how things are done so differently in another part of the world. I encourage everyone to study abroad sometime in your life because it gives you valuable life experiences you cannot get any other way.

--
Jared spent the 2018 summer term in Sweden with our U of A Faculty-Led: Health Teams Abroad in Sweden with the help of our our Office of Study Abroad Scholarship and the Fulbright Honors: Sturgis Study Abroad Grant.

Don't miss your opportunity to study or intern abroad! Start your search at http://studyabroad.uark.edu/search/