Hey! My name is Katie Kita and I just completed my sophomore year of college. I am a public health major with a minor in social work, with hopes of going to Occupational Therapy school after graduation. The summer after my sophomore year, I went on the faculty lead trip Health Teams Abroad in Sweden. The purpose of this trip is to compare and contrast the health care system between the United States and Sweden, and trust me there is a lot!
I chose this trip specifically because it had to do with my major, it was faculty-led, and I would be going with other U of A students. The reasons I chose this trip are also the reasons why I had the best experience. I left for Sweden with 18 other classmates who by the end became genuine, lifelong friends. I got to know the 6 faculty on the trip who helped me in Sweden and I know will be there to help me throughout my studies. I always felt safe, prepared, excited, and much more because of the structure of HTA.
Health Teams Abroad left the Monday after school ended, so there was a quick turn around and I had to start preparing throughout the second semester. I started by getting a passport and a credit card, because I had neither. I completed some preliminary research about the country (culture, food, way of life), so I had a better understanding of what to expect. Something I wish I would have done is pay more attention to the weather. The group was told about the weather from previous years or looked up averages on the internet. Sweden is normally on the colder side and rainy, therefore I packed for cold and rainy. I failed to look at the temperature days before I left, or I would have seen the temperatures were rising. So my main tip will be check the weather for clothes to pack, and if you have room in your suitcase, pack a variety of clothes just in case.
The program was set up for the 19 students to participate in team based learning. This means we would be put in groups and complete various kinds of research, learn and bounce ideas off of each other, and talk through the issue we were trying to solve. We started with an 8-week class at the U of A, where we discussed US health care. In the US, we visited rehabilitation clinics, museums, and other medical centers to prepare us for what we would experience in Sweden. While in Sweden, we had classrooms set up at Jönköping University (JU) where we were integrated with JU students to learn about their healthcare system. We visited a nursing home, a medical school, private and public clinics, hospitals, museums, and much more.
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Katie spent the summer 2018 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.
Don't miss your opportunity to study or intern abroad! Start your search at http://studyabroad.uark.edu/search/
