After two and a half months abroad for the summer, I would give advice to future students that would want to go abroad for an internship or for studying to be open-minded and curious. While abroad, I went to many different countries in Europe such as Greece, Belgium and the Netherlands and every country had rich culture and amazing people. No matter where you go, there is so much to learn and appreciate. At first, I was afraid to immerse myself fully because it was a new culture, but I recommend putting yourself out there as much as you can, you’ll thank yourself later 🙂 I had thought, “wow 2.5 months is a long time to be abroad” but it truly flies by, so make sure to make the most of the experience.
For the last month in Germany I was able to work in a hospital in the cardiology department which prepared me immensely for my future career in medicine. While in the heart catheter unit, I was able to assist in two procedures which was amazing. I was worried that I would mess up because I don’t have the full training to be qualified but the doctors and nurses there were amazing and they wanted to help me learn, so they had a lot of patience and were able to talk me through a lot of my tasks. I was proud of myself for putting myself out there and it paid off. Studying abroad made me so appreciative of the time I was able to travel and see the world, and helped me realize that I definitely want to go into medicine. I met so many cool people, both colleagues and others that showed me the beauty of the countries and it helped me identify myself with loving to travel and enjoying learning about history outside of the classroom. I would 100% like to intern or study abroad in the future because I truly believe that it is such a unique experience and if given the opportunity, every student should take it.