Myself in a handmade flower crown on Sweden’s 500-year jubilee.
Author: John Miller | Major: Public Health | Semester: Summer 2023
Waking up to chirping magpies and the blinding sun’s rays seems like an ordinary experience for many Americans. Facing these sights and sounds at 3:30 am, however, was not how I thought I’d spend most mornings in June. Although I didn’t fully anticipate many attributes of my Swedish summer, each of my days (which had about 18 hours of daylight) brought new experiences, friendships, and perspectives that I’ll never forget.
As a public health major and a premedical student, I felt pressure to spend this summer gaining clinical experience or taking extra classes. However, when I heard about a comparative healthcare program in Sweden called Health Teams Abroad, I realized both these goals could be achieved while in Europe. Although I wasn’t super confident in my qualifications, I applied to Heath Teams Abroad (HTA) because wanted to expand my perception of medicine beyond microscopic processes I learn about in biology and chemistry courses. Going abroad, especially to a country with universal healthcare like Sweden, seemed like a great way to achieve this goal.
As a public health major and a premedical student, I felt pressure to spend this summer gaining clinical experience or taking extra classes. However, when I heard about a comparative healthcare program in Sweden called Health Teams Abroad, I realized both these goals could be achieved while in Europe. Although I wasn’t super confident in my qualifications, I applied to Heath Teams Abroad (HTA) because wanted to expand my perception of medicine beyond microscopic processes I learn about in biology and chemistry courses. Going abroad, especially to a country with universal healthcare like Sweden, seemed like a great way to achieve this goal.
Once we arrived in country, we rode a bus to Jönköping, Sweden and stayed there for two weeks as guests of Jönköping University. Students from the school gave us tours of the city, while the university’s faculty lectured us on Swedish culture, healthcare systems, and government programs. Everyone spoke English fluently, which made lectures easy to follow and allowed us to ask them complex questions. Learning about the healthcare benefits that Swedes experience because of their tax system was interesting (like free healthcare for children, paid leave for both parents when they have a child, free insulin for people with diabetes, etc.), but seeing these programs in person was crucial to my understanding.
During the week, I had this opportunity as we toured clinics, rehabilitation centers, or elderly care facilities almost every day. For me, a moment that really highlighted the difference between the American and Swedish system was when we toured the elderly care facility in Sweden. This facility was free for all Swedish citizens, and had large single rooms for each resident, a heated pool with nice exercise equipment, a garden run by residents, and a woodworking area where patients could work under supervision. In the United States, I’ve been to different nursing homes to visit family, and they have much less amenities while being very expensive for residents. Comparing these facilities revealed how Swedish healthcare policies allow the country to honor certain cultural values, like honoring elders. Our professors consistently encouraged these comparisons, which we were able to discuss during the classroom time.
Most of the work we were expected to complete was in the form of our attendance at lectures and clinic visits. We had a final presentation at the end of our time in Jönköping, in which we diagnosed a paDent and discussed the types of care they would receive in both Sweden and the United States. Although we had less assignments than what one might have in a class at the U of A, I feel like I learned a lot because 1) I wasn’t stressed about tons of assignments and 2) I was really interested in the topics we discussed.
Swedish culture was most evident when we got to experience the country outside of the classroom. The most evident custom that we consistently saw in clinics and other facilities was called “fika,” which is a type of break that usually involves coffee and a pastry. This break can occur before or after lunch and is meant to be a time when friends or colleagues connect with each other. Fika is widely practiced throughout Sweden, and many of the clinics we visited provided us with fika before our tour to ensure we felt welcome. A less concrete aspect of Swedish culture is their focus on the wellbeing of their community as a whole; this was evident to us in the advanced eldercare that I mentioned above, consistently accessible buildings, and a focus on respecting others in public spaces (like buses or other transport).
After two weeks in Jönköping, we headed to Stockholm for the “cultural education” portion of the trip. Here we went to museums and got to see sites that are frequently visited by tourists. Learning about Vikings, Swedish royalty, and Swedish warships was interesting, and we had a lot of free time to experience the city. We rented bikes to ride, kayaked as a group, and explored old town (a more historic portion of the city). While in Stockholm, we also experienced Midsummer and Midsummer’s Eve, which is treated as a holiday in Sweden. The week leading up to the holiday was Sweden’s 500-year jubilee, and we had the opportunity to see the king of Sweden speak and make traditional flower crowns. This experience was awesome and made me feel like a real Swede!
Overall, this trip really expanded my perspective, and I had a fantastic time. To improve my experience on the trip, I wish I’d known beforehand about all the free time that we would have in Stockholm, so that I would have done more research on fun things to do there. When I returned home, one of the first things I did is create a Word document about my recommendations and top moments of the program, so email me if you have any questions about HTA (jgm017@uark.edu)! I would completely recommend this program for any students interested in medicine, occupational/physical therapy, or healthcare in general.