Author: Annie Morrow | Major: Communication Sciences and Disorders | Semester: Summer 2024
Hej hej! My name is Annie Morrow, and I am going into my junior year at the University of Arkansas. I am studying Communication Sciences and Disorders on track to become a speech-language pathologist. This summer, I studied abroad in Sweden with the UA Health Teams Abroad program!
I chose to travel with Health Teams Abroad for many reasons. First, traveling to Sweden was a dream come true for me. Especially regarding healthcare, l knew that Sweden had a reputable system. Because this program is 3 weeks long and about the length of an intercession, Health Teams Abroad allowed me to study the Swedish healthcare system with a group of 20 other students from the University of Arkansas. These were students that I have had many classes with and even worked on my honors project with. In that sense, it was very personal. Additionally, the program also allowed me to travel with faculty members and professors that I had previous classes with to further learn and connect with them. I loved the idea of the intentionality of this program and that personal level of learning. It was easy for me to choose Health Teams Abroad in Sweden, and I am so thankful I did!
Academically, the purpose of our trip was to compare the Swedish and American healthcare systems and learn about inter-professional work. Before we left, we studied the American system and visited several clinics. In Sweden, we immersed ourselves into that system. We spent two weeks at Jönköping University in Jönköping, Sweden. Every day was a little different, but we attended lectures about the healthcare system, taxes, legality, occupational therapy, speech therapy, and more. Sometimes it was just UA students in a lecture, and sometimes we were with the Swedish students on campus engaging in round table discussions. Generally, we would have one lecture per weekday and one site visit. During the site visits, we toured rehabilitation centers, nursing homes, public hospitals, private primary care centers, mental health centers, and more. We were able to learn about the systems, the strengths and weaknesses, and what kinds of leadership are needed in our future practice. Additionally, we were assigned mock cases in groups. Each group represented an inter-professional team based on our majors. My group had a nurse, a speech pathologist, a premed, and a physical therapist. Our mock case was the treatment of an 18-month-old girl with hearing loss, speech delays, and developmental delays. The entire time we were in Sweden, we researched how her case would be treated in Sweden as compared to the United States. I learned a lot, and while both countries have their strengths and weaknesses, I learned some strategies and ideas to be the best I can be in my future professional world. I also learned about working as a team and with other healthcare professionals. These are skills I will utilize forever! During our last week, we went to the capital city, Stockholm. We did many fun activities and we learned about various forms of research, institutions, and the Nobel Prize (which is based out of Sweden).
Something that surprised me the most during my study abroad experience was the amount of impac]ul friendships and relationships that I built in Sweden. I did not know very many people going on this trip, and I certainly did not know anyone well. Furthermore, we were assigned random roommates and there were a variety of majors and ages on the trip. I expected to surely have a friend or two by the end, but I did not expect to get to know every single person on our trip on such a personal level. Some lifelong friends were made and I got to make 20 new brothers and sisters! The faculty members also became like our family. Our group dynamic was something special and I am so thankful for that. I expected to learn a lot about healthcare (I learned many surprising things there too), but I did not expect to learn so much about my fellow peers and people whom I may have never crossed paths with if it weren’t for Health Teams Abroad. HTA forever!