Author: Ella Hubener | Major: Biology | Semester: Summer 2024
Presenting my final clinical case over the C-section and tubal ligation I observed during one of my rotations at Hospital UPAEP
I chose to study abroad in Puebla, Mexico because I was looking for a program that would allow me to help and observe physicians in a healthcare setting while also practicing my Spanish. In addition, I was super interested in living with a host family during my study abroad experience, so when I came across the Puebla program it was a perfect match for me! My time in Puebla lasted for a duration of 5 weeks during the summer of 2024. While abroad, the healthcare students had classes each weekday and every week, except for during our hospital rotation time slots. During these rotations we either went to our placements in the campus ER, campus clinic, campus physical therapy, Hospital Betania (where we observed radiology), or Hospital UPAEP (where we got to watch a wide variety of surgeries)! My favorite rotation spot was definitely Hospital UPAEP; I got to watch a triple hernioplasty, C-section, and tubal ligation while I was there! I ended up presenting my final clinical case on the C-section and tubal ligation surgeries that I observed; this was such a fun project! Our classes on campus covered many different topics, including CPR, trauma, burns, injections, and sports injuries. Towards the end of the program, we got to practice suturing on a cadaver, which was a very unique and memorable experience. Most of our professors were doctors or physical therapists from the clinics there on campus.
The top 5 particular moments that stood out to me from my trip were: getting to observe the surgeries in Spanish at Hospital UPAEP, visiting the Frida Kahlo museum in Mexico City, exploring the streets of the beautiful city of Cuetzalan, spending hours sitting around the dinner table visiting and joking with my host mom in Spanish, and literally feeling my Spanish-speaking skills flourish as the program went on!
During my study abroad experience, I was surprised most by how close I got with the other students who traveled there with me. There were students from Oklahoma, Michigan, and Wisconsin participating in the healthcare program along with us from Arkansas, and I ended up getting to know some of these students from other states really well. I initially didn’t even know many of the students traveling with me from Arkansas, but by the second week of the program, us and the students from the other states had already grown so close! I made some great friendships abroad that have thankfully carried over into my normal life back home; I still talk to many of these friends every day over the phone. We’re actually all planning another trip together to Mexico next year!
For other students interested in studying abroad, my main word of advice would be to make a super detailed packing list a while before actually packing, so that you have time to edit and add to the list if you remember more things to bring over time. Even when I did this, I still forgot to pack enough of one of my medicines to last me the entire 5 weeks! Fun fact: U.S. medicine prescriptions don’t carry over to Mexican pharmacies, so if this happens to you, make an appointment with a doctor there to prescribe you that same medication! On another note, 5 weeks was the longest I’d ever been away from home, and this made me a little nervous in terms of homesickness. To help prevent this, before I left I printed out a bunch of photos of my friends and family to display in my new bedroom in case I got homesick (which I did, but it wasn’t too bad)! Studying abroad was genuinely one of the best decisions I made during my time studying at the University of Arkansas. Yes, it was scary and uncomfortable at times, but in the end I’m left with so much more knowledge and so many more wonderful memories than before, all thanks to studying abroad!