Author: Charles Smith | Major: Exercise Science | Semester: Summer 2025

Representing the hogs before our first hike

  This past May, I was fortunate to be selected for the HTA Sweden study abroad program, where myself and 20 other Uark students majoring across biology, exercise science, biomedical engineering, and data science spent three weeks engrossing ourselves into the Swedish Healthcare system. We all had a fantastic time getting to fully immerse ourselves in the local culture; we visited healthcare facilities, local markets, churches, and city tours aplenty. I believe that as a result of participating in this program, we’ve all come back to the US with a new understanding for both our own healthcare system just as much as Sweden’s – and I believe it’ll make all of us much better healthcare professionals in our future careers.

The United States is often criticized for its mostly privatized healthcare system. Common arguments cite a lack of universal aid or programming to help those who can’t afford treatment, leaving many to forego seeking treatment altogether. In a country founded on the basis of limiting government control and limiting taxation as much as possible, its easy to understand why we’ve set ourselves up this way – regardless of which side of the argument you fall on. Sweden is unique though. While the US favors lower taxation in exchange for being responsible for our own medical bills, Sweden prefers the inverse. After paying roughly 10% more in taxes (depending on income level, this could be higher), virtually all medical bills are covered by the government. Because of this stark contrast to our own system, Sweden piqued my interest and became an instant top candidate program for my study abroad venture.

I was very curious to see how a centralized healthcare system seemed to work so well in a country that, all things considered, wasn’t too much different from the US in terms of government structure. Once we finally reached our first city, Jonkoping, and attended our first study visit, my understanding began to take shape.

We arrived at the public health clinic on our third day after spending the first two settling in and attending lectures at the local university. Immediately upon arrival, you could tell that this facility was no small operation – seven stories tall, with multiple smaller wings branching off. You wouldn’t believe that this was almost entirely government funded, but it was. As we entered and began our discussion with the clinic head, we got our best look at the attitude towards healthcare we had received yet. To the people of Sweden, the higher taxation is almost an afterthought to them. They discuss their 34% income tax (55% for most doctors) as if it’s no issue at all. As an American, it was almost impossible to imagine being okay with taxation that high regardless of the benefit. But as we continued throughout the following weeks, it was easier to see the variables at play that shaped their views.

Sweden is a very old country – yes, in terms of history – but also in their population age. They also struggle with common disease as a result of their brutal winters – a very large part of their population has diagnosed asthma. Both of these factors lead to a high reliance on medical services, and so the general attitude seems to be that since they’re going to need those services anyways, they may as well pay the extra tax to avoid paying even more out of pocket eventually.

If I could give any advice to someone considering studying abroad, it would be to do it 100%. This was a massive step outside of my comfort zone, and in hindsight I can’t believe that I was originally on the fence. My world view has changed SO much. Having experienced both systems, I firmly believe that no single system could ever work well everywhere – societal and cultural factors play such a big role that it would be a nightmare for the US’s healthcare system to work in place of Sweden’s, just as much as I believe theirs wouldn’t work well here.  Besides the academic takeaways though, I’ve built such strong friendships with everyone I’ve been able to meet. Not only did I make 20 new friends in the Uark students I traveled with as well as our advisors, I was able to make plenty in Sweden as well between our lecture leaders, other university students, and locals.