Author: Alekhya Kavi | Major: Chemistry | Semester: Summer 2025
Painting for our future!
My name is Alekhya Kavi and I’m in Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences majoring in Chemistry with a concentration in Biochemistry and minoring in Medical Humanities and Computer Science on the pre-med track. I had the amazing opportunity of studying abroad as part of the Health Teams Abroad in Sweden program where we visited two cities in Sweden for three weeks during summer intersession. I applied to this program because of the valuable experience I had heard many others talk about for those pursuing a healthcare related field. I loved that I was able to holistically compare many factors about the healthcare system in the U.S. versus that of Sweden while taking excursions and field visits as part of the hands-on experience. Being able to talk to various providers to study the difference between private or public care or how the nursing home system or preschool system worked was such a great experience to hear about how the systems differed or compared to what we had experienced in the U.S. We were also able to have speakers that had gone through the system to talk about any cultural or systematic difficulties they had faced as well. I was so grateful for the ability to explore the culture and food aspects of the cities we had visited in our downtime where I was able to connect with my peers and create lifelong friendships. When visiting Stockholm, we were able to explore the city as part of a scavenger hunt activity where we really immersed ourselves with Old Town and the beautiful architecture of the historic city.
Some unforgettable moments from the trip would have to be our group bonding activities including our hikes and attending the world ice hockey champions to see the U.S. win for the first time in more than 90 years. The ability for my study abroad group to connect was reiterated in our inclusivity and attentiveness to our peers’ experience as well as our own. Being able to understand the historical context behind our museum or site visits helped enrich the experience of studying what I could’ve learned from a presentation. Visiting the country we were studying and understanding the context of why their system works in accordance to their population size was so helpful for the experience and shaping me to become a better healthcare worker in my future. I was also grateful to hear personal experiences from some of the Swedes we had met and talked to and going forward, I hope to maintain those connections and learn from them further on aspects of our system that I can personally help improve.
My advice to others wanting to study abroad in this program or other programs is to not be afraid of navigating the new country because the peers that will be on the trip as well are such a great resource. Having others with you going through the same experience of finding places to eat or finding activities to participate in makes it easy to feel a little relaxed and also make friendships. As some might say, “trauma bonding” makes relationships stronger! Being part of a faculty led program was also so helpful because I had someone that had been to this country previously for advice or navigation help as well. My group was also able to really connect with the faculty members as part of our program and knowing that I will have their assistance and guidance going into the future is comforting me for my time at U of A.