Author: Parker Isaacks | Major: Data Science | Semester: Summer 2025
“Blue Hall” of City Hall
Hello, my name is Parker Isaacks and I recently attended Health Teams Abroad in Sweden. This program is a summer program, and I was the first Data Science major to go on this trip. When I joined the college of engineering, I didn’t quite know what my study abroad options would look like, but I knew that I wanted to. My mom studied abroad in college and she still talks about her experiences in Scotland, so I knew that I wanted those same experiences. I studied abroad in Jonkoping and Stockholm Sweden for 3 weeks this summer. Going on this trip made sense because it is specifically targeted for pre-medical students such as myself. In fact, the whole point of the program is to help conceptualize the difference between healthcare in the USA and in Sweden.
The most standout moments on this trip were all of the site visits we made and the final presentation that we gave. We went to several different hospitals, habilitation centers, and even one of the only medical theaters in the world. During each site visit we got a tour of the facility and could ask questions to the Swedish healthcare professionals. I quickly learned that Sweden really tries to foster collaboration in all aspects of daily life, even those that are extremely competitive in the states. Furthermore, the final presentation was extremely impactful on this trip. We worked in small groups on a fictional case study for a person named Johanna during different points in her life. We had to learn about the care teams that would treat her in each place, and how they compare with each other. Through this, we learned how Sweden’s healthcare has its ups and downs. For example, their healthcare may be highly subsidized, but it can be hard to get consistent appointments for chronic diseases. My main non-academic standout moment was watching the USA national ice hockey team beat Switzerland in the gold medal game to take home the title for the first time in 92 years. This moment will forever be something that I will talk about because the vast majority of fans in A VICII Stadium were for Switzerland. Overall, these moments will definitely stick with me for a lifetime. Something that really surprised me in Sweden is how accommodating everything is. Of course there is the obvious factor that they start teaching English in elementary school, but the buildings are also so much more accommodating. The average age of buildings in Sweden is much higher than ours, but they are much more wheelchair accessible by being easier to navigate and having wheelchair lifts. Also, I have seen a lot more wheelchair friendly automatic doors. On top of that, the vast majority of bathrooms here have wheelchair bars that come down to make it much easier for people to use the bathroom. It has been really interesting to be in a country that tries its best to accommodate disabled people instead of seeing them as an afterthought. Hopefully, as we go into the future we can bring this same dedication to our own country