Author: Zaqariah Qureshi | Major: Biochemistry | Semester: Summer 2025

Me sitting on the cliffside of Inishmore

This summer, I had the opportunity to participate in a faculty-led study abroad trip to Ireland. We surveyed the healthcare system of Ireland and toured interesting, unique projects in the social services sector in three different cities – Limerick, Galway, and Dublin.

I was drawn to this program because of two factors – the activities of the program itself and the Republic of Ireland. The program was to compare the healthcare and social care systems of Ireland to that of the U.S. and to evaluate how culture and history impacts the delivery of healthcare and social services. I want to become a psychiatrist after my undergraduate studies, and I believe studying how culture impacts healthcare delivery could be an incredibly fruitful thing to learn, especially when practicing in a multicultural society such as the United States. Understanding alternative ways to administer healthcare and social care could also prove very useful in my future practice in the mental health industry. Besides the program, I was also drawn to spending time in the Republic of Ireland. I find the history of Ireland interesting, and I really appreciate the beautiful nature the island has to offer. The history of the Republic of Ireland is one of triumph, as the Irish people fought valiantly to achieve their freedom from Great Britain; it is a history that is remarkably analogous to that of the United States. The Irish people are very prideful for their history, something I got to experience in-person talking with Irish locals. The nature there I heard is absolutely astonishing there, as well, so I was drawn to study there for the summer because I really enjoy hiking outdoors.

The healthcare of Ireland is interesting, as it’s a mixed market economy where some of the healthcare institutions are private businesses and some are public organizations. We primarily toured charity organizations that received funding from the Health Service Executive (HSE), which is their government public health department. We also toured an HSE office to see how the public health system works and how they direct national efforts to protect and improve the health and well-being of Irish citizens. While we were touring the social care organizations, we got the wonderful opportunity to interact with service users, caretakers, and organizational leaders to better understand the organizations we were touring and how healthcare is conducted in Ireland. For example, we toured an organization called The Irish Wheelchair Association (IWA), who provides services and support systems for people with physical disabilities. We sat with an executive member of the company who explained the organization’s values, goals, and methods in the context of Irish healthcare. She then asked us how that compares to how these services would be executed in U.S. healthcare, and we’d ask questions to deepen our understanding of social care in Ireland. After this pre-brief, we then had a day of activity with the people who receive services from the IWA; we conversated, played games, and sang music. This was the basic format for most of the visits at the social care facilities.

The Irish nature did not disappoint. A plethora of trails, parks, and sights to see was available for me to indulge in. In three weeks, I went on several hikes, excursions, and bus tours, and I still didn’t see all of the nature I wanted to see. I’ve spent time hiking around The Natural State, and I thought I had seen some of the best Mother Nature has to offer, so I was very surprised when Ireland continued to amaze me. The sights of the Ring of Kerry, Cliffs of Moher, and the Aran Islands were astonishing, and the all-encompassing growth and green of forested trails were such a pleasure to walk through, and it was not uncommon to stumble across a castle or castle ruins while hiking these trails. The locals of Ireland were also incredibly friendly and curious about how life is in the U.S. The cultural exchange was an unexpectedly fun aspect of this study abroad trip. One thing I found hilarious were the unimpressed faces of locals as I showed them pictures of me in the nature they had been familiar with all their life.

Ireland was a very transformative experience for me. One thing I’ve taken away from the program is the philosophy of a lot of these social care facilities. They were very person-oriented, and they stayed away from a streamlined, medicalized process. This was especially evident in their most popular adolescence mental healthcare organization, Jigsaw. Jigsaw is a charity organization funded by the HSE. They provide mental health services such as psychiatry and therapy for people aged 12-25. Jigsaw avoids the Diagnostic Model and does not diagnose people. Essentially, the organization feels as though categorizing people into different diagnoses is inherently stigmatizing and unproductive, so instead, they tailor and personalize services to each individual to fit their needs and desires. This person-centered approach is something I’d love to embody as a future physician.

I’m very grateful for the opportunity to participate in this program, and I’m grateful for the experiences I acquired while in Ireland. Thank you to the faculty members who made sure my experience on the trip was comfortable and thank you to the University of Arkansas for funding this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.