Global Health Experience Essay

Pooja Patel

I spent the summer after my M1 year in Zaragoza, Spain shadowing numerous different physicians, learning about the Spanish healthcare system, and traveling, and it was one of the best experiences of my life. During my first week, I shadowed in the emergency room and in a gynecology surgical center. I loved being at the gynecology surgical center in particular because we were able to see hysterectomies, breast tumor resections, ectopic cyst removals, and laparoscopic procedures up close. We were even able to scrub into surgeries and the doctors were fantastic at explaining what they were doing step by step and let us feel tumors and enlarged uteruses which were experiences that I had not had at home.

The doctors were all extremely friendly and we talked with them a lot about the universal healthcare system that Spain has and the pros and cons of it compared to the American system. They were also very interested in our system of medical education because in Spain, high scoring high school students go straight into medical school which is 6 years. We also talked about the work life balance and how many doctors will take long coffee breaks or will finish up their work days around 2 pm for siesta time.

During our second week I was with a family medicine physician and a neonatal medicine physician.Family medicine appointments in Spain are very different from the way they are at home. In Spain, appointments are scheduled for only 4-6 minutes each and each the day the doctor will see close to 15-20 patients. Some patients will only come in to get a refill of their prescription and the doctor won’t even have to get up out of his/her seat during the appointment. It was very interesting to see how relaxed and easy going the patients are, even when the doctors are running late.

My third and final week in Zaragoza I got to work with a nephrologist, orthopedic surgeon, pediatrician, and a rural medicine physician which were all unique experiences. At the hospital with the nephrologist we were able to see surgeons prepare and transplant 2 kidneys up close, and with the orthopedic surgeon I was able to scrub into a femur fracture repair and help the resident suture at the end. Working with the rural medicine physician was also an exceptional experience and like nothing I had ever done before. Rather than being in a hospital in Zaragoza we went to 2 small villages about an hour away to see patients who have limited access to medical care. This experience was similar to the family medicine practice in Zaragoza but a little more extensive because she also performed procedures such as injection of steroids into arthritic knees (that we got to help out with).

We spent our weekends in Barcelona and Madrid and had the chance to experience the cuisine, culture, and festivals of the cities. We arrived in Barcelona on the night of the summer solstice when people light bonfires, throw firecrackers, and light fireworks to celebrate the solstice. We were also in Madrid during their annual gay pride weekend and attended concerts by prominent gay singers and musicians who perform until the early morning. We tried a lot of the popular tapas, saw popular attractions like Park Guell and SagradaFamilia, and also went to museums like El Prado. And of course we made time for the beautiful Barceloneta beach, paella, and sangria. We also spent many of our free evenings exploring Zaragoza and learning about our host city. Even though Zaragoza isn’t as large of a city as Barcelona or Madrid, it had plenty to do. We had time to visit the Goya Museum, have tapas in El Tubo, go inside the Pillar, and visit Aljaferia which used to be an Arabic castle. Overall it was an amazing trip and I’m so glad for every single experience that I had while abroad. I was able to learn so much about the Spanish healthcare system, education system, and culture.