The U.K., NHS, Scotland, Research and Travel

Before I returned to the US a few months ago my travels and education took me to the UK specifically Scotland. While in Scotland I worked with a PhD Candidate in the US via email to create an independent international research project. I geared my research toward identifying and understanding intercultural communication deficits in social medicine, capitalistic medicine and medicine in general. My goal was to give voice to patients in order to open a dialogue between physicians and their patients to facilitate better patient care. Although a lot of the blame tends to fall on physicians for issues in medicine the greater system and structure of a form of medicine are where most problems tend to begin which then fosters a lack of communication which metaphorically is normally the fault line in every massive medical earthquake.

Travelling to another country to shadow in a completely different medical system than the one I had grown accustomed to was extremely eye opening. In my opinion, the more you learn about different types of medical systems and practices the better you are able to understand the art of medicine beyond the medical systems. The goals of medicine never change no matter the location or the system; the passion for healing people, loving them, and understanding them is always there.

No matter where you decide to go the experience I''m sure will be absolutely amazing but let me tell you a little bit about where I went. Scotland is a beautiful place full of beautiful warmhearted people. the land is green and the rolling hills stretch as far as your eye can see. The ocean is beautiful, steely blue grey, cold, and rough much like the accents of those who live in the area. Depending on where you are the demographic and types of communities change, I was in a town called Aberdeen where the majority of the population consisted of the elderly as well as university students(mostly International students). The medical school at the University of Aberdeen has an outstanding staff that are extremely helpful. The hospitals are different but function well with the resources they have and everyone is extremely dedicated to your learning and experience as long as you are just as dedicated.

TIP: If you want to shadow while on exchange in the UK within the NHS I would recommend contacting a physician ahead of time through your school, church, or by emailing a physician directly. The process of getting approved to shadow can be extensive and may take months since in the UK (unlike in the US ) shadowing in hospitals is geared toward accommodating their medical students who begin clinical rotations in their first year of study.

TIP: FOR HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS If you are in high school and have done well on your ACT and are sure that you want to go into medicine you may want to consider applying to a medical school in the UK. You would start right out of high school and will complete your MD in 5 years plus a number of years to specialize (this number depends on the speciality). I recommend that you consider where you want to practice medicine before making this decision because after completing medical school and residency in the UK the transition back to the US medical system can be extremely difficult and may result in you having to redo your residency adding to the time you must wait to practice with full authority as a physician.

Travelling, in general, is eye opening to the human condition. Understanding humans in general across cultures, in my opinion, is one of the most important aspects of practicing medicine and preparing to practice it at any level. Everywhere you go if it is down the street to the groceries store, travelling to a new city, country , or even an entirely different continent you have the opportunity to learn about people and how to better help them so don't ever waste an opportunity.

On the topic of research, as premed's we have all heard that you should get research experience. Contrary to popular belief research doesn't necessarily have to include working in a wet lab. Also, research isn't the only option when thinking of how to spruce up your application. You should do something that you enjoy and that includes aspects of your passions . For example, I am a multidisciplinary studies major so I developed my degree to fit what I love and part of that is intercultural communication and global medicine; this is the reason my research focuses on communication in medicine and global medicine as a whole.

More on my research... I plan on eventually publishing my research findings in the future but until then I will continue to add to it as I continue learning about different communities while volunteering and shadowing physicians around the globe. I will make a future post detailing my plans to publish my research findings at a later date.

#reseach #travel #Independentstudy #foreignexchange #UKMedicalschools #highschooltip