Hello! I can hardly believe that I am halfway through the Comparative Healthcare in Graz program. Our days have been jam-packed with things to do: classes, medical site visits, cultural activities, and weekend trips to Salzburg and Croatia. I’ve even had the chance to visit my relatives in the Austrian countryside. All these activities have made the time fly. I’m looking forward to two more weeks of fun, with more local excursions in Graz followed by a weekend in Vienna and a week in Slovenia.
Graz (as well as my other destinations) has been a wonderful place to stay so far. The city is much more walkable than American cities, and prioritizes pedestrian and bicycle infrastructure. Graz is also very clean, even though public trash cans are harder to find than in the US. It seems Austrians are more considerate of their cities and the responsibility to keep them clean. I am also surrounded by history in Graz. Many beautiful buildings (such as palaces, churches, gardens, etc.) date back to Graz’s centuries of Habsburg rule, reflecting Austria’s former wealth and power. We have learned about Austria’s history as Europe’s foremost land empire in our class, and I hear many of its rulers’ names again at the destinations I visit.
The Austrian speakers we have meet have been incredibly welcoming and excited to show us Austria’s healthcare system. The Austrian government makes healthcare accessible to all its citizens, providing everyone with some form of national health insurance which can be supplemented with private insurance. This is markedly different from America, where private insurance is the norm unless someone is elderly or low-income. Austria’s pharmacy system also emphasizes accessibility, with the government mandating that at least one pharmacy in an area must be open at all hours. Pharmacists in Austria often also make their own medicines from plants, which a pharmacist can suggest without a physician’s prescription. For all the areas of care the national healthcare system is unable to cover (emergency services, care for disabled, homeless, refugees, etc.), the government provides funding support to outside, non-profit organizations, such as the local Catholic diocese or the Red Cross, to fill in the gaps. These organizations provide care at no or little cost, and appear to have a much more prevalent role in healthcare than in the US. Austrian healthcare is not without its own problems: national physician and nurse shortages, as well as an unwillingness for some primary care providers to accept public insurance, has made it harder to access care than in past years. America has many medical schools, and is opening more in anticipation of its physician shortage, but Austria has historically only had three, making its shortage harder to solve.
As I mentioned before, my time in Austria has been very fast-paced and busy. I am not sure that this is representative of the overall pace of life in Austria, where stores close at 5, a public holiday occurs nearly every week, and an afternoon “Jause” (snack and chat) is common. A typical day for me consists of a morning medical site visit or cultural activity, followed by class that leads into the afternoon or evening. I then go out to have dinner and explore the city with my friends. At Pitt, I have more schoolwork, but also less class and more free time. The weekends here have offered a welcome opportunity for me to relax, explore, and take my mind off school.
Like Pittsburgh, Graz is a student city. Both places can be very active, especially around the universities, but are more sleepy than cities such as Philadelphia near where I live. I see many people, especially young people, out and about around me. But as evening comes, the city usually quiets down save for its many church bells which chime on the hour. Even having spent only two weeks in Graz, I can navigate the city very easily, and feel quite used to life here. After rounding out my time in Graz, I will have a whole new country (Slovenia) to explore and become accustomed to. I’m excited for what the next two weeks will hold, and will definitely have more to share.
Until next time!
