Initially my main motivation for doing a study abroad program was just to travel and get to experience life in some new cities and countries. This was of course a great part of my time abroad, but I didn’t expect to find so much growth and learning in so many different areas. As a healthcare student, I found immense value in every activity and found every single day engaging and exciting. I found such a sense of reassurance that I’m studying an area I truly enjoy, as well as one where there is always something to learn and a new perspective to consider. Getting to talk to local Austrians and Slovenians about their experience with their healthcare system and hear their understanding of ours gave me a lot of insight on what we can appreciate about American healthcare and what could benefit from change. The major benefit to universal healthcare is that no citizen ever has to feel the immense stress or even guilt that Americans do for seeking intensive, costly healthcare services. The government has more control and structured support for its citizens. However, the chief complaint of people we talked to was that they made less money/are forced to pay more in taxes in order to contribute to this coverage. Any national system has its pros and cons for everyone, but my main takeaway was the sense of community and support that it gave the country. In Austria it is much more common for people to volunteer in their free time, not only at shelters or soup kitchens but demanding organizations like Red Cross, the fire department, hospital staff, and military services. A country that is built on community and mutual support leads to a culture of the same vein.
Not only did I learn a lot about healthcare and culture, but this program was an a fantastic experience for personal growth. I knew ahead of time it would be a demanding test of independence and confidence, and that is exactly what it was. Not only were the logistics of traveling alone and adjusting to a new country challenging but also having longs days of learning new things and meeting new people every day for four weeks. It was much more of a social exercise than I anticipated, getting to know my classmates spending every day together while also finding the motivation to interact with as many locals as we could. One of the difficulties of the program was just how busy we were while feeling pretty tired from jet lag! In hindsight, I wouldn’t have it any other way. My fellow classmates all agreed we got the very most of any study abroad program we possibly could have and got to see everything and more that we could’ve asked for.
Having such great support and community throughout the program was hugely important to having as positive of an experience as I did. Our leaders Orin and Tomaz, Maria and Shima, and all the university student helpers made every day run so smoothly. Our program was all Pitt students, which I didn’t consider being super important at first but ended up being a big help to feeling a little more at home. I didn’t know or even recognize most of the girls on our program, but being all pre-health students we found lots in common right away. The itinerary and program itself would have been amazing no matter what, but getting to enjoy it with classmates I had so much fun with really made all the difference. I was sad to leave our trip, but it didn’t feel like I was leaving anything behind knowing we get to come back to Oakland and see all the same friendly faces. I could not recommend this program enough to anyone who’s interested in healthcare, Austria/Slovenia, or even none of the above. With such an expansive and immersive study abroad experience, everyone had different favorite moments and different takeaways. I’m so grateful I got to be a part of such a wonderful program and have such a positive and fun experience overall.
