Global Health internships in Argentina provide insight into culture, healthcare, Spanish language, and more. Read on to learn more about Fiona’s own experience, and explore how medical internships can empower your perspectives, broaden your career aspirations, and enrich your cultural understanding.
Hi Fiona! What can you tell us about your Global Health internship?
The Global Health internship program is built around the idea of shadowing in a hospital setting and learning through observation, which I was able to do for three weeks.
From when I first arrived, my expectations changed drastically. Initially, I believed that I would only be learning from shadowing in a hospital, and I had not expected to be learning alongside residents and advanced medical students. Not only did I learn so much about the healthcare system and culture from working within the walls of a hospital, I also learned so much simply by just exploring, listening, and observing people and places every day that I am here.
I was included in some “hands on” interaction with patients and although I was not carrying out tests or procedures, I was able to help the residents and doctors ask patients intake questions, conduct PCR and Echocardiogram tests, and I was even able to help conduct a diabetes nerve test and also a memory test for a patient.
One of the expectations that was exceeded involved the quality of healthcare available in Argentina. Not only are the doctors more determined and passionate than any other doctors I have ever met, but they are resourceful and are the reason the health care system works as well as it does here, whether the establishment is public or private.
This internship propelled me further towards my long-term goals of working within the healthcare field. Not only did the experiences allow me to apply what I had learned in a classroom, but they have also allowed me to picture myself working alongside other doctors in a hospital setting. If anything, this internship and learning experience has set me up for success with regards to the career path I intend to pursue.
How did this experience help empower you to overcome challenges?
In some ways, I feel less empowered because I wish I had had this experience earlier!! The transition overall was easier and I fell in love with a city that I had only just discovered. Aside from the nervousness of the uncertainty of being in a new country, the adjustment was fast and easy. I never imagined I would be so happy to be there within just days of being there. The most challenging aspect of this trip was adjusting to the Argentinian schedule (or lack of schedule).
I absolutely loved all of the new challenges I overcame. After this experience, I feel more empowered and certain that I want to pursue a career in the field of health. I am more certain that I find what I saw interesting and I learned so much about the hospital environment, I am currently looking for job opportunities close to my University to continue learning in the medical environment.
How did you enhance your cross-cultural intelligence?
Being around so many different people exposed me to a lot of different cultural values, some that I was aware of and some that were new to me.
The Argentinian work culture and environment was one that was very new to me, and I enjoyed it. Not only were people not overly obsessed with their jobs, the workplace wasn’t a high-strung and stressful environment. Everyone said “hi” to each other and asked them how they were doing. People took breaks to talk together and share food and a drink called mate, which is in itself a social tradition.
The biggest cultural lesson I learned from my time in Argentina had to do with stress, time, and punctuality. Given that I was working in a hospital, I had expected high-stress environments, but I was greatly surprised that a high-stress environment wasn’t needed to be a successfully operating work environment. Having grown up surrounded by the general expectation that stress is important in the medical field, my perception was completely altered and changed for the better.
I also learned to listen and understand and later apply cultural greetings, dialect, and language in interactions and conversations; adapt to the difference in cuisine and being open to trying new foods; being flexible to different time expectations and work environment; cultural literacy and adaptability; health literacy; and respecting cultural differences and adapting to learn and adjust.
What is your favorite memory from the internship?
I enjoyed every minute I’ve been able to be here in Córdoba. I have loved this experience and it has truly changed my life and helped me figure out what I want to do when I am older and out of school.
My favorite memory from the program was the day I spent in the Emergency Room (“La Guardia”) and was able to scrub in to watch an Appendix removal surgery. It was the first surgery I had ever watched and despite my initial expectations, I found it fascinating and was not affected by the blood as much as I had initially thought!
The lead surgeon also made the experience my favorite because he explained every step before, during, and after the surgery, so it was just as much a new medical experience as it was a way to learn how to explain a surgical procedure using medical terms in Spanish.
This being said, I will never forget walking around the city exploring the museums, admiring the cathedrals, and trying every possible ice cream and gelato shop around.
What advice would you give to future Global Health interns in Argentina?
A piece of advice I would give to others and to my past self now that I have experience working, learning, and living here is to have minimal expectations and embrace everything they are presented with. If you come in with standards and expectations, there’s no point in learning because changing already made expectations is more difficult than embracing new ones.
I would also add that watching and listening to others around you is how you learn and that mistakes are good as they make sure you get it right the second or third time.
Overall, be open, be willing to make mistakes and learn, and have fun learning!
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