This study abroad program was honestly so much more impactful than I thought it would be. Not only did it expand my knowledge in the academic field through the class itself, but I think I also grew a lot as a person from it. I expected to benefit from learning the content, of course, but I was surprised at how the environment I was in actually ended up being very conducive to introspection and self-growth. I think it was partly due to the nature of studying abroad, which requires you to be in an unfamiliar location amongst unfamiliar people, and partly due to our program instructors, who cultivated a specific classroom environment that translated over into our day-to-day lives as well.

 

I initially chose this program because I was interested in the class topic. I anticipated interdisciplinary study that would cover a variety of different fields, engagement with the local culture, and a more up-close examination of medicine and healthcare within society. I didn’t expect how the structure of the class itself would contribute so much to my learning as well. From the beginning, our instructors placed a great deal of emphasis on reflection and self-learning. A lot of our assignments and projects were relatively open-ended, and our schedule was organized so as to allow us plenty of free time. This isn’t to say that the class was lax, however, because we definitely had our fair share of academically rigorous content, but it was academically rigorous in the sense that it required us to analyze and contend with concepts that might be challenging, unfamiliar, or complicated—not in the sense that I felt like I was constantly under the pressure of needing to get a good grade. It was a kind of structure that I wasn’t very accustomed to, considering pretty much all university classes are more like the latter, but it was something that felt very refreshing and worked well in the context of study abroad. I appreciated that we were given the freedom to explore on our own time, because it helped me make connections with my peers in the program, figure out what kinds of things I was interested in, and truly get a sense of what London was like. It really made it feel worth it to travel to this country and do my learning here as opposed to just taking the same class in Seattle.

 

Our instructors also encouraged a certain mindset throughout all of our classroom time that I think greatly enhanced my free time as well. They wanted us to draw connections, think about the big picture, analyze the “why” behind different occurrences. As such, many of our in-class activities involved synthesizing our knowledge and figuring out how the pieces fit together, whether that was by making a timeline or plotting out mind maps. Our daily and weekly assignments were also centered on reflection, urging us to turn that scrutinizing gaze inwards and examine our thoughts, feelings, and opinions. What was the same? What was different? And why? All of these things taught me to articulate myself and really dig deep into the experiences I was having. I wanted to take something away from every experience, whether that was profound or mundane, and I think having this mindset significantly contributed to that.

 

I was able to have deep, introspective conversations with several of the friends I got close to—about how casual racism has shaped us while growing up, the unspoken social conventions and pressures of online media platforms, dealing with power dynamics in interpersonal relationships as a female, whether human nature is inherently “good” or “bad” or something else altogether, etc.—because the environment we were in was naturally conducive to those lines of discussion. We’d already been thinking about nuance and complexity in the healthcare system anyways; why not our own lives? As I learned more and more in class, I had a better grasp of how different structures in society functioned, and I became increasingly aware of the role I played and the purpose I had. As someone in their early 20s, I still have a lot to learn about myself. I’m still figuring out what I like and dislike (I realized I enjoyed nature and green spaces more than I thought I did!), how I work as a person (I’m also much less of an introvert than I thought I was), why I am the way I am (I think I spent a lot of my teenage years straining against people’s expectations of me), so on and so forth. It’s not that this study abroad experience has magically changed me as a person, or suddenly made me understand everything there is to know about myself, but I do think that it was very enlightening for me overall.

 

As far as course content itself goes, I also learned an incredible amount of information about both the US and the UK. I think that picking London as my study abroad destination made for a very interesting experience, especially when combined with the topic of this program. It was fascinating to see how two countries that were very similar in many ways yet different in others ended up the way they did. Seeing how the UK did things differently, from details as small as allergy policies in food establishments to systems as important as political election campaigns, was very eye-opening. By studying various subjects such as history, sociology, philosophy, ethics, and more, we were able to understand how the US and UK healthcare systems came to be and how they impact other aspects of society today. I really enjoyed the deep dives we did with our historical walking tours and guest speakers. Especially with our guest speakers, being able to see firsthand what the healthcare system is like in both countries from people who are directly involved in it proved to be quite riveting.

 

It was almost baffling in some instances to see how starkly the US and UK contrasted. In the US, medicine and public health have a great deal of overlap as a result of public health programs being severely underfunded and hospitals having to take on those responsibilities. In the UK, however, one of the doctors we spoke with was bewildered to even consider the notion that physicians or hospitals would be involved in public health, because there is such a clear division of duties. I think it says a lot about the way systems in general are structured in the US as opposed to the UK, and many of the day-to-day things I saw during my time in London only served to bolster that idea. The UK has a much better distribution of responsibilities, creating subdivisions to play specific roles and work in tandem with each other, rather than having one overarching entity shoulder everything on its own, like in the US.

 

This was further supported by my final project, in which I researched the pharmaceutical industries in both countries and how the cost of prescription drugs was determined. I loved that we were given the liberty to choose any topic as long as it was relevant to the course, because it meant that I was able to pick something that I was truly passionate about. It made the entire process of the project so much more interesting and engaging, and I ended up learning a lot about both countries’ systems. I’m very glad to have gotten the opportunity to dedicate my time to such a pursuit.

 

I am incredibly grateful that I was able to be a part of this study abroad program, and that I even decided to study abroad in the first place, because I wholeheartedly believe that it is an experience that I will carry with me for a long time. I’ve learned so much from it, and I’ve taken away many indispensable lessons. For a four-week program, it was far more valuable and transformative than I ever could have imagined. I think it’ll also prove to be very relevant to my future career path in the healthcare field, and I hope to benefit from all the knowledge I’ve gained.