Exchange report - Student at KI
The beach in Cascais, near Lisbon
Home university: Instituto Politécnico de Lisboa - Escola Superior de Tecnologia da Saúde de Lisboa
Study programme: Biomedical Laboratory Science
Exchange programme: Erasmus
Semester: Spring semester 2014/2015

Pre-departure

Exchange in Portugal


I chose to go on exchange studies to experience something new, meet new people and to learn a different way of living. The partner university is one that has cooperated with KI for years and it felt to be the safest and best option. I heard from students being at the exchange before that they had a great time and I could't be more exited. As soon as all the dates of the exchange were set I booked the flight tickets and started looking for a place for me and my friends to live. That was one of the trickier parts, to find a good and fairly cheap place to live at. 

Some months before departure there were some "complications" with the learning agreement that me and another classmate were supposed to have. We had applied for 8 weeks (instead of the regular 13 weeks) and we were told that we might have to go for the latter option. In the end we were told that the 8 weeks will work out. 

We did not have to take any vaccines before going to Lisbon but we had some paper-signing to do at the student-coordinator's office.

Shortly before departure I was contacted by my "buddies" from Portugal and they told me they would meet me up at the airport and drive me to the place I was staying, which was very convenient. 

Arrival and registration

I arrived just one day before everything was supposed to start, and that worked but it would have been a bit easier going a day or so earlier. I was greeted by my buddies from the partner university. They were really nice and they drove me to the apartment I was staying in for the first night. 
The next day I went to the university and was introduced to the students-coordinator and we had a "welcome talk" and got lots of information, papers and we met even more people. We were offered a Portuguese language course but I chose not to attend. 
My buddies took me to a burger restaurant that was very good. My buddies also heled me with finding the first hospital that I had my first internship at the next day.

Economy

The living costs vary, depending on what you do on your spare time, were you live and what you buy. My suggestion would be to (first of all) to apply for the grant that Ersmus can provide. Second, do save a generous amount of money before you go because you seriously and ut buying a lot of awesome things. You will also want to travel within the country (e.g to the beaches, to other cities) and that will cost you some. 
My suggestion to save money is to plan as much as possible, especially week-to-week groceries (e.g buy food once or twice a week instead of 5 times per week). As for the living, there are some regions in Lisbon that are conceded "less good" or "safe" to live at but in my opinion it is not true. You could find a good place to live at these areas and save money on the rent!

Acommendation

We had to arrange our accommodations ourselves. It wan't easy at all to find a fairly cheap place with good standards and location. The first month we lived at a student corridor were me and my two friends from class shared a room. During that month we seared for a different apartment and finally we found one. It was a good location (although in an area considered to be less good), with a rent approx. 3.000 SEK/month (for a double-bed bedroom) and with good standard. The apartment was near a main street, near the metro and near a supermarket. It was also near the hospital.
I would recommend to search for facebook-groups like "lisbon bedrooms" or similar. Here is a link to a website that is like the swedish "blocket" where you can also find accommodations.

http://www.olx.pt/ 

Studies in general

The internships (praktikerna) were a bit different than the ones back home. First of all, all of the Portuguese students have more experience and have hand more practice so we are automatically a bit behind. There they will give or recommend you literature to read to catch up. Generally, many of the exams have a rather short time frame to fit into so for me who wasn't at all experienced in echocardiography only got to examine some patients before or after the real examination. The tutors are not always there to guide you so you will often need to figure out things yourself. During an EEG exam there is a bit more time and therefore I could actually be a art and help out during the real exam. 
All of the tutors were very nice! They do appreciate if you show interest in the field and if you show that you are at least trying to learn some Portuguese phrases. 
The partner university was situated in a nice area of Lisbon, the you can have access to computers, library and such. Generally the communication with the school was good. We were offered additional lessons at the university and also some literature. Unfortunately the communication between the partner university and KI wan't at it's best. My and my friends' learning agreement was't ready when we arrived and that was partly due to a lack of communication between the two universities. This situation was a rather stressful one and it was a situation that should not have happened. 
The tutors and people at the hospital were really great and helpful, they were absolutely lovely. Communication with the teachers at school happened mostly through email but if you needed anything you could always go to the university. 

As a person who does not speak any Portuguese it was often hard to communicate with the patients, but what we did was that the tutor did most of the talking and that worked fine. I learned some basic terminology to be able to do parts of the exams. With some extra theory reading and learning some Portuguese I managed to do the internship without any problems.   

Courses during the exchange period

Courses corresponding to semester 4 at KI
Nerology (Neurofysologi) - The theoretical part was done in Sweden but the practical part (the internship) I did in Lisbon. The theoretical background that I came with on exchange was not sufficient enough to be able to understand many of the things during the internship. Fortunately there was good literature to read and the tutors explained a lot of the theory. So before the takeoff I would recommend to read a lot beforehand. What was good with this internship was that I got to see so many different patients, both routine patients and on the intensive care unit. I learned a lot about different illnesses of the brain and how the different illnesses are approached in this country. What could have been better was that I would liked to have seen some more examinations in the neurology field, I only got to learn sleep EEGs, long monitoring EEGs and routine controls. Generally I was very pleased and happy with the whole internship. I was examined on my practical work every day (not an official practical-examination but a review of your improvements) but I was also examined on a patient-case report. The report was written a bit differently than the ones we do in Sweden, this one was longer. I think it was good to do a patient-case but I wish I got more instructions about what exactly it should contain before writing it.

Echocardiography (Ultraljudsdiagnostik) - The theoretical part for this course was also done in Sweden. The level at which we get thought was sufficient but it would have been much more helpful if we got to practice a lot more practically before starting this internship. Because I was so unexperienced before the internship I only got to do some "trying out" with the probe before or after an exam (and only if there was time for it). The technicians working there have a rather short time slot to make the examination and they also do not have time to guide you (teach you) during the times that you could try out. What was good was that when the technician made the exam he/she explained a lot and I got to see a lot of pathological cases. I with I had some guidance what I was trying out, I am sure I would have learned a lot more. Although I did learn even more theory, many pathologies and I learned how an echo exam is made in Portugal. I was examined on my overall performance, level of knowledge and my development.  


Language and Culture

The partner university offered classes in Portuguese but I chose not to take them as it would take away a lot of my time. I also thought that it wasn't needed since talking in english worked really fine. I leaned some basic Portuguese myself. I did experience some cultural clashes, the Portuguese people are very proud both of their country and their respective professions. There is nothing wrong in being proud but at times it could be a bit too much and they could come out to be slightly nonchalant. The people also do not like when their country is being criticized for something or if something in regards to their profession is being questioned. Sometimes you had to tip-toe around some subjects so that they wouldn't misinterpret you as being rude.  

Leisure time and social activities

I spent very little time at the university because there wan't a great lot to do there. No social activities were arranged but it was easy to do it yourself through the erasmus organization in Lisbon. If you are keen to get to know other student, students from different countries too, I would recommend to join a lot of erasmus events. They organize everything from parties, environmental activities (planting trees, cleaning beaches etc) to surfing classes. You meet a lot of people at these events and they are usually really fun. Lisbon is a great city, it's easy to get around and there are a lot of places to visit. It was easy to combine university life and social life, especially since many events were during the weekends. 

Here is the link to the erasmus website: http://www.erasmuslifelisboa.com/ 

Summary

I believe that I learned a lot during this exchange. Not only during the internships at the hospitals, but also (and mostly) I learned more about myself as a person. This exchange taught me how to cope also, how to handle my economy, it taught me new cooking skills... and I could go on really. I had such a great experience and I feel that I could do it again because now I know that I can. It was interesting to experience a different culture and learn to adapt to it. It is now that I look back that I realize a lot of the things I'm writing. To be honest, the first two weeks I was at the exchange I wanted to go back home. Everything was so new and so  different and it was hard too take it all in and accept it directly. But with time you adapt, you make it to your home and in the and you want to stay. That is at least how I personally experienced this exchange!

I am glad I got to see how technicians in Lisbon work. They need to work two times harder and even two times longer sometimes because of the low wage. I think that seeing this I won't allow myself to be sloppy or to complain in my future professional role.