Exchange Report

Reserapport - KI-student


Lärosäte:	Universiteit Leiden
Utbildningsprogram:	Biomedicin
Utbytesprogram:	Erasmus
Termin:	Hösttermin 13/14

Innan avresa

Pre-travel preparations:

Travelling on an exchange to Leiden was extremely fun and rewarding and I strongly recommend going if you have the chance. Before you travel though, there are several things that you need to be arranged which at first may seem like quite a hassle, but once you get started everything really goes quite smoothly. The International Coordinator at KI is always willing to help and usually knows what needs to be done if you don't. Below I have written down some of the most important things to think about:

Applying:

The first step is of course to apply for the exchange at KI. Once you have become nominated for the exchange an application must also be sent directly to Leiden University. This is done online at:
https://www.apply.leiden.edu/exchange-studyabroad/Index.php and is rather straight forward.

A few weeks after you have applied you will receive an Acceptance of Admission via mail. This needs to be printed, signed and then sent back to Leiden in order to accept your place at the University.

Accommodation:

When this is done it is good to start looking for accommodation as soon as possible. Like many other University towns, a lot of exchange students come to Leiden and there is usually a lot of competition for housing in late August/early September so start looking early! Leiden University provides their own student-housing service, but it is quite expensive (difficult to get a room for less than 500 €).

A good idea is to ask the international coordinator at KI for help, as there are usually several students from Leiden coming to study at KI that have rooms or apartments in Leiden that they want to rent during their time in Sweden. I got my room this way, which saved me a lot of trouble looking for accommodation and gave me a room for a decent price (350 € per month).

If there are no rooms available this way a good place to look for accommodation is Leiden Housing on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/239427083843/

Flight tickets:

Booking a flight ticket is also something that is best done early. Several airlines fly directly to Amsterdam (Schiphol) from Arlanda among them Norwegian, which have reasonably priced tickets:

http://www.norwegian.no/

Other:

In addition to this you should sign up for the orientation week (not sure if it's mandatory, but it's definitely something you don't want to miss!) and print and fill in your arrival form (can be found here: http://media.leidenuniv.nl/legacy/arrival-form-visitors-centre-sea.pdf).

You should also remember to get a European Health Insurance Card at http://www.forsakringskassan.se/privatpers/utomlands/eukort , make sure that your passport is valid and that you have applied for funds from CSN.

Finally, check out KI's and Leiden University's websites regarding going on exchange to see if there are any additional things that are required from you.

KI:
http://pingpong.ki.se/public/courseId/7085/coursePath/5549/ecp/lang-sv/publicPage.do?item=3923702
Leiden Uni:

http://www.prospectivestudents.leiden.edu/study-abroad-exchange

Ankomst och registrering

Arrival:

Schiphol:

If you are flying to the Netherlands, make sure that you are flying to Schiphol (outside of Amsterdam). From here taking the train to Leiden takes approx. 30 minutes. Train tickets are easily bought at the airport from ticket machines and trains travel regularly to Leiden. As most major trainstations it may be a bit difficult to find the correct platform the first time around but luckily there are several information booths so you can get guidance without any problems.

Leiden:

In Leiden Centraal you can exit in two directions: One taking you to Leiden University Medical Cencer (LUMC) where your studies will take place and the other towards the city center. Heading toward the city center the Visitors center is directly to the left. Here you should hand in your arrival form in exchange for a "welcome bag" containing your student registration card.

It may be a good idea to arrange for someone to meet you as it can be difficult to find your way when you first arrive, a suggestion is to ask whoever you are renting from to organize someone to come meet you.

After you've settled in you should visit the Plexus Student Center. Here you can apply for your Leiden University card and receive login information to uSis and blackboard (the dutch equivalent to Ladok and ping pong) if you haven't received them already via mail. The LU card is not very useful as you will need a specific LUMC-card for access to LUMC study areas. The LU card does however grant access to the University library.

The LUMC-card can be applied for in the second floor of LUMC at the information booth. You might as well get it as soon as possible as you are required to show it to guards (although I went an entire semester without having to show it, you're technically not allowed to study in the LUMC without one).

Orientation week:

The orientation week takes place a week before school start and costs 60 € to attend. During that week you meet your fellow exchange students who are going to study the same subject as you. A guide will show you the town and also guide you through the LUMC. During this week you will also get information on how uSis and blackboard work. In addition there are all sorts of activities planned such as a pub crawl, a picnic and a barbecue by the sports center. This is definitely something you don't want to miss out on as you will meet many of the people who you will be studying with (exchange students only, though) and will receive a ton of important information while at the same time getting to know the city better.

On a final note, you may be told that you need to book an appointment at the town hall for registering. This is not necessary for students from within the EU who are staying for only one semester (unless you want to get a dutch bank account) so my suggestion is to not do it as it is quite a hassle.

Ekonomi

Finances:

CSN:

When studying abroad you will receive extra funds from CSN, which is good as you are likely to be taking part in more activities and spending more money on travelling than you would while living in Sweden. When applying for CSN funds you should make sure to apply for an entire year all at once. If you don't, applying for your semester back in Sweden may be difficult as it takes some time to get your grades from Leiden and CSN require a 75 % passing rate. In addition to the CSN funds you will receive an Erasmus scholarship for approx. 10 000 SEK.

Living in the Netherlands and Leiden:

Everything in the Netherlands is slightly cheaper than it is in Sweden (except the alcohol which is much cheaper). The only thing which might actually be more expensive is accommodation, but that depends on how much you are paying in Sweden and how lucky you are when it comes to finding a place in Leiden.

Getting bike is strongly recommended as Leiden is small enough to bike everywhere, but a bit too big for walking, and you'll probably be travelling a lot within the city. A bike can be found in second hand bike shops or online (Leiden housing on Facebook has a lot of second hand bikes being sold there as well). While there are buses which you can take, it really isn't worth it financially in the long run and you'll have to stick to the scheduled times.

Maestro card:

An important thing to mention is the fact that Dutch people don't use visa or mastercards. You'll be able to use both in Amsterdam and Schiphol so you won't have a problem getting a to Leiden, but from there on they aren't accepted in any stores. In order to solve this problem you can either get a maestro card in Sweden, get a Dutch bank account and get a maestro card through your dutch bank or simply just withdraw a bunch of cash from ATM:s (which always accept visa and mastercard) and never use your card in stores. I went for the third option but if you don't like handling a lot of cash your best option is probably to get a maestro card in Sweden. I would not advise anyone travelling to Leiden for only half a year to get a dutch bank account since it takes quite a while (as you have to be registered in the town hall before you can open an account).

Boende

Accommodation:

As already mentioned, when looking for accommodation begin as early as possible. The first thing I would do would be to contact the international coordinator at KI and see if any of the exchange students from Leiden have apartments to rent. These are usually cheaper than the ones offered to exchange students by Leiden University and if you have an apartment or room in Stockholm you can switch with your counterpart from Holland.

With that said, if all the places from Sweden are filled not everyone is going to be able to get a room this way. In that case Leiden housing on Facebook is a good place to look:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/239427083843/

If you are planning to get an apartment through Leiden University, you should apply as early as possible here as well as they accommodate as they say themselves on a 'first come, first serve' basis. I would probably not advise getting housing through the University, but if you have extra money to spend on housing and don't feel like going through the hassle of finding a place on you own, then go for it:
http://www.studenthousing.leiden.edu/

A final accommodation strategy for the more adventurous is to simply travel to Leiden and spend the first nights/week in a hostel. You're almost guaranteed to stumble across something if you do this and you might have an easier time getting something cheap, the only downside is the hassle of having to live out of your bags in a hostel until you do.

Studier allmänt

Studies:

Studying in Leiden is a bit different than at KI. There are fewer lectures held and much of the scheduled events are in stead so called work groups that are held two to three times a week. The low amount of lectures gives a lot of free time and school days are usually only half as long as they are in Sweden. In my experience it's a good idea to use a lot of that time studying and preparing for work groups. This may be one of the larger differences from studying in Sweden as individual studies are going to take up more of your time and lectures far less.

In addition there are a few other things that are different in Leiden. Work is focused much more on the theoretical aspect of medicine and labs are few and far between. There is also a section of certain courses called 'Patient Interviews' which, as the name implies, is where a doctor brings a patient to the lecture hall and asks the patient about their disease. The disease is of course always one which relates to the course being studied (i.e patient with a pace maker for the cardiology part of physiology) and is quite educational as it gives an insight in how certain diseases can affect every day life.

The exams which will be taken in Leiden are also a bit different than what we are usually used to in Sweden. All exams are either open book exams or multiple choice exams. Having open book exams are however not as easy as one might imagine as they are extremely short on time and you'll more likely than not have time to look up information in the books. The multiple choice exams are also no breeze as a guessing quota is taken into account. This means that if the multiple choice consists of 60 questions with 4 choice alternatives on each question statistically you are going to get 25% right even if you know nothing. They therefore increase the minimum requirement for each grade by 15 points. The grading of these exams are on a 1 - 10 scale, where 5.5 (rounded up to 6) is the lowest passing grade.

Kurser under utbytet

Kurser motsvarande termin 1 på KI

Courses:

Immunolgy:

The Immunology course is the first course that will be held when you get to Leiden and is also the largest course (together with Physiology) that you will take. This course consists of mainly work groups and very few lectures and ends with an open book exam. For the work groups you are going to have to read chapters in the book and answer questions. The course mainly revolves around these work groups so while they aren't mandatory (there is a limit to how many you can miss, but not an outspoken one) it his highly recommended that you go to them and come prepared. The lectures are only about one hour for each section of the course so more than giving you an idea of what you need to learn for the exam they act as an introduction to each part. The course is concluded with an open book exam. This open book exam is probably the most stressful one when it comes to time, so again it is important to come well prepared and really not be reliant on the book.

Pathogen-Host interactions:

The second course on your exchange focuses on evasion strategies used by different pathogens. This course is shorter and quite different from the Immunology course. All important information will be provided in the lectures so make sure to go to all of them and take notes. There is no course book for this course so power point slides and notes from lectures is what you will mainly be bringing to the open book exam. There are fewer work groups during this course and during one of these you will have to prepare a presentation about a paper that you are assigned. The exam for this course is an open book one and in contrast to the one held during immunology you will actually have some time to use your notes, making this exam slightly easier in my opinion.

Infection and immunity in practice

Infection and immunity in practice is a mainly practical course that rather short. During the first week you will have a preparatory lab and have lectures on lab security. At the end of this week an exam on lab security is written. You will the second week you will be sent out to different departments in the LUMC and perform more complicated labs. Following this you are required to present your results and your final grade is based on your result on the lab security test, your lab report for the practice lab and your final presentation. This course is really not a problem for anyone who has undergone the organic chemistry course at KI.

Physiology - Basic concepts

The first of the two physiology course is divided into two parts, the first focusing on cardiology and the second on lungs and kidney functions. This course is actually more similar to studies at KI, with a more lectures and only a few work groups. There are two exams (one for each part) which both are multiple choice and your final mark in the course is the combined result of these two. This means that you can in fact fail one of them and pass the other and still pass the course as long as your combined result is over 5.5 (and your lowest result isn't lower than 4).

Physiology - Advanced concepts

The Advanced concepts course is the final course that you will take and perhaps also the toughest one. It is only two weeks long so you need to start studying immediately. This course is also divided into two parts, the first part and week about the endothelium and the second on advanced kidney function. There is only one exam, although divided into two sections, and it is a multiple choice exam. There's really not much to say about this course other than that it is short and there are a lot of details to be learned, so as I said earlier make sure to begin studying immediately.

Communication in science

In addition to the previously mentioned courses communication in science is held during the entire semester. The course consists of three extra assignments: A letter to the editor, the presentation during immunology and infection in practice and a clinical conference report. These assignments are all attached to the ongoing courses but you will receive a separate grade for them.

Språk och kultur

Language and Culture:

Making yourself understood and getting around is really no problem in the Netherlands using English only. Much like in Sweden almost everyone understands and speaks English quite well. If you are still interested in learning Dutch there are courses arranged, both professionally and by other students. Your best bet is probably to find a student to tutor you as courses in Dutch can be quite expensive.

Since you are staying in Leiden during the autumn you will have the pleasure to experience the festivities that occur during the 3rd of October. During this day (and usually the surrounding two days) the city celebrates the relief from the Spanish siege which occured in 1574. This is done by turning the entire city into an amusement park/market and holding parades. The festival comes with its own traditional foods: dutch herring (which is served for free on the morning of the 3rd of October) and Hotchpotch (a mash made of carrots, potatoes and onions which is said to have been eaten the day after the Spanish left).

Another quite special event in the Netherlands is the dutch Christmas celebrations. It begins in mid November with the arrival of Sinterklaas. Sinterklaas arrives by boat from Spain and has with him his not entirely politically correct helpers called Zwarte Piet. The arrival of Sinterklaas is always broadcasted on television and signals for the beginning of the christmas season. Throughout the second half of November and December there are several Christmas markets held and in Leiden there are usually many other seasonal festivities held.

Fritid och sociala aktivteter

Social activities and things to do in the Netherlands:

As an exchange student coming to Leiden there are always a lot of things going on, and when there isn't there really is no problem finding things to do.

For starters ISN Leiden (the International Student Network) frequently arranges different events for exchange students, ranging everything from excursions to dinners and parties. Travelling to places via ISN is usually both cheaper and more fun as you are travelling in a large group with other exchange students. The easiest way to follow what ISN has got planned is on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ISNLeiden

In addition there are several other ISN facebook groups specializing in different pastimes if you are interested in coming into contact with other exchange students who share your interests.

Apart from ISN-activities there are plenty of things to do in Leiden. Leiden hosts many pubs, restaurants and museums, so there is usually something for everyone. On Wednesdays and Saturdays every week a market is held in the centre of the town. This is the best place to go if you want to buy cheap produce and foods such as cheese and meat, but you can find pretty much anything here.

The University sports center can be found a 10 minute walk (or 5 minutes by bike) from the LUMC. Here you can find a gym, a couple of Tennis court and a soccer field. Getting a membership is rather cheap (approx. 100 € for a semsster) and for that you gain access to all activities arranged each week (everything from soccer to fencing and plenty of dancing classes).

If Leiden gets too boring for you going to a larger city is no problem. By train it takes about 15 minutes to the Hague and just over 30 minutes to Amsterdam. In addition to this travelling to other countries is easy from Leiden. A recommendation is making sure to check out Brussels and Antwerp in Belgium as it takes almost no time travelling there and both are amazing cities.

Sammanfattning

Travelling to Leiden was a great experience and going on an exchange is something that I strongly recommend. Not only was it fun, but also very educational and in the end rewarding. During the semester you will meet many new friends and experience many things that you wouldn't have the chance to back in Sweden.

In addition to this I also believe that living for an extended period of time in a country where you don't speak the language (although yes, everyone does speak English so getting around still isn't a problem) and with a different culture was a good experience for the future as the biomedical community is very international. Communicating solely in English is great practice as well.

All in all I'd say that the exchange to Leiden is a golden opportunity one that you should definitely take if you have the chance.