<p>We stayed at the KI Jagargargatan residence which was nice. I got an apartment (Apartment 1) on the first floor and this offered me a lot of room to appreciate Stockholm. It was clean, spacious and had all that I needed. It also had a beautiful view of the lake and autumn blossoms. This also helped to keep the costs down since we realised through our other colleague who stayed in a hotel that it was reasonable. The distance from KI Jagargatan residence to the bus and train station were also short making our commutes to both Solna and Fleminsgberg campuses so easy. It was also close to some places to eat and not so far from the old city which was a bonus.</p>

<p>Most of the people we met were conducting their sessions in Svenska but were more than willing to speak with us, as well as conduct classes we attended, in English. There was no language barrier and this helped a lot with the ease of adapting and association with Swedish culture. We were hosted by Dr. Abrahamson on the second day who prepared amazing Svenska meal on the second day in town and that was a great introduction to Swedish culture. The dinner at “Knut” restaurant with the vice president of KI and the team was a good way to experience Sverige through food. Of course, the food is different from what we have in Uganda but it was a welcomed change. The other cultural difference was a fika every couple of hours. This is helpful for rest plus discussions relating to the day, work and personal affairs. This helped a lot with the leisure time during the stay. While at this we used google and booking.com for suggestions on things to do and where to go. A number of places and activities came up which were very helpful.</p>

<p>In the busy and packed two weeks, we managed to squeeze in time to go to Gamla Stan, Mall of Scandinavia and Barkaby with the team I came with. I was able to appreciate Stockholm when we took a boat tour by one of the many lakes in Stockholm with so many museums and old historical places. The King’s palace was the highlight. Due to the ease of moving around and several transportation means, I was able to also see other places in Scandinavia from Stockholm which I appreciated.</p>

<p>Overall, I would like to thank the administrative and clinical team at KI for the wonderful experience and collaboration they showed to us between September 9th to the 24th. It is an experience that is forever engraved in my heart. The experiences and lessons learnt will surely be implemented for better teaching and clinical management of patients in Makerere University, Kampala and Uganda at large.</p>

<p>We were able to have several meetings with administration, the research team, the dental teaching team as well as other support stuff. The highlight for me was the willingness of both teams to work towards continuing the collaboration between Makerere University and KI. The time allocated to each activity was ideal including clinical observations at all the places that were visited. The research component and the teaching and learning seminars were the best and very informative.</p>

<p>I, Dr. Kizito Umaru, a lecturer at the Makerere University School of Dentistry and a prosthodontist who loves to pass on acquired knowledge to the young dentists to be, through being a lifetime scholar by teaching, learning and re-learning. I got to know about the programme in 2012 when I was just graduating as a student. As one of the students who were to come, time couldn’t allow it and thus the year after had the first students and teacher exchange to Karolinska Institutet. I always dreamt of being part of the team as a teacher and when the opportunity arose, I took it on. Upon confirmation from the dean and Dr. Abrahamson, we received communication form the coordinators, Pernilla and Emma who were very helpful in making sure we had a wonderful visit. This included booking the tickets, getting accommodation, sharing good and useful pointers among others which came in handy during our visit.</p>

<p>Upon reflection, the teacher exchange was very informative, eye opening and great portal to discuss the similarities, differences and opportunities that are available both to and from KI and Makerere university. A great deal of interactions, lessons and deliberations came from this that will see a change or shape what both institutions have to offer each other, the students and the staff. I personally was influenced by what I saw and so eager to apply what I learnt while at KI. Improvement in teaching and assessment methods was the key highlight for me. ;n other news, I was privileged to be introduced to the team at GHP Specialistkliniken Nackaby Dr. Svensson. This was a welcomed addition to Dr. Samantha and I because it is a prestigious clinic with cutting edge practice to dentistry. This was so informative and I managed to appreciate it so much in terms of private dental facility running and management. I was left in owe and I thank Dr. Svensson for this opportunity without forgetting the team at GHP Specialistkliniken Nacka, which was awesome.</p>

<p>In contrast, the teaching in KI is way ahead of most that I had experienced. The systems and the teaching methods are up to date. This is with regards the novel teaching methods post-COVID-19 pandemic. We were impressed by the new teaching methods used. This was noted to be different from back home where the lack of stable internet, computers or platform is a hindrance to online learning. In comparison, the information we teach is the same but the method delivery of this information is different. There is definitely a lot to learn from KI on how learning is conducted and information delivered to students. There was use of pre-recorded lectures, student guided learning and because of the availability of staff, it went on smoothly which was a good thing to witness. Clinically, the use of seam to care dental simulator for most of the restorative work was a good thing to witness and one of a kind in this world.</p>

<p>Because of the tight schedule, there wasn’t much teaching time for students but I was able to sit in the preclinical classes in week one for 2 hours in week 1, attend two student clinic sessions with Dr. Curl-Gustav in week 2 for two hours each. This was an amazing experience. My team led by Dr. Kachwinya gave a lecture about the KI-Makerere University collaboration and future plans which was well attended by the staff mostly and a few students. There was no individual student supervision or bedside teaching done on this visit. The biggest time was spent doing other activities which were aimed at equipping us with several researches, teaching and learning skills. About 60% of the time was used for this. This included a tour of the research facility by Dr. Nagihan, A meeting with the teaching team, administrative meetings, Simtocare phantom training among others. I and the team had a tour of the facilities in both Solna and Flemingsberg campuses.</p>