Upon arrival I really enjoyed Stockholm. It is a beautiful city and I came a week before the semester started so I had all the time to visited Stockholm and to get acquainted with the city. The arrival arrangements provided by ‘Global Friends’ were very poor. Before we can to Stockholm we had been given information about the possibility of someone of ‘Global Friends’ picking up your key from UAC, if you send a email to them that you would like to use this opportunity. Nevertheless, no email was answered and no one from ‘Global Friends’ picked up a key.
The Introduction days were nice but they were also to extensive. A lot of information was not that necessary or useful. The information provide during those two days could have easily been given in one day. It is good, though, to have an introduction day to get used to the whereabouts of KI.
I didn't have any contact with the student health centre since I did not need their services.
I had applied for a accommodation through UAC. The housing was good. The rooms are spacious enough and it was really nice to share a kitchen with people from all over the world. However, the opening hours of the UAC are most inconvenient for a student. It would be really nice if the UAC could look at their opening hours again to make it more suited for the students that they accommodate.
In my class there were really nice people which became friends, with whom I made appointments several times to do a social activity. I also participated in activities organized by other exchange students. I had a really great time and had a lot of fun. I also participated in several activities that where organized by the church I joined during the period I was in Stockholm. I did not participate in any activities organized by ‘Global Friends’, since I already had lot of other activities. The information for activites that where organized by other exchange students were put on Facebook, so the access to this information was good.
I choose to go on exchange because of the possibility to expand my view on the world. Going on an exchange would be good for my independence and I also really liked it because of the cultural and social aspect. On top of that, the fact that Karolinska Institutet is a highly appreciated university made it even better. By this exchange I had the chance to study at a really good university and to see a lot of the beautiful city that is Stockholm.
The exchange information provided by KI was good, I don’t remember any problems that I’d had. The information was extensive and clear. The exchange information provided by my home institution could have been better, especially the information about the things that you have to pay extra attention to. However, these things will be better after the evaluation at by home university.
The study abroad-information that was given by the partner university was good. We had a couple of lectures about the exchange and a meeting with the people who were actually going to KI. The study abroad-information provided by KI was also good.
I didn't need any vaccinations before I came to KI nor had I have to bring certain certificates since I would not work with animals or patients.
BIOX05 : BACH - Infection and Immunity
The first course I had at KI was Infection and Immunology. It was a really nice and educative course with some fine lab work. The course itself was not that well organized. There were some bumps on the road but overall it was a really nice course. Most of the teachers were good. What really stood out is the lower level of presentation skills of both teachers and students in comparison to my home university. This influenced the quality of the lectures. There was enough time scheduled for the examination. The question were okay, overall speaking. This course was relevant for my degree. I really liked the fact that the content was pretty much the same as what was teached at my home university.
BIOX06 : BACH - Integrative Physiology
The second course was Integrative Physiology. This course was well organized and structured. The lab works were also really interesting. Some of the lectures were really good and clear, others were not that great due to poor presentation skills. The teachers were good. Except from the teacher that taught the GI-system part. He did not have any structure and made everything more difficult. The examination was good and there was more than enough time to make it. The questions were good. The coordinator of this course was really well organized and structured. The course was overall taken really nice and relevant for my degree. I really liked the fact that the content was pretty much the same as what was teached at my home university.
I participated in a Swedish language course sponsored by KI. I really liked this opportunity. It was great to follow the language course. However, it would be best for the next time to divide the students in two groups: one group with people from the Netherlands, Germany and other countries where the language is German based and a group with the rest. Since the Swedish language looks a lot like Dutch and German it is easier for these people to pick up the language. If they are in a mixed group the tempo may be too slow. So the language course could be more efficient.
At KI I studied Biomedicine. It was really nice to study at KI. It is a nice university with a fine campus and the study is also good.
I really liked the relationship between student en teacher, it was really easy going and nice. The communication is also really relaxed and easy although it would be nice that some emails could be answered more quickly. The Swedish study environment is good. The combination of theory and clinical education was also good. The clinical education is really nice and the lab works are really interesting. However, sometimes the student relies too much on the teacher and does not show a lot of initiative.
Where KI differs from my home university and what I really like about my home university, is the incorporation of small seminar groups. Where the students have to prepare a number of question and together with the teacher they go through it and also discuss some new problems. We have had that a couple of times at KI, but I would prefer to have it on a more regular base. The amount of lectures also differs. At my home university we don’t have as much lectures as are given at KI. I don’t know what I prefer most. I really learned to appreciate the lectures more, here at KI.