Exchange report - incoming students
Home university: Instituto Politécnico de Lisboa - Escola Superior de Tecnologia da Saúde de Lisboa
Study programme: Radiography
Exchange programme: Erasmus
Semester: Spring semester 2011/2012
Name: Ricardo Salgueiro Silva
Email address: rikardoo.silva@gmail.com

Arrival and registration

The city transportation is well arranged and I got the necessary information during the introduction day. The instructions were very clear and easy to follow. When you make your first visit, make sure you take enough time to stroll around and admire the Karolinska Institutet and the Hospital’s infrastructures, both in Solna and Huddinge, because they are very good and organized.
All the people are very organized and helped us every time with paperwork, internships and everything that we needed...


Acommendation

I stayed at the University Accommodation Center at Strix, which was near Västra Skogen subway station, where I could get the subway for all the places. I was pleased with the good location and the cheap rent of the housing. I had a simple room with a bed, desk, bookshelf and bathroom. The kitchen and laundry room were all shared with other attendants. The only problems were with the tidiness off the kitchen, I found myself cleaning somebody else's dishes/trash almost every day. But even though the kitchen was untidy I thought that the housing was perfect for my short stay (5months). And my neighbors were very lovely.

Leisure time and social activities

I got many international friends through the accommodation I was living in. We did many things to getter, such as going to student parties and tourist rounds in town.

Stockholm has every kind of social life you can look for... Beautiful places to see, bars where you can meet your friends and have a good time and at night you can find cheap places to have fun... 

Pre-departure

I’ve chosen to go on exchange because I wanted to know how the radiology work in Sweden is, know a new culture, language, country...  I decided to apply for KI because I heard many positive things about the university. The information about exchange from KI and my university it's enough and it’s very good.
If you are coming to Stockholm in the winter you already know that it will be very cold, but Sweden has very good and warm infrastructures so you just need to wear warm clothes outside.

Furthermore, be prepared for the darkness during the winter months because on winter there are few hours of sunlight. 

Courses during the exchange period

1RS025 : Clinical Radiation in a European perspective 1
I was very pleased with my practice. I could practice conventional radiology, computerized tomography, magnetic ressonance and angiography. I saw practices that I had never seen before and I learned a lot.

Summary

I am very happy with my exchange period in Sweden. Everything was very well arranged and I felt safe and welcomed throughout my whole stay.

It was a grateful experience that I advise everyone to live, because you can learn different things, meet people and know a completely new country and culture...

 

Thank you KI for giving me the chance to do my exchange studies in Sweden. I enjoyed it very much!

Language and Culture

KI offered to me one Swedish course (basic Swedish), but I just attended one class once per week, but it’s better to attend classes twice a week because you can learn more... Don’t worried, it is not difficult, and you can learn basic words and some useful sentences.

If you want to work in Sweden it is important to learn Swedish.

Studies in general

I didn't have classes during my stay, but I did clinical practice at the hospital. The hospital was very organized and had good infrastructures. I was always accompanied with someone that could talk English with me and they explained everything that I need...They tried to teach me the most important words necessary for my clinical work and I learned the most important things.

This is how I got some knowledge in Swedish language and also by attending one Swedish course (once a week) where I learned the basic words and Swedish sentences.

So at the beginning I had some difficulty when I needed to talk with the patients at the hospital that didn't talk English, but I had someone with me all the time to help me during those situations. The Radiology work is similar in Sweden and in Portugal; there are only some differences in some procedures or protocols. I got to see many procedures and I think I learned a lot.