Arlanda Airport

Prior to my departure from Uganda, I was assigned a student to help on arrival at Arlanda airport. Unfortunately we were unable to make contact but using the information I had been given, I was able to make it to my residential area.

Karolinska Institutet

I had earlier on made an appointment with my student coordinator and upon my arrival, I went to see her. I was given a dossier with supplementary information about KI and life in Sweden.

I was then directed to Student Health Center where I was screened for MRSA. 

I applied for accommodation in Jagagatan 20, Stockholm as my first choice through the UAC and I was fortunate enough to get it.
I got a furnished single room with shared kitchen and washroom.
At my place of accommodation I got to interact a lot and share experiences with several people from different walks of life, with different cultures, from different countries across the globe.
We also had several dinners where I got to sample foods from different countries.

I was able to participate in two of the six activities organized by Global Friends during my stay in Sweden. Most of the other activities I participated in were organised by students in my residential area.
It is a little bit disappointing that I did not interact with Swedish students as much as I would have loved to outside the classroom.

My home university, Makerere University, has for a long time had a running Student Exchange programme where 8 to 10 medical students are nominated yearly to undertake part of their clinical training in different Medical University abroad. The selected students are then assigned a University and, depending on the options available during the exchange period,  courses they will undertake.
I was fortunate to be assigned Karolinska Institutet, one of the top ranked Medical schools in the world. With this decided, I went on to apply for a course in Internal Medicine and Pediatrics as these were rotations I had picked special interest in during my medical training and I was keen on observing differences and similarities in health care delivery in both departments. This presented a perfect opportunity to do this and also see a whole new spectrum of cases as different diseases occur commonly in different parts of the world.
Prior to my departure I was provided with sufficient information to prepare me for my stay in Sweden. I was given information on accommodation and travel within Sweden, estimates of living expenses among others. I found this information very beneficial and I was hence able to prepare adequately.
Prior to my travel, I got supplementary vaccines but these were not requested for and it was a personal initiative.
I however did MRSA screening as was required by KI.

All in all, my stay in KI has been a good one. I have learnt a lot and appreciated the way the approach to patients varies between the different countries. I got an opportunity to see interventions I had only read about. I will take a lot back home with me and in my future Medical practice and high on this list is efficient and rapid response time with teamwork!

Unfortunately, since my stay in Sweden was less than the mandated 12 week stay, I could not sign up for a Swedish language course though I would have loved to take one.
I was able, however, to pick up a few useful Swedish words here and there from the hospital and my day to day activities.

Studying in Sweden was a nice experience in general.
The student supervisor relationship was a nice one and different from the one am used to. I referred to my supervisors using their first names and in most cases did not have to add a title to it.
Though I did not speak Swedish, I was able to participate actively during the ward rounds as some patients could speak English and for those who preferred Swedish, my supervisor was more than willing to bring me up to speed after interacting with the patient. Also, most of the staff at the hospital could speak English so when it was possible,
some sessions would be held in English for my benefit.