Exchange report - incoming students
Nyår, Brandenburger Tor.
Home university: National University of Singapore
Study programme: Medicine
Exchange programme: INK
Semester: Spring semester 2013/2014
Name: Kai Yin Hwang
Email address: kaiyinhwang@yahoo.com.sg

Arrival and registration

Getting to the accomodation from the airport was a breeze, as the Flygbussarna station was well placed and the bus arrived right on time. I had arranged for the pick-up service, and the student contacted me an hour before I was to reach, and directed me to alight at the correct busstop. She then walked me to the train station and helped familiarize myself with the Tbana and different lines, and brought me all the way to my apartment door. She was also really friendly and answered my questions on daily necessities and where to find various services. It was definitely a great start to my adventure in Sweden!

I contacted the student health centre a few months before I was to arrive in Sweden, and arranged with the nurse for an appointment at Huddinge for my MRSA testing on the friday before my attachment was to begin. I arrived there 1 hour beforehand and managed to explore the hospital campus to find out where I should report on the first day of attachment as well.

As I was only in KI for 1 month from mid-April to mid-May, I did not attend the introduction day held in February. However the administrator at the Student International Relations office really helped clear my doubts and answer my queries promptly, and this helped a lot.

Acommendation

I applied for housing via kihousing.se, and it was a rather hassle-free process. I managed to get the housing of my choice, and it was confirmed 2 months before I was to arrive. The rental could be paid up to 10 days after I had arrived in Sweden, although it still had to be done online, and not in cash. My levelmates were all rather friendly and the accommodation was clean and neat, and of good standard. The location was also prime, and quite close to amenities, T bana and the KI Solna campus, which I appreciated a lot. The cost was 110SEK a night, which was pretty decent and within my budget.

Leisure time and social activities

I participated in the amateur sports organized by the Student Sports Committee - floorball, soccer and basketball. It was actually very convenient for me and a good avenue for physical exercise after a long day at the hospital. It also allowed me to interact with people from all sorts of places and widened my social circle.

Pre-departure

I chose to go on exchange to broaden my horizons, explore my interests in medicine further, and experience the freedom of living on my own in another country. KI was high on my list as it is renowned for research, as well as highly ranked, both in Sweden, as well as in Europe. I chose to go to Sweden as it is a very developed country with a unique and strong culture, which is very different from where I come from. There was sufficient information available to me from my home university about living expenses and what to expect in KI, and the study-abroad information on KI's websites were very useful and easy to access. It really made the application process a breeze.

I had to submit immunization reports for Hepatitis B, Varicella Zoster and Rubella to my home university, which helped us mail the package of application documents over to KI. I also had to apply online, separately, to KI. The only thing was that the time-window for this online application had officially closed before my home university selected students for this programme, and hence when we did apply online, no places regarding the common specialties (eg. surgery, orthopaedics) and coinciding with our timeframe for overseas rotations, were left. However I was very lucky to have been awarded the posting I put in my first choice.

Courses during the exchange period

ELA002 : Neurology 1
This course was definitely relevant to my degree as I never had a major posting in this area of internal medicine before, and it helped fill my knowledge gaps. I was rather satisfied with the level of supervision we had, and the supervisors were very friendly and even though there was a language barrier during clinics and ward rounds, they made sure to put aside some time after the session to answer our questions or stimulate our thinking. However it would have been better if department activities could have been conducted in English as in the application form, as it would have helped us put the case being discussed in context, and then actively think about differentials or complications.

Summary

It was overall a very good experience, and met the objectives I had laid out for myself to achieve before the trip.

Language and Culture

I did not do any Swedish language courses although I really wanted to, as my posting was 4 weeks long and considered too short.

Studies in general

My attachment at KI was purely clinical, and hence I spent all of it at Huddinge Universitetssjukhus. The supervisors there were very friendly and made great effort to explain some of the department discussions to me in English, as well as give me opportunities to interact with patients myself. All patients I met were willing to be examined by me, and some spoke good English and allowed me to interview them. 

The KI Huddinge hospital campus was really large, which is very different from my home university hospital, and also meant that I had to leave my accomodation in Solna much earlier than the reporting time, so that I could travel and arrive there with time to spare. However it was manageable as the reporting time was later than that at home.
It is similar to my home university hospital in the way that doctors would let students clerk during clinics, as well as examine patients for signs of diseases.


COURSES (unable to save under that tab)
This course was definitely relevant to my degree as I never had a major posting in this area of internal medicine before, and it helped fill my knowledge gaps. I was rather satisfied with the level of supervision we had, and the supervisors were very friendly and even though there was a language barrier during clinics and ward rounds, they made sure to put aside some time after the session to answer our questions or stimulate our thinking. However it would have been better if department activities could have been conducted in English as in the application form, as it would have helped us put the case being discussed in context, and then actively think about differentials or complications.