Exchange report - incoming students
Home university: Universitetet i Bergen
Study programme: Medicine
Exchange programme: Erasmus
Semester: Autumn semester 2013/2014

Arrival and registration

I was very impressed by how we were welcomed for the introduction days. It was very organised and I felt I could ask the coordinators if I needed help with anything. I only used the student health centre to check myself for MRSA, it was a long wait since all the students took it at the same time.

Acommendation

My expectations for housing were not very high, I just wanted a place to live in Stockholm since I had heard finding a place to live in the city is very difficult. I applied via UAC, and was lucky to be offered a room in Jagargatan. I think it was smart of me to give them a call when I was having difficulties with uploading necessary documents. They were very helpful on the phone, and I think this increased your odds of being offered a room via UAC.

Leisure time and social activities

I did not participate in many of the MF activities, but saw that they had quite a few activities. I lived at the UAC dorms where many other international students lived, and I became friends with quite a few of them. We organised our own social activities - exploring the city, archipelago, and night life.

I felt that my class was very welcoming and friendly, so I felt that during school hours I had friends to eat lunch with. However, we never really met outside of school hours. I went to a couple of Afterworks on Fridays, which was very nice.

Pre-departure

I wanted a break from my university, and wanted to see how medicine was taught at other institutions. I chose to do an exchange at KI because I was told from students before me that they had a great academic programme and our universities already had an Erasmus agreement, which made it easier for me to travel to Stockholm. I got good information from both KI and UiB. I was not required to take any vaccines, but upon arrival I needed to get tested for MRSA which was organised by KI.

Courses during the exchange period

D9XX01 : Clinical Medicine- Neuro, Senses and Psyche
Neurology - The course lasted 3 weeks. The first week was focused on lectures and how to take a neurological clinical exam. The last two weeks were more clinically focused, with us being shown different patients in the wards and also taking patient history and exam on OPD patients. I felt that the OPD was most useful, as I got to practice my neurological exam thoroughly. At the end of the course we had to pass a written and clinical test in order to take the final exam. Ophthalmology - This was a roughly 10 day course. We had a day or two of lectures, followed by seminars and clinical work at the ophthalmology clinic. We learned how to take an ophthalmology exam and had to examine our own patients. We were given a lot of time and were always allowed to ask the doctor mentor for help if we need anything. The seminars worked well and were very relevant for the exam at the end. At the end of the course we had to show that we could identify each others retinas and had to show we could perform first aid eye care. ENT - This was also roughly a 10 day course. We had a day or two of lectures, followed by seminars and clinical work at the ENT clinic. We also had an afternoon at the ENT acute ward. We would work in small groups and take our own patient history and exam and present it to the doctors after. We also had several seminars. At the end of the course we had to take a written test in order to meet up for the final exam. Psychiatry - This was a 6 week course. We had one week of lectures. And the rest we were posted at different psychiatric clinics. On Fridays we would have lectures and seminars. At the end of psychiatry we had to take a written test. At the very end of psychiatry we had approximately a week where we learned about different addictions. This was very intense as there were many lectures, seminars, and we had to visit two clinics. Primary health care - We had a week where we had to shadow a doctor at a primary health care centre and at the end of the week we had a small seminar where we presented a case each to the group.

Summary

I was extremely happy with my stay at KI. It was one of my best university semesters!

Language and Culture

Comming from Norway, Swedish was a not a difficulty. I did not need any Swedish lessons, although I did have to ask my fellow classmates sometimes during lectures since some words are not the same.

Studies in general

Comming from Norway, Sweden was not the biggest culture shock, but I felt that KI provided me with my best academic semester I have had at university level. The local students, professors, mentors, and doctors were all very friendly and helpful. I really felt that I became a part of the class, even though I was there for just 5 months.

We had a quite a lot of small group seminars with the same mentor throughout a subject. This was a great learning method for me. It promoted active learning and everyone had to prepare before the seminars.