Overall I found the Swedish educational environment to be an a very supportive one that is sensitive to balancing both priorities of patients and the clinic with that of the student's learning needs. I felt that I was treated as a colleague here and my consultation was sought with how to best proceed at the clinic in order to get the best educational experience. It was helpful to discover that both the educational structure and the healthcare delivery system of primary care in Sweden and Canada share more similarities than differences. As such, it was fairly easy for me to transition in Sweden. Meeting with my exchange supervisor weekly was helpful to discuss any concerns we were having at our clinical placements. In addition this provided an opportunity for more informal discussion to learn about each others health care and education systems which I found particularly helpful and enjoyable.
Patients at the clinic I was placed at were very welcoming and accepting of me as a student learner. I believe that being at the end of my training and having a sound educational and clinical background helped instill some confidence in the patients as well.
It was the first time that my clinic had a senior student learner at the clinic so it was also a learning experience for them. As mentioned before they were very accommodating and made adjustments to optimize the learning environment. At times the scheduling of patients and appointments took priority over learning (ie case discussion and theory) but this is understandable and expected and important to remember that quality patient care must come before education at most times. Also, the main purpose of me being there was to observe the similarities and differences of my home system to Sweden's, not necessarily to practice clinical skills.
Overall however I felt that the clinic did an excellent job of meeting these expectations of both parties, and most importantly they were very receptive to feedback and made the necessary adjustments or accommodations to optimize my learning environment.