My name is Alina Kristin Mangold a 4th year medical student from Mainz, Germany. I did an exchange in Surgery (Plastic and Pediatric) in Guatemala this last September. For me doing an internship in Guatemala was an unforgettable experience because it was a great chance to develop my personality and independence while also improving my knowledge and experience in my studies and additionally my Spanish language skills. Furthermore I think this is a unique opportunity to combine your university studies with first-hand experience of medical working and life in a Latin American country as well as discovering unknown nature, landscape and cities.
I received my Card of Acceptance in the middle of July and with it the contact dates of my host family. So I texted them and they were really friendly and helpful and I was able to ask questions before I came to Guatemala, which was very useful. With the local committee I got in contact when I arrived in Guatemala City. They sent me a text to welcome me and offered me help with any kind of issue. There wasn´t organized any special welcome party, but we went to a club on the first weekend and my host family always offered me a wide range of social interaction.
I stayed in the private house of my host family. I had my own room and bathroom, so I didn´t have to share it. There was absolutely everything in the house you needed: wifi, hot water, a fully equipped kitchen, bed , desk, TV and computer in my room. As it was a private house, there was no social room or gym, but I did not miss it and they always offered me any kind of activities. Yes, there was another medical student, he was in his fifth year and for having me he was allowed to go to Chile for doing his elective. He also had a brother, but he was already working and had studied civil engineering. The distance between my accommodation and my hospital was round about 10 km and my transportation was the car. Mainly the other medical student brought me to hospital every morning by car and picked me up in the afternoon. As we were not working in the same hospital it was a little bit unhandy and inconvenient for him, but he was never complaining. We could reach a city district with shopping stores within a 5-10 min drive by car.
There was provided fantastic food actually any time of the day. But usually I had breakfast in the hospital as we had to get up really early to avoid the rush hour. Lunch and dinner we had together in the family. Yes, there were restaurants we went to on the weekends and in front of the hospital there was a good cafeteria. As I mainly just spent money for breakfast, I would say it was around 20-25 Q in average (2,50-3,50 $). As I am a German exchange student the price of almost all products and the cost of living in Guatemala compared to Germany is way cheaper. I really tried to taste as much typical things as possible and I really liked the latin american food, so I can´t really think of a thing I didn´t like. So of course I can recommend a lot: tortillas, frijoles, granola, avocado and the fresh fruits (for example pineapple and papaya). For us Europeans it seems a bit strange at first eating things like frijoles for breakfast, as we are used to eat bread or muesli, but I got used to it and now I really like it. No specific places, but compared to Europe there are a lot of fast food restaurants in Guatemala, probably because of the short distance and influence of the states.
The hospital (IGGS Zone 9) was comparatively quite small. It´s hard for me to say how many people they attend, but I estimate round about 300 a day. But to be honest I have no idea. The resources and the care clinics were compared to Europe of a lower standard but nevertheless the most important things were available. Yes, I sometimes had the possibility to join class with other medical students. At the beginning I was mainly observing, but in the end a had the opportunity to do some practical things as well. My daily activities were mainly watching surgeries and sometimes attending “consultas externas”. I did communicate with patients, but as my field was surgery, there was not so much communication necessary. I learned Spanish in school and took an additional Spanish course in University, so I can do basic conversation in Spanish. I had a really good relationship with my tutors, they tried to teach me a lot and we communicated mainly in Spanish and sometimes in English. Yes, my knowledge definitely increased. My practical skills did increase just a little bit as I was observing most of the time.
There was no specific activity organized by the local committee, but we were just two exchange students at the same time and I was able to take part in a lot of activities with my host family, so it wasn´t a problem for me. I was free to do activities on my own, but as the country isn´t described as being safe, nobody recommended it to me. On the first weekend I went with my host brothers and friends to visit another city (Antigua) to do a little bit of sightseeing and party in the evening. One weekend I went with my host brother to Petén to see the jungle and to get to know more about the Guatemalan culture seeing Tikal, ruins of an ancient city. And my last weekend I spent at Lake Atitlán. During the week I went for example to the city with my host family, for a walk with their dogs or to friend´s houses. The activities during the week were mainly free of charge. For the activities on the weekends I had to pay for accommodation, transportation and food. I spent round about 250-300 € (300-350 $) for my weekend trips. I would highly recommend visiting Tikal, Antigua and the villages around Lake Atitlán.
Compared to Germany the cost of living in Guatemala is cheaper. The coin wasn´t a problem at all. The most expensive thing was probably the lodging during the weekend trips and the tours we made. Transportation is really cheap in Guatemala if you compare it to Europe. I would use public transport if it´s possible and not too dangerous. I would recommend eating local fresh food at markets or small restaurants and I would rather stay in a hostel for backpackers and young people than a hotel. I took two credit cards from Germany with me and one didn´t work in Guatemala and central America in general. I didn´t find out why, but that’s why I would highly recommend taking different types of cards or additionally cash with you. And you have to look out for the “5B” sign at the ATM. If there is no “5B” sign it doesn´t accept foreign credit cards.
An internship in Guatemala was an unforgettable experience because it was a great chance to develop my personality and independence while also improving my knowledge and experience in my studies
