Austrian student doing Emergency in HGSJDD
- Mar 3, 2018
- 3 min read
My name is Anja Meusburger, a 5th year medical student from Austria, and I did a professional exchange in the Department of Emergency in Hospital General San Juan de Dios in Guatemala City in February. Guatemala is an extremely beautiful country to explore. All in all, I made some unique and eye-opening experiences. I got to know a lot about the country, the people and culture there as well as I learned a lot about myself.
I started my clerkship In February 2018. Approximately one week before my departure my host brother contacted me, and I got all the important information about my future home. The evening, when I arrived at the Guatemala City airport I was picked up by my host family. We went home where they have already prepared a warmly welcome dinner. The single-family home of my host family was situated in a residential area in Guatemala City. I got my own room and had also the luxury of an own bathroom. Every morning my host father dropped me of at the hospital and my host brother picked me up in the afternoon after he had finished his clerkship. He was also a med student and was engaged in a clinical clerkship in another hospital in Guatemala City.
The dear housekeeper daily prepared delicious homemade food typical for Guatemala. In the hospital was a cafeteria, where they served meals as well as smaller snacks for very reasonable prices. During my stay with my host family I didn’t have to spend any money on food. Afterwards when I was traveling the country I could acquire delicious and rich food for in comparison to back home little money.
I did my clinical clerkship in the Emergency Room of the Hospital San Juan de Dios, which is one of the two public hospitals in Guatemala City.The first time I entered the Emergency it was a shock for me because I would have never found these circumstances back home. But it was an eye-opening experience, which I would not like to miss. I pay all my respect to the work the doctors and nurses are doing there for their patients. As an exchange student I didn’t have any fixed tasks, so I had the possibility to switch between the internal medicine and surgery part of the ER.
In February I was the only exchange student in Guatemala. I spent most of the time with my host family. They took me on nice trips on the weekends. After my clerkship I decided to travel the country. Guatemala is so diverse, and it is absolutely worth to explore the countries stunning beauty. There are lovely colonial towns to visit, volcanoes to climb, idyllic lakes to relax and impressive ruins from the Maya period to see.
In comparison to Austria the cost of living is quite low. You could get a bed in a nice hostel dorm including breakfast for more or less 90 Quetzales. When you decide to grab at one of the local restaurants the prices for meals range from 20 to 60 Quetzales. The most expensive things where the entrances to monuments and the long-distance shuttle bus rides.
I really enjoyed my stay in Guatemala. During my clerkship in the public hospital San Juan I had the possibility to get to know the health care system of another country. All the people I met were kind and welcoming. I felt so comfortable during my whole stay.
"I made some unique and eye-opening experiences. I got to know a lot about the country, the people and culture there as well as I learned a lot about myself."
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