My Internship Abroad with King's College Hospital in 伦敦

这是我选择的主要原因之一 通过东航卡帕宝博体育 是他们的 国际宝博体育 组件. I figured that having the opportunity to actually intern abroad in a brand-new country, 和当地同事一起, would be a wonderful learning experience and beneficial for me, 无论是作为学生还是作为专业人士.

I interned at King’s College Hospital in Denmark Hill, 伦敦, with the Quality Improvement (QI) team. 国王学院是其中之一 美国最大最繁忙的医院 伦敦. 我在规划自己的事业 在医学上, so the placement there was perfect—although, 最初, I wasn’t thrilled about the team I got placed on. I wasn’t super interested in being on the administrative/quality side of running a hospital, 但我决定 I’d be open to a new learning experience.

国王学院医院的一部分.

我很感激我的开明! My experience with the King’s QI team was wonderful, and I learned so much. Quality Improvement is a huge part of running a successful and welcoming organization, and it touches every person in the hospital—from patients to doctors to other various staff. It was fascinating to learn what QI is, and to see how it’s implemented in a hospital. I gained new skills in Microsoft Suite and data management, and by the end of my six-week internship, 我创建了 a massive Quality Improvement database that’ll be implemented and used by QI teams across the UK.

Me in scrubs, about to observe a cardiac surgery!

In addition, my position on this team exposed me to a huge amount of information regarding the NHS. 在我被安置之前, I had no real understanding of the NHS—but I can safely say that I gained a lot of knowledge now about it, 还有国王学院 College Hospital is structured, financed, and run. By being placed in this internship that I never would’ve picked out for myself, I gained an understanding of the crucial behind-the-scenes workload taken on by essential 员工s of hospitals.

从KCH直升机停机坪俯瞰伦敦.

The team itself was also welcoming, helpful, and amenable. They ensured that I got involved in many important projects that interested me, got me into a theater to observe a cardiac bypass operation, and even took me up to the helipad deck on the top 医院的. They took me out to lunch during my last week, and invited me to a team social during my short time there. The workplace culture in 伦敦 felt so warm and open, and I relished it.

QI队出去玩飞镖游戏.

I can’t even begin to express how important it is to go into your study abroad experience with an open mind. I was very nervous about being randomly placed into an internship, 老实说, 最初 disappointed when it wasn’t exactly 这正是我所希望的. A Quality Improvement team was never somewhere I would’ve placed myself before this 夏天在国外, but I truly believe it provided me with experiences and skills that make me a better student, 员工, 作为候选人 future positions, and to sum it up, was so much fun.

玛利亚姆哈桑 is an official blogger for Summer ‘23, sharing her story in frequent posts on our blog. 一个生物, 社会, and Environment major at University of Minnesota, 双城, she's studying and interning abroad in 伦敦 this semester. All views expressed are her own and may or may not reflect the experiences of other students.