Spain is a gorgeous country with an even better culture that I'm beyond thankful for having the opportunity to experience through this study abroad. From being scrubbed into a total knee reconstruction surgery with the sounds of drills cutting into the tibia of a patient merely feet away to being encapsulated by the sweet city streets of Barcelona that were traced with intricate architecture and an aroma specific to the city - it's an experience like no other.

Currently, I am planning to pursue a career in osteopathic medicine and become a DO in the United States. Ideally, I would love to attend MSUCOM and continue my educational journey there.

This study abroad to Spain really aided in opening my eyes as an aspiring physician to the different varieties of healthcare and educational systems.

Before the program, I was convinced that a lot of the world followed similar educational paths to the United States, along with the medical system. There we learned that it was in fact not the case, they have a socialist medical system and a completely different educational one.

The community in the Trueta Hospital in Girona was surprising because every person greeted each other with a smile, small conversation, or a hug. During the morning meetings where the night shift would go over the charts of the patients for the next shift, not a single person would walk into that room without being greeted and asked about their morning. It was so refreshing to see how close knit the community of healthcare workers were to each other and uplifted the mood of the entire hospital.

Additionally, all of the healthcare staff and patients were extremely welcoming to our students from MSU in each specialty we shadowed. The specialties included pediatrics, neurology, trauma/orthopedic surgery, general surgery, and the emergency room. All of them were very intriguing and helped me especially get a better grasp of the contrasting healthcare systems while being exposed to the medical field. It was genuinely mind blowing how different the United States was compared to Spain clinically and culturally.

Back in Michigan, I use my car constantly to get from one place to another. In Spain, we only walked and used public transportation as my main form of transportation to get around. It shocked many of us, the lifestyle there with eating meals a lot later than we normally tend to, the amount of walking, and how accessible everything was.

It's a country that I definitely plan to visit again in the future and one that will forever hold a special place in my heart. With the culture that held our hands to teach us the way of their beautiful country, the language that taught me major differences between Spanish and Catalan, the Trueta Hospital for welcoming us with open arms to teach us whatever we wanted to know with compassion, and the MSU friendships that we all plan to continue for a long time. From the bottom of my heart, thank you MSU for making this study abroad possible for me.

Name: Monika Torkos
Status: Junior
Major: Human Biology
Hometown: Troy, Michigan
Program: Global Health: Spain - Pre-clinical Observation