Benjamin Best DIS Summer 2010

What made you interested in choosing Copenhagen and DIS as your study abroad program?

Well, I’m Scandinavian, so I thought it would be cool to go to where my ancestors lived at one point. A lot of it was the Medical Practice and Policy class, it’s really geared towards what I want to do because I want to go to Med school. The class is really hands-on and applicable so it sounded like a really good opportunity. The second class, Health Care in Northern Europe has to deal a lot with policy which is something I wouldn’t have had a chance to study in the same way back home.

How has Copenhagen met or exceeded your expectations?

Living in Copenhagen has exceeded my expectations. The people are very friendly, and the city offers so much to do both day and night. Every weekend that I’ve been here there has been cool events going on around town, from Copenhagen Carnival to Distortion…it couldn’t have worked out better!

How has the Human Health & Disease class helped you along this track?

Human Health & Disease was great, it’s been one of the best things that I have done that has made me even more excited about going to Med school and being a doctor. On the first day they told us “We’re going to teach you how to think, talk and act like a doctor”. We also learned about diseases, how to treat and recognize them, it was all so applicable. I went and observed Jens, one of the teachers who works at Amager hospital, and it was great to watch him with a patient and think of how his actions made sense rather than be completely lost as to why he made the decisions he did. I found it all really interesting, so naturally it made me want to go into medicine even more.

What did you enjoy most about this course and what will you bring home from it?

I enjoyed everything about the course. One of the biggest highlights was my fellow students in the course. I lived with many of the students in my course so we would go to class together, spend the day together and then go out together at night. The actual class material was really cool, and my teachers Jens, Johannes and Rune really made it a great experience because they had so much to offer in class but I could also talk with them about things outside of course material.

What was your favorite academic visit from the short study tour?

I really liked Stockholm’s Sports Trauma Research Center.  The director of orthopedic surgery lectured us about the facilities in the clinic and what they do and how it relates to public health care. The clinic is in both the public and private sector which seemed like it gave them the best of both worlds and was really interesting to see. The facilities were outstanding as well, and from the room we were sitting in, the director could see on a screen any of the surgeries that were going on in that moment and listen and talk to the surgeons. It was pretty amazing to see this first hand in Stockholm.