Έλα!

Hello,

Welcome to my study abroad journey in Greece. My program is coming to an end where I am located in Ierapetra, Crete. Crete is an island and where I was staying was in a village full of mountains called St.John, the village was abandoned 200 years ago. It was such an eye-opening experience since I have never lived in the mountains before, but the view was spectacular and peaceful. When arriving to the village it automatically felt like home because the home built-age and traditional style reminded me of Mexico and Mama and Papa had breakfast ready for us. The homemade food they cooked for us every day is something I will miss especially since everything is freshly grown. My favorite dish was homemade eggs with fresh squeezed orange juice, first thing I am doing when arriving to the States is purchasing a juicer machine! In Ierapetra, I shadowed doctors in the hospital and was very similar to how it was in Athens, however the hospital is smaller and less patient overflow due to the city having a smaller population. The doctors were very accommodating for us along with testing our knowledge when they were performing chest x-rays and reading blood work. However, communication was a cultural barrier while being in Greece in which when when writing information down about the patient it was difficult because the resident or medical student were not able to translate everything because they also had to be paying close attention, but it was manageable at the end. In some cases, I was able to read and observe what was going on by having previous exposure the tests for instance when performing physical examination, I am aware of the procedure and what is being tested. Overall, this program has definitely been an eye-opening experience that I will forever cherish because given the ability to shadow doctors in surgeries and clinical rotations was amazing and the ability to build a connection with the doctors in a way, they recognize me by inviting me to other surgeries was a blessing. In addition to my course requiring us to write journals about every rotation observed will benefit me in the long run because I will be able to reflect back on my journal about the experience and reminisce being in the operating room again. Along with being able to share my experience in my personal statement for medical school and share my journey. This experience has further confirmed that I want to be surgeon in the future, my passion for surgery has increased seeing the dynamic of the operating room and teamwork. I am grateful and proud of myself for taking the chance of studying abroad because now that I have opened my horizon, I have increased my medicine knowledge with another country giving me the benefit of being the best physician for my patients in the future. In addition to gaining valuable knowledge about level of care in patients and how they approach diagnoses. I am very thankful for my support system for allowing me to take this chance and cherish this experience forever because I am more than confident about my passion for medicine. Thank you for following me on my journey to Greece and stay tuned for my Post-Return Vlog 