Josefa Santa Maria
Post by Josefa Santa Maria, a student ambassador from Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile Escuela de Medicina who has completed an exchange at Universidad Pontificia Bolivariana Facultad de Medicina.
My GEMx Ambassador Experience: Exchange in Medellin
During the period that I worked as an ambassador for GEMx, I had the opportunity to participate in many activities, from virtual meetings to lunch with the dean of the faculty. However, probably the one that I will remember the most will be my Emergency Medicine elective in Medellin, Colombia.
One of the reasons why I applied to be an Ambassador for GEMx, is that I consider the values in medical education as something that transcends the geographical barrier, and the exercise of this in other countries (even in another city) is an enriching experience both academically and humanly speaking.
My personal experience doing the elective of Emergency Medicine at the Pontificia Bolivarian University in Medellin, Colombia, is something that I will definitely turn into one of my most precious memory. It was a great challenge (and I have to admit that I was even a little scared) to leave my comfort zone and to do part of my internship in a foreign country: everything was different: the schedule, the food, the academic requirement, the way of teaching, the responsibilities with patients, the shifts, and even though the language was Spanish all the same there were local words and expressions that took me a long time to understand, but none of that was an obstacle to get to the hospital every day with a big smile and my maximum enthusiasm to learn.
Posing in front of buildings
One of the things that I liked the most was the warm reception I received from my intern colleagues, the doctors and especially the patients, who always asked me where I came from, and how did I feel living in Colombia, on many occasions I had very interesting conversations with them. They were always very happy and grateful for the attention I gave them, that was something that definitely left my heart full. In addition to having theoretical seminars every day and all the learning I got from each clinical case in the emergency service, my elective in Colombia allowed me to experience the diversity of the gastronomic culture of the area, to do tours around the city, in which I learned from the history and tradition of the neighborhoods of Medellin, and visit the nearby towns, where I could enjoy wonderful landscapes.
Standing next to art mural
All in all, the 4 weeks I spent in Colombia helped me grow in different dimensions, both personally and academically. They helped me to be more independent, to improve my ability to adapt, to relate to different types of patients, and last but not least, to learn more about the beautiful art that is Medicine.
