Medicine, Public Health, & Biology Internships

My time in Barcelona was an unforgettable experience and an amazing adventure. I’ve dreamt of going to Spain since I was in high school. For me it wasn’t if I’d travel to Barcelona, it was when. It was my first time ever leaving the United States, so to say I was petrified would be an understatement. I’ll never forget boarding the plane, hugging my family goodbye and heading off to the unknown. A million questions flooded me with anxiety from “Will anyone speak English?”, “Who am I going to hang out with?”, or “How am I supposed to get to work everyday?”. When I finally got to my apartment, I was scheduled to meet Kat and some others at a nearby coffee shop. I was welcomed with a warm smile and every single anxiety filled question was answered for me. I met some of the most wonderful, caring, fun, passion filled people I know. We experienced hiking up to Tibidabo Amusement Park, seeing a Flamenco show, running through Parque Ciutadella, reading at Parque Guell, tanning at Barceloneta, shopping on las ramblas, and eating every tapa imaginable. We traveled to other parts of Europe like Italy and Greece, which was crazy to me how easy and affordable it was to travel to from country to country. I truly could not have asked for a better group of people to experience a new place with. I am beyond blessed that I stumbled upon Connect-123. Connect-123 set me up with an awesome internship at the leading pediatrics hospital in Barcelona. I was pushed here to really dive back in to all the years I studied Spanish. In school I was taught how to read and write Spanish very well, but the conversations in class were minimal and usually with another person whose preferred language was English. But I’ll never forget one day at the hospital it all just clicked for me. I was holding real conversations confidently in Spanish with native speakers, which was something I never believed I would be able to do. Besides getting to live in one of the most renown cities in the world, one of the biggest things I will take a way from this whole experience, was being put into situations where my only choice was to try to speak, understand, and learn Spanish. I feel the only way you can truly learn is when you indulge yourself in the culture. I am beyond grateful to Connect-123 and their staff for being inviting and making my transition easy for me. A quote that stuck with me through this experience is, “One day, you’re 17 and you’re planning for someday. And then quietly, without you ever really noticing, someday is today. And then someday is yesterday. And this is your life.” So my best advice to anyone beginning this journey is to live in the moment, go eat as much as you can, and go experience as much as you can, because the 2-3 months you have in Barcelona are going to fly by.

I joined Connect-123 because I wanted to experience healthcare abroad; I spent four incredible months in Buenos Aires as an intern with Connect123. During this time I had the opportunity to study Spanish, intern at a public hospital in Buenos Aires, and travel to different regions of Argentina. What stood out the most for me were the people I met and the experiences I had while working as an intern at the hospital. I have worked as a nurse for the past 10 years and I can honestly say that I gained more insight and knowledge in these past months than I could have ever hoped for. The doctors, residents and hospital staff not only went out of their way to educate and answer any questions I had, but they did it with a positive attitude and a smile on their face, despite my less than perfect Spanish. The experience was eye-opening and enlightening, to say the least! I will be forever grateful for this experience!

I had an amazing time interning at Our Lady's Children's Hospital this summer! I worked with brilliant health care providers and saw them work together in order to help patients. My supervisor, Dr. Brendan O'Hare, was very kind and allowed me gain exposure to the surgical and anesthetic fields. I saw so many surgeries such as cardiac, orthopedics, plastics, urology, and ENT. I am very happy with my internship placement, and thankful for Connect 1-2-3's helpfulness! It was truly one of the best experience I have had in my life!

For a summer, I interned at Beijing United Family Hospitals and Clinics. It was bar none, one of the best experiences of my life in terms of cultural connections, and health care experiences. I interned at the Department of Family Medicine and Department of Pediatrics. I helped put together a computer program for the Pediatrics department to help them place orphans in dire need of life-saving operations to hospitals in the United States and Singapore and Western Europe. For the Department of Family Medicine, I helped them construct a diabetic database for a growing diabetes population in China. I would recommend this internship for anyone who aspires to be a health care professional to help them become more culturally competent and understand the ever-evolving face of healthcare as it changes around the world.

The whole experience was great! I was placed in the exact field I wanted. Connect-123 organized everything (housing, transport, etc). A supervisor even accompanied me to work on my first day. They laid out all the paperwork I needed to get into and out of the country. They provided me with a cell phone and met with me to make sure my experience was the best it could be. They even organized it so that my friend and I could live in the same house even though we were in different fields. I would highly recommend it.