Mary Helen Sick, fourth from left, is a University of Arkansas student majoring in communication disorders who participated in Health Teams Abroad last year. Her blog about the trip can be read at the Health Teams Abroad website.
Students Have Opportunity to Visit Sweden with Health Teams Abroad
September, 2010
Students majoring in health-related fields at the University of Arkansas can go to Sweden next summer with Health Teams Abroad.
Focusing on one specific diagnosis, teams will see the role of various health-care providers and experience the interdisciplinary cooperation that is fundamental to service delivery in health care. Students will also see the benefits and drawbacks of consumer-purchased versus state-provided health care.
Visits to local hospitals, clinics and community organizations will provide exposure to critical care and health promotion issues within the U.S. medical system. These same learning experiences will be provided to students in Sweden through the university's partnership with the School of Health Sciences at Jönköping University.
The cultural component of the program consists of day trips to several important cities on each coast of Sweden and a five-day stay in the capital city of Stockholm. The combination of experiences provides students with perspective on health, medical care and social values that can enhance the personal statement component of applications to graduate and professional schools.
The application deadline for undergraduate students is Dec. 7. Travel dates are May 17 through June 7. The estimated program fee is $4,500. Additional costs to the student are tuition for six hours of credit and airfare. For more information, visit the Health Teams Abroad website. The page includes a blog written by Mary Helen Sick, a communication disorders student who attended last year.
Fran Hagstrom, associate professor of communication disorders, is the faculty leader for the trip. She is a member of a group of faculty from the College of Education and Health Professions and the J. William Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences that developed the interdisciplinary program in 2007. The other faculty members are Charles Riggs, professor of kinesiology, Nan Smith-Blair, associate professor of nursing, Barbara Shadden, University Professor of communication disorders, Neil Allison, associate professor of chemistry, and Jeanne McLachlin, assistant director of the pre-medical program.
The program won the John A. White Award for Faculty Student Collaboration.###
