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This story was last edited at 1:35 am March 31, 2005.
by Tara Beverly
Spending your summer in sometimes cold and
rainy Edinburgh, Scotland, may not be a dream getaway, but
making a difference by working with geriatric patients made a
great learning experience for two OU-COM students. And that was
the experience fourth-year students Scott Grogan and
Kimberly Wells had while completing the Charles J. Cannon
Edinburgh Geriatric Tutorial Program last summer. The tutorial
is one of a number of international programs available for
students, which are administered by the college's
Office of
International Programs. While in
Scotland, Grogan and Wells did research, worked with geriatric
patients and managed to plunge themselves into Scottish culture.
Grogan and Wells chose to go to Edinburgh
(pronounced “Ed-in-Bra,” according to Grogan) because of the city's leading
reputation in the field of research geriatrics. In fact, the
health-care system for the elderly is viewed by many as the best
in the Western World. In Grosvenor Hall February 18, Grogan and
Wells did a PowerPoint presentation on their Edinburgh Geriatric
Tutorial experience.
“We wanted to experience and study care of
the elderly in a non-American health-care system. We wanted to
see how others do it,” Wells says. ”They — the Scottish — have a
very different view of geriatrics.”
One thing that they noticed most immediately,
says Wells, is that “the elderly are more revered in Scotland
than in this country. Elderly people even have their own street
signs, which inform drivers that ‘old people are crossing.’”
While in Edinburgh, Grogan and Wells attended
five hours of lecture on some days — complete with traditional
Edinburgh tea breaks and lunch. On other days they trained with
geriatric physicians that treated the elderly in nursing homes,
hospitals and home hospices, during which the pair were able to
study various aspects of geriatric clinical care.
In addition to attending lectures and doing
clinical rotations, Grogan and Wells had to complete research
papers on the health-care system they were being trained in.
“In their health-care system, physicians have
much more decision-making power over treatment, especially the
treatment of terminally ill patients,” says Wells.
“There is a national health system, the
National Health Service, that the government
supports. Private hospitals exist as well, but they are paid for
out-of-pocket by patients or through private insurance.”
Also, they note, that it is not as crucial
for the elderly to plan for the end of life as it is in America;
the health-care system there seems to accommodate better for
their treatment at the end of life. Also there are laws help to
maintain the autonomy of the elderly as they near the end of
life.
Grogan and Wells found that there are pluses
and minuses to having a national health-care system. Higher
taxes are a “negative,” for instance. Some physicians also may
be paid less than ones performing similar work in the United
States. But there are generally shorter working hours, and the
environment is much more relaxed.
Patient discharge planning can be more
difficult because of the complexity of resolving outpatient
treatment and living arrangement issues, which may result in
longer hospital stays.
Even with lectures, clinical rotations and
research, Grogan and Wells found that their “workdays” were
generally finished by the middle-to-late afternoon.
“We had a very flexible work schedule, which
left us with plenty of time to explore,” says Grogan.
“We visited Holyrood Park, which is located
in the center of the city, kind of like New York’s Central
Park,” Grogan says. “I also got to play golf, one of my favorite
sports.”
“The Highlands and the Doune Castle (Monty
Python’s “Holy Grail” Castle) were cool to see,” adds Wells.
“Going to pubs and joining the locals in ceilidh, which involves
traditional Scottish dancing, was very enjoyable,” Wells says.
The two students lived in an international
dorm while in Edinburgh.
“It was interesting living in the
international dorm. We met a lot of nice people from different
countries,” says Grogan.
“He met his Scottish girlfriend there,” Wells
jokingly adds.
“Although we had single rooms, we had a
communal kitchen that everyone used. It was very expensive to
eat out, so we tried to cook a lot at home,” says Grogan.
“If you go out to eat in Scotland, you have
to try haggis,” they say.
“It’s much better than people have been led
to believe,” says Grogan. “I recommend it highly!”
“It was a wonderful eye-opening experience to
live in such a different culture,” says Wells. All in all the
two say they had a great time.
“I plan to go back in April,” says Grogan.
Maybe to visit that girlfriend.
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