Happy Monday blog world!
Studying abroad in college was one of my favorite memories and an experience that I wouldn’t trade for anything, so when a reader asked me about my opinion regarding studying abroad for pre-meds, I had to make a video!
In today’s video, I talk all about my experience studying abroad and what I think pre-meds need to keep in mind if they want to travel in college. Hope you enjoy!
Supriya says
I loved how you talked about your England trip with so much excitement & twinkle in your eyes 🙂 get the feeling. It resonated well with me. Though I am way past that stage where I think of studying abroad but its definitely something I wish to experience even if it means a short coarse somewhere completely unrelated to medicine after I finish my MD 🙂 🙂
Thanks for being so sweet Andrea. You are wonderful 🙂
Supriya says
Course*
Marianne says
Hi! I thought I could add another experience to the mix and a few more thoughts, because I am an extreme cases of studying abroad.
I was an exchange student with the Rotary club as a gap year just before college, where I lived in a small Spanish town. During college I did a summer program in Mexico to learn medical Spanish. I spent two seperate semesters abroad-1 in Argentina and 1 in Brazil (learning Portuguese). After college I lived in Spain for 2 more years, prior to medical school.
SO, you can definitely study abroad and still go to medical school. I did an entire year abroad in college still completed my double major (Biology and Spanish, minor in Chemistry). I would agree with everything that was said in the video. Living in another country is an experience that you cannot get doing anything else and it will really change who you are as a person.
Again, you need to plan extremely well and early. When I was in Brazil my senior year, there was a list of certain classes that I absolutely HAD to take while abroad or I wouldn’t graduate on time- philosophy of language, climatology, microbiology for chemists (and all in Portuguese!!)- as well as when I got back for my last semester.
For some things to think about, consider how much hand-holding vs. independence you want in a program- that is very different from one to another-and will give you a very different experience. And a very big consideration is how your credits will transfer. Will the be P/F or will you get grades that count in your GPA? If at all possible, try for P/F, because it will take the stress off for a semester so you can relax and enjoy your experience without having to worry about how difficult it is to learn microbiology in a language you just picked up a few months before!!
I would also reiterate how valuable knowing Spanish has been to my career. Every single time I am in the hospital and I can interpret instead of us waiting 30 min for an interpreter, someone comments on how lucky I am to be able to have that skill.
There were lot of people who doubted my decisions and said I would regret it when I was further along, but so far, I would not change the way I did things for anything (I took a total of 5 years off, 1 before and 4 after college). So, if studying/living abroad is something you having that urge to do, go with what your heart is telling you to do!!
Ashley Simpson says
Barcelona was the best!! Glad to see you are doing so well, miss you and our travels! 🙂
Ariana | BecomingMD says
I loved what you said about immersing yourself in that culture for an extended length of time. I always wanted to do a study abroad program, but my schedule never allowed for it. Fortunately, I was able to take a couple weeks each year to go on medical trips, but hearing you share your experience makes me definitely wish that I had made time for a full study abroad experience.
Aura says
Hi Andrea! Long time reader here from the Philippines. Not being able to study abroad in high school or college will always be one of my regrets. 🙁 Still very nice to hear about your experiences though! 🙂
Cheyenne says
Awesome! Waiting for your next post!
Christina says
I am just getting into your videos but I love them already! I’m a biomedical engineering student considering going to medical school and I really want to study abroad. My program is pretty tight so there aren’t many options, but I will still go somehow. My dream location would be Australia, but China has been interesting me as well. Thanks so much for the video! It is great to hear that study abroad is possible even for premed.
Louise says
The voice of raatyntliio! Good to hear from you.
Apurva says
Andreaa, yet another amazing video!
Listen, I need a bit of advice, which books did y’all refer to during Internal Medicine rotations?
Ashley says
Thanks for the video Andrea. It just filled me with energy and excitement for my study abroad trip. Looking at you in the video I felt how happy you would have been while on your study tour.