HelMSIC Exchanges

My HelMSIC exchange in Crete could not have been more successful.

I did a clinical clerkship in the University Hospital of Crete, Heraklion, in the department of Orthopedics.

I stayed in Amoudara, holiday town 5km from center and shared a room with a girl from the Czech Republic. Amoudara was a very convenient place to stay as all other exchange students were staying there as well and it was located on the beach, which made it easy to combine the work and the holiday.

From the very beginning, my Greek contact person hosted me and showed me all the essential things that was to know about. The local medical students had their final exams in July, so they were quite busy with studying.

The Department of Orthopedics was a very good choice for improving my clinical skills as it is quite practical field of medicine. My greek being very poor, I obviously faced some language barriers in the hospital work but I was fortunate to have doctors explain to me all the main points in everyday work. Depending on the day, I followed and assisted the operations, followed the ward rounds and helped at the polyclinic and at the emergencies. I got lots f hands-on teaching which will help me in my future studies.

Apart from working at the hospital, Crete provides everything one can wish for a holiday. I was lucky to meet other exchange students from around the world. During the weekends, we travelled around the island and saw important sights, such as gorges of Samaria, the laggon of Balos and Elafonisi, the archaeological site of Knossos and also visited the city of Chania, Rethymnon and Agios Nikolaos.

The exchange was a perfect way to combine medicine and greek holidays. I really enjoyed the delicious greek food, although I probably ate too much feta cheese. It was very interesting to discover the greek culture and the working habits in the hospital. Most of all, I learned to appreciate the relaxed greek lifestyel and friendliness of the people!

Castren Eeva

Medical student in Finland