exchanges
SCOPE EXCHANGE IN PERU Text:
Noelie Lengeler | University of Berne
For my final year of internships of medical school I wanted to challenge myself to learn Spanish and do an internship in a South american country, a continent I’d always wanted to visit. I read reviews on “pj-ranking.de” on the different possible countries and talked to friends. Finally I decided to apply to Chile, Peru und Bolivia and got accepted in Peru. Due to Covid-19 uncertainty I only got my confirmation a week before departure. I booked my flight and then spent a day feeling like a paranoid person walking around town buying all the PP gear I needed to take.
To get to the hospital every day I took two different small minivan buses called “combis”. Since there is no plan, only people who know the city or at least the route can use them. The bus stops are flexible – everyone just calls out when they want to get down. I very much enjoyed jumping off and onto them – it made me feel like an Arequipean! My internship was in oncological surgery, accompanying Dr. Augusto Martinez during consultations, medical rounds and operations. I had initially applied to do different specialities within internal medicine and was less interested in surgery. Whilst I still wouldn’t have applied for it, it was very diverse and I learnt a lot about the field and the health system in Peru. Some things I found to be very similar to Switzerland and others very different. I was impressed by the knowledge and dedication of the medical staff but not so much by the overall organisation of the hospital.
I arrived in Arequipa in southern Peru to be greeted by my lovely contact person Andrea with a sign, chocolates and a rose. She was very helpful during my whole stay - answering all my questions, helping me get set up with a local SIM card, taking me to my second PCR test and to the hospital on my first day. After my quarantine I was lucky enough to stay with my host family who could not have been nicer and made me feel very much at home.
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