Day 15(1/17/18) *Copenhagen/WHO Euro*

WHO Euro:)

                                   

Day 15! Aka our last day at WHO Euro...hopefully it won't be the very last time...this would be such a great place to potentially work in the future :) 

We started out with our Gateway presentations. So, as I promised on days 13 and 14 in my journals, here’s what my group found:

-the Eastern European countries (with higher rates of alcohol-related death than Mediterranean countries) had fewer secondary school graduates than the Mediterranean countries, and they also had less availability of social services. Lastly, the alcohol consumption in Mediterranean countries appeared to be smaller than that of the Eastern countries because alcohol consumption is measured by alcohol sales(and Dr.Stein told us that the Eastern countries are more likely to make their own alcohol, which in turn can skew the data!) Other groups investigated other topics and it was interesting to see their findings as well: one that was especially interesting to me was the one that examined the impact of out-of-pocket health expenditures on heath. There is a strong correlation between out-of-pocket health costs and life expectancy: the more one has to pay for healthcare on one’s own, the smaller one’s life expectancy! So…my question then is—why is the US still not adopting a universal healthcare system?! It would decrease out-of-pocket costs, and increase the overall health of the country…it’s so frustrating to constantly be asking myself this question, and hopefully it won’t be long until someone with political power continues Obama’s work of giving healthcare access to everyone.

After the presentations, we all breathed a sigh of relief-it’s stressful presenting to such influential professionals! We then sat back and listened to Dr.Stein give us some great advice about how to get to where we want to be in our careers, and how to decide what exactly that is. In her words, it was a “quo vadis” presentation. I was very inspired to hear from her and I’m certain that I’ll be referring back to her advice plenty in the future! My main take-aways are as follows:

-Public health, unlike clinical medicine, is cross-disciplinary

-I wonder if it’s possible to change this…for clinical medicine is focused on treating people from many different stages in their lives, so wouldn’t it be important to also have clinical medicine be cross-disciplinary…incorporating many perspectives into medical school trainings, not just science?

-Knowing languages and having worked in low-income countries is a requirement for public health work

-Dr.Stein emphasised that it’s important to understand the people you’re working with, and to understand how it feels to be misunderstood/a foreigner. I completely agree, and appreciate so much the emphasis that my parents have put on traveling with my brother and myself! After hearing Dr.Stein’s words of advice in this regard, I was inspired to look further into studying in Poland next year (since I’m Polish and have family there!) in order to understand a new language and to identify the diversity that exists in our world. I’ll look more into this option because it seems so important to healthcare in general.

-It takes a generation to implement a public health program and observe its impact

-therefore, it’s important to have patience and perseverance!

-A leader must have a social conscience and stay true to their values without being close-minded

-this was a good reminder to listen to others even when you’re the one in charge, especially in situations where so much talent exists such as at the WHO! Dr.Stein emphasised that through empowering others, leaders are most effective. 

-“It’s a strength if someone cannot make a decision quickly.”

-When I heard this I was over the moon! It is rare that I make decisions in less than a few days and after less than several conversations and reflections about what I should do…I’ve always been frustrated with the fact that I’m so slow to decisions, but Dr.Stein says it’s a good thing! Woohoo!😁

-Know where you want to go in life and tailor your work experiences accordingly

-This advice reminded me of what Dr.Crisp(my advisor at St.Olaf) had told me in a recent conversation; he gave me the assignment of thinking about an “end product”, and that from there he and I would come up with ways to get there. This is not to say that he told me that I need to figure out exactly which job I want to have, but rather what my goals through work might be. If you have a plan for where you want to end up, the path is a bit more clear and yet can have incredible opportunity to try new things and deviate from a straight line! The education system in the US is different from that in Europe, where often students enter graduate school straight out of high school and therefore need to figure out their paths quicker than the US students, and so it was interesting to hear this piece of advice from a European-trained professional(Dr.Stein) and compare it to an American and UK-trained professional(Dr.Crisp)…they did differ a bit in that Dr.Crisp encouraged a bit more exploration, but they were mostly similar!

-As a professional woman, know that there is sexism in the workplace and plan how you will counter it.

Upon the conclusion of Dr.Stein’s talk, we all took some time to reflect on our own paths as we boarded the train to go to the parliament building(another suggestion from my roommate who studied here)! We got to climb up to the very top and see a stunning view of the whole city-on a clear day you can even see into Sweden! It was nice to take in the fresh air from the top of the tower and see the hustle and bustle of the city from a very quiet and peaceful view. After climbing back down, and looking a bit at the parliament grounds, it was time to head back to the hostel for a relaxing evening at a neighbouring little place called “the English Pub”; there was a live guitar artist singing covers of old folk tunes, it was nice and quiet, with dim lighting and wooden carvings everywhere for decorations, and a great way to end our busy and very much enriching day in Copenhagen:)

Goodnight!

-Anna

We climbed this parliament tower!

Evening at the English Pub:)