International Internships in Colombia with The Intern Group

I like to figure things out on my own, to create my own story and perception of things and places and so whatever I may have wanted to know prior, I eventually found out and it only worked for my good.

If someone's going to intern specifically in the medical sphere with TIG/ILA and the person is not a native Spanish speaker then the only advice would be to work on their Spanish.

Well, an average day starts very early. I was up roughly by 5 am and left my apartment around or before 6 so that I could get to the hospital a few minutes before 7 am and do my morning rounds with the local interns.

After taking note of the patients' condition, their vital signs and what they tell us of how they slept, we'd take down notes and present them to the head doctor and consultants during the major ward round which would start at 9:30 am.

From 10:45 till 11:30 am we would be busy with data entry and updates of the clinical history of all the patients as well as examining of the new entries. Basic patient care and attending to emergencies would take until 1 pm when my working day would end.

I visited museums, toured the city with friends, tried out local dishes in various restaurants and small eating places.

Considering that most of the people that knew that I was going to Colombia all expressed their negative views about the country and how dangerous it is, I think my biggest fear was running into the wrong crowd, or finding myself in the wrong place at the wrong time, something that would have been threatening to my well being.

How did I overcome this? Firstly I adhered to all the safety guidelines the in-country team gave to us. Secondly, I stayed away from places they told us not to be in and I tried my best to blend in. By my second week, I felt like a local.

How did my views change? Paisas are probably the warmest people I know. Everyone is just so friendly and open and willing to help. This dispelled any negative comments that anyone may have expressed.

I think the biggest mistakes I made were: (1) not doing this program earlier and (2) not staying there longer. Four weeks is not nearly enough to paint a full picture of how beautiful my experience was.

A friend of mine and I stayed in an open mall till 4 am playing truth or dare. We completely lost track of time, had ice cream, and walked from floor to floor coming up with weird things to dare each other to do.

My favorite was when he asked me to hug the cleaning lady. At first, she was so scared and sort of held back but then she warmed up and smiled at me (I hope that made her night because it certainly made mine)!