Projects
|
FAQ
|
Announcements
#From knowing little about hospital departments to exploring career options #Better communication using medical terms and clues about my future career #Learning about a Ho Chi Minh City hospital through hands-on experience
Hello. I am a first-year nursing student in Korea. I started studying nursing later in life after working in several different jobs. I am eager to learn and work hard as I prepare step by step to become a good nurse. After working for a foreign airline and an IT company, I wanted to find answers to my questions about nursing through real experience, not just at my desk, so I went to Ho Chi Minh City.
I took part in a medical volunteer project in Vietnam because I wanted to meet people and help them in person, and learn what it means to give back. I also thought that watching and experiencing the work at a real hospital would be a valuable part of my growth as a future nurse. As a first-year nursing student with no clinical experience, I wanted to experience in person what I had only learned about in books, by seeing real patients and working in a medical setting.
I had lived and worked in another country before, so I felt more excited than worried about adapting to a new place. Before I left, Gap Year carefully shared a list of things to bring and information about the area. I checked everything and prepared to learn about the local culture with an open mind. Thanks to the care of the local staff, I felt very safe during my stay.
When I arrived, a coordinator picked me up at the airport and showed me the university dorm where I would stay. I then received a short introduction at the office. Later, we all met for a full briefing and had time to learn some of the local language before going to the hospital. Once the hospital volunteering began, we volunteered in morning and afternoon shifts.
We were assigned to different departments each week. If we became interested in a department while volunteering, the local coordinators took our requests into account and assigned us there. I watched local medical staff care for patients in orthopedics and rehabilitation medicine. I also joined physical and occupational therapy sessions and saw how patients recovered. I learned a lot by observing the operating room and traditional treatment, like the kind offered at Korean traditional medicine clinics.
In Korea, I am still a first-year student and have not started clinical training, so I had few chances to see hospital work up close. I had heard that it was very hard to enter an operating room. But at the hospital in Vietnam, the coordinators and hospital staff guided me, and I was able to visit one. It was a very valuable experience that would have been hard to get in Korea.
There were times when I felt sorry that I could not speak with patients because we did not share a language. But I learned that a look or a gentle touch can also show how you feel. This experience taught me that caring for people is at the heart of nursing. It also helped me become clearer about the kind of nurse I want to be.
I plan to move abroad again after graduation. I wanted to find out if I could communicate well enough using medical terms with people at hospitals overseas and with medical students I met abroad. I learned a lot by talking with medical and nursing students from Australia, Canada, the United States, and Europe about their countries’ health care systems and how they give medicine to patients. I also found that I could communicate well enough using medical terms.
I gathered some classmates from my school, and we took part together. Someone else from Korea was also there, so we spent time together. At the dorm, I got along well with a friend from the United States who stayed there. I also got along well with a friend from Australia whom I met at the hospital. We talked about hospital work and spent the whole program together. I learned that the more actively you reach out and talk with the people you meet during the program, the more you can learn.
I would give this experience 5 points for how much it helped change my life. The program was too short to say it changed my life, but it did make some difference. After visiting several hospital departments, I started thinking about which ones I might want to work in and which ones might not suit me.
It is too soon to make a final choice, but I think it was a meaningful discovery to experience the different departments and think about what I want. Before the program, I knew nothing about hospitals or their departments. Afterward, I had a better idea of which departments interested me and where I might want to work. I was able to learn about something new and think more clearly about my career.
My accommodation was near the airport, and there was a rooftop bar nearby called Noc Beer San Bay Rooftop Garden. It was nice to see the whole city from the roof, including the tall buildings far away in District 1 and District 7. You can also get into the city quickly using Grab, an app like KakaoTalk that is popular in Southeast Asia. I recommend spending your evenings or weekends enjoying the city.
There are also many places to visit and shop if you look for them. If you have the time, I really recommend taking part at least once.
I believe that being active and talking openly with everyone you meet can help you learn a lot, not only in this program but in life in general.
I would like to thank everyone at Gap Year who works hard to plan and run such a meaningful program. Thanks to you, we were able to take part in a well-planned program and have a comfortable, enjoyable experience. Thank you for creating this special opportunity.
Capturing the growth journeys
of our participants.
Home
Take a step out of your comfort zone.
Challenge yourself for your own sake.
Feel complete freedom.
Be happy.
