Hi 😊 I’m Hana and this year I chose 🇧🇷Brazil🇧🇷 for my clinical exchange. I was placed into Vitória, which is the capital of Espírito Santo and the department I got into was Obstetrics and Gynaecology.
Even before our exchange started we received schedules, which was very nice because it gave us the feeling that we knew better what the month was going to look like. Also a WhatsApp group chat was created and we could ask anything there.
Hospital
I spent my days in two different hospitals in Vitória: Santa Casa and Pro Matre. Every Monday we went to Pro Matre for high and low risk prenatal checkups. We did fundal height measurements, fetal monitoring and checked treatment adaptation of patients. The most common diagnosis we saw were high blood pressure and gestational diabetes. We also saw a lot of really young pregnant girls, which surprised me the most. The youngest pregnant patient I saw was 15 years old. Every Tuesday we were in the OR in Santa Casa and in the afternoon in Pro Matre. In the OR, we saw a lot of gynaecological surgeries, such as partial and total vulvectomias, excisions of teratomas (one of which I was allowed to open - didn’t find anything inside), oophorectomies, mastectomy, C-sections… One day I stayed after all the gynaecological surgeries were finished and I went to cardiology where I was able to see a bypass, which was an amazing experience for me since I have never seen open heart surgery before. On Wednesdays we had ultrasonographies in Pro Matre and in the same time we could go to Santa Casa for clinical cases. Clinical cases means that the doctors meet there and discuss patients, their diagnosis, make some presentations about the case … the only problem was, that it was in portuguese and I would not understand anything. So I went to Pro Matre. Moving on to Thursday, we had a day shift in the ER in Pro Matre. This was the best day of the week for me. We were able to see C-sections, I examined new born baby with paediatricians, we saw also a normal birth (another surprise for me: they don’t use epidural in Pro Matre, so I could see some really painful labours). We saw baby being born with umbilical cord around his neck, he was not breathing for a while. But the most memorable were labour in the waiting room full of other patients and one in the ER. Every Friday we had ER in Santa Casa, but since they had no patients there (for real), we went to urogynecological consultations. Even though ER in Pro Matre was the biggest experience for me, Fridays were the days when I learned the most. I had an amazing doctor who showed me how to do colposcopies and allowed me to do all of them. So I did pap smears, which are screening tests used to detect abnormal changes in cervix - the sample is checked for HPV. And I saw also breast lumps, which I knew only from models so I’m glad I could try how it feels in reality.
How was the hospital apart from what we could see? Almost perfect. The doctors there were so kind, even though they didn’t speak English very well they always made time for us and to explain each patient. I appreciate this the most, because I’m used to doctors speaking the same language as me and not making time for us. The only minus point I would give for the surgeries, which we could only observe and did not assist in any of them. But still, I learned a lot.
Host family
Moving from hospital to another difference this exchange had compared to other countries and that’s living in a host family. I was both excited and a little bit afraid of how would this be, but my host family was the best family I could have imagined. It all started with me having my own room and also a bathroom. They had a swimming pool which I used every sunny day. And on top of everything was the family. Each one of them, even though they didn’t speak English, we talked, laughed and spent some really nice time together. I lived a little bit away from the city and it took my 1-1,5h in the morning traffic to get to the hospital, which was the only negative. I was provided food anytime I wanted and as much as I wanted. My host mother Mariana was like my Brazilian myself - we went together to a bar only to meet everyone and left in an hour to sleep, we both chose to study instead of going to parties, we stayed in the pool, went to gym together… I had also a godmother Alice. Alice helped me with the first day in hospital and explained how it works there. We also spent some time together which I really enjoyed. I cannot explain how amazing this girls are.
Social program and free time
Students made really good program for us. We went to a lot of bars, clubs, which I went only to one of them because it was like the welcoming party and I don’t go to bars normally. My house family also took me to yoga on the beach or to a lighthouse in nearby city which was really nice. Apart from that, we went to Convento, which was a church on top of a hill in Vila Velha. We had a really nice view on the city. And we also went for a whale watching tour, which was the biggest experience for me because I could see whales in the ocean. I also booked a tour to a buddha statue, which was basically the same height as the Jesus Christ that you in Rio and it was really nice. in the last weekend, I went to Rio de Janeiro which I can recommend everyone to go and spend at least one weekend there.
Overall
I can say that Brasil was everything I wanted and even more. Doctors were helpful, kind and always made time to talk to us and explain everything we needed. Host family rather than dorm is definitely a great choice. You will see the culture even better. And I cannot explain with words how amazing my host family including my 🇧🇷 mother and godmother are. The city was different to what we are used to and I liked it. People woke up at 5 and went for a run or yoga or any sport outside. Of course there were more dangerous parts, especially in the Downtown of Vitória so you need to be careful and aware of what’s around you.
Would I recommend Brazil? Definitely yes and definitely choose Vitória!! And the biggest danger here? Falling in love with the people and whole Brazil❤️🇧🇷.
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