Submitted by Stephanie Schwartz on the 2016 winter session program in Spain sponsored by the College of Health Sciences…
As a part of this study abroad program, in order to give back to the doctors that we shadow, we give them English lessons. For me, this took place outside of the hospital, allowing me to get to know the doctor on a personal level. Over lunch, I helped a rehab doctor with her grammar while she talked about her experience becoming a doctor and her life in Toledo. After lunch, we went on a hike around Toledo and took the famous ‘selfie’ at the indicated spot on the hike. Getting to know the doctors in a setting outside the hospital while seeing great places in Toledo will undoubtedly be one of my favorite memories of this trip. These tutoring sessions help me realize that these doctors we shadow are more like us than we think. They joke, like to be around friends and family and have the same passion for eating as we do.