Submitted by Megan Dolan on the 2020 winter session program in Portugal sponsored by the Department of Medical Laboratory Sciences and College of Arts and Sciences…
In Portugal, they have a public healthcare system. This means there is free healthcare for all citizens. After discussion with doctors and faculty in the hospital, this has its strengths and weaknesses. Although everyone has access to medical needs, there is a higher demand of patients and longer waiting times for appointments and procedures. Often, more acute cases take priority. Getting to shadow in the hospital and observe this in real time was an incredible opportunity. It was so interesting to compare this to the U.S. system and notice the pros and cons of each system.