2023-07-03 09:55:00
“Maybe I thought it was on another level, that I was not going to have the opportunity to do it”narrated Jhonier Maldonado Rico, when asked what he thought before starting his process to carry out his professional practice at the University of Oxford (England).
Maldonado Rico is 23 years old and is a medical student at the University of Tolima. He is part of the group of select young people who have managed to set foot in a cloister as important as that of Oxford, in the United Kingdom, thanks to the UT academic mobility programme.
From the beginning of his career, doubts haunted his head, but his desire and passion for medicine gave him the answers to all those whys that sometimes tormented him.
“Since I was very young I had the intention of trying to help people, not necessarily with health issues, but with the will to want to help in any way. So, like that was increasing in me, ”said the young man.
He grew and with him his taste, not only for helping, but also for the natural sciences, such as chemistry and physics, standing out in these subjects.
So when it came time to choose what to study, he opted for medicine. He thought regarding private universities, but in the end, he chose UT. Why how to pass up the opportunity to study at an institution of higher education in his homeland.
“As I was planning to study medicine, the score from the first Icfes was not enough for me to enter. I tried once more and already in the second semester I managed to enter the program”, indicated the young man.
From the beginning, the experience with medicine was unique for him, from the theoretical to the interaction with patients, which is where he realized that he definitely wanted to wear May.
For this reason, he actively participated in medical research incubators and student associations, where he heard regarding the opportunity to do one of his practices abroad.
“I found out regarding the possibility of going to another country and being able to do a clinical practice, as well as, for example, an emergency service in Mexico. From there it began as that motivation of wanting to do an exchange”, indicated the student.
So with the desire and the idea in his head, he inquired in the Office of International Relations of the UT the process to carry out academic mobility. “I heard from other students who in previous years had achieved such an internship in England, well, at the University of Oxford,” he said.
He thought it was on another level and that he had no chance of being accepted to such an important university. “But, if there were people who had achieved it, I thought how, well, me too, if I set my mind to it, I will achieve it. So that’s where the search to have that opportunity and to be able to make the exchange starts from there, ”he said.
He was pending the call made by the University of Oxford to choose students from around the world who wish to carry out their internship at the alma mater, one of the most important in the area of health.
He gathered the documentation, sent it to the European continent, and following a while, he received his long-awaited Yeah.
“Since the acceptance letter came to me, it was something that I did not believe, as well as what the truth is happening, a university of such a world level really accepted me,” he said.
After understanding that his effort and sacrifice were enough to be accepted, he contacted the UT Office of International Relations where they helped him continue with his process at Oxford.
After this, he chose which hospital he would do the internship at. She received the information to travel and locate herself in a safe place during her two-month stay in Europe. With everything ready, He undertook his journey towards the unknown, but longed for.
“The practices were from Monday to Thursday, and Fridays, specifically, were for theoretical classes. Then I also had the opportunity to go to receive the classes, to meet almost all the students of my semester, ”she indicated.
The young man highlighted that in Oxford, before students start classes, they already have all the academic material to study and prepare. In addition, technological tools are of vital importance for the development of activities.
However, he stressed that in terms of approaching patients, in Colombia, there is a little more benefit, because in the United Kingdom they only observe how the doctor treats, without participating.
He also expressed that the adaptation to British English was not easy, but not impossible either. “In my case I knew or had studied more like American English, and there it is pure British English. So, the pronunciation is very different, so sometimes I had to tell them to speak to me a little more slowly or if they might say it, like in other words, and that then was a shock at the beginning ”, he emphasized.
Added to this was a very marked civic culture, distant from that of Colombia, as was the intense cold.
After two months in Oxford, Maldonado Rico returned to Ibagué with the firm purpose of applying what he had learned in the city.
The young man stated that his experience made him reflect on the importance, not only of studying, but of looking for tools that bring him closer to professional life, such as research groups and seedbeds.
“As a medical student we focus like I have to study, I have to prepare for the next class, I have an exam and we only focus on that and we forget to enjoy other things regarding the degree, to look for those opportunities to be able to open up a little plus the eyes of everything that is outside ”, he indicated.
The young man, who is regarding to receive his medical degree, said that UT has a lot to offer and that these academic activities allow people to learn regarding the university and Tolima.
1688382483
#medical #internship #Oxford #ELOLFATO.COM
