Blog 1: Anticipation

 I have left the United States on two occasions: a family vacation to St. Maarten and a large group vacation to Mexico where I did not leave the premises of the resort. Even within the United States, I had never traveled on my own and then it hit me that I would be flying overseas by myself and starting a life where everything is new to me. A new country, new school, new job, new friends, and a new language. Before leaving home, I tried to hold onto the excitement aspect that I would be traveling and seeing the world. I had the opportunity to “be on vacation” for an entire semester which is an opportunity that many people do not get. I used the excitement to mask the anxiety hiding deep within. How will I get around? What if I don’t make friends? Am I going to like the food? Will my classes be too hard? What if I can’t understand my supervisor? What if I don’t like the work I will have to do? 

Once I found out that I would be interning at a clinic, I was at ease because I figured it would be a similar environment to a clinic in the United States because medical care is something that everybody in the world needs (to some extent). However, I was worried that cultural differences could be a hurdle within the workplace for me. It made me nervous that I would not be able to have clear communication with my supervisor or that a patient could come in with an emergency and I would not understand what they were trying to say. In addition, the healthcare system in the United States is drastically different than many countries within the European Union and I was worried I would feel way behind and not know anything about the healthcare here in Prague. 

When I walked in on my first day, I immediately felt relief when I saw that it looked like a typical small clinic that I would see at home. I didn’t know what to expect for the entire first week, but I did have expectations for the first day, which is exactly what happened. I first got to meet Karin, my supervisor, and get a brief tour of the clinic. We then sat down and discussed what my internship would consist of throughout the semester. We developed a consistent work schedule that was flexible enough to give me the opportunity to still have time for my studies and weekend travel. Karin gave me a list of tasks I would probably do throughout the semester, but told me that we could develop projects for me to work on as the semester progresses. She made me feel very comfortable and assured me that if I was ever assigned a task that I was uncomfortable with, it was not a problem and we could find something else for me to do. Throughout my first week, I never felt overwhelmed, stressed, or uncomfortable. I was doing simple, administrative tasks that got me familiar with the set-up and flow of the office. I was also given tasks to find local businesses in Prague (restaurants, hotels, cafés) that could potentially work with the clinic. Although this was a very simple task, it was extremely helpful in learning about various places around Prague that I had access to. At the end of my first week, I got to meet with one of the general practitioners at the clinic who took genuine interest in my educational and career goals and was excited to help me find opportunities within my field around Prague throughout the semester, which is just another part of this experience that I am looking forward to. 

The sense of comfort and relief I felt during my first week exceeded my expectations immensely. Not only did it diminish a vast amount of the anxiety I previously felt, but it left me more excited to see what the rest of my internship will entail. I am looking forward to the rest of this semester and to undergo educational, occupational, and personal growth.
 

Blog 2: Reconciling Expectations with Reality

After my first few weeks at the clinic, I learned how much organization goes in to keeping a clinic successful and running smoothly. I have done several organizational tasks throughout my experience so far that have helped me to realize this. Because I had no specific expectations of what the organization was like when I first arrived, I had no initial assumptions that stood out to me when I first started. Therefore, I have not had any assumptions that have been challenged this far.

With different organizational tasks and sorting of data, I have been able to deepen my understanding of the distribution of time the doctors spend working. I was given lists of the different doctors and how many patients they saw and hours they worked each month throughout the year. The range varied much more than I expected. Analyzing the data helped me to understand that the number of patients they see and the number of hours they work is significantly determined by the doctor’s specialty. For example, in 2018 one doctor saw over 2,000 patients throughout the course of the year while another one only saw 6. 

When beginning this internship, I was expecting to do a lot of administrative tasks and some small projects that deepen my knowledge of the healthcare industry in Prague. So far, it is going according to those expectations and there has nothing surprising that has come up that differs from my projected job description. Because of this, I have been very satisfied with the tasks that I have been given throughout my time at the clinic so far. The various different administrative tasks that I have completed have not only shown me how important it is for a business to be organized but have improved my own personal organizational skills. I have learned several new tools for how to organize different things and practicing these skills is going to be very helpful for any job I may have in the future. 

Even though there are various tasks and projects I have worked on, none of them have been overwhelmingly challenging. This has been a fairly low stress internship that has not interfered with my schoolwork. The most challenging aspect, which is very minor, is the slight language barrier between me and the people who work at the clinic. They speak English and I usually have no problem understanding them. However, sometimes there are specific words they don’t know that they may have to look up which can delay the communication process. I occasionally have to ask questions or ask for extra explanation if I have trouble understanding what exactly my supervisor wants me to do.

It has been very rewarding to know that what I am doing throughout the clinic is helpful and makes the employee’s jobs easier. Each time I complete a task, my supervisor tells me how good of a job I did and how much she appreciates my help around the clinic. It feels good to get affirmation that I am doing a good job. 

Blog 3: Cultural Differences in the Workplace

Medical care is something that all people need regardless of what part of the world they live in. Because of this, I have found that the cultural differences in my organization compared to the medical facilities back in the United States are very minor and not too overwhelming. 

One of the things that I most significantly remember from class was discussing the six cultural dimensions. A piece of information that I was most surprised by was that Americans tend to be “harder workers.” We are known to put forth more effort in order to keep our jobs and stay competitive within our industries compared to Czechs. This wasn’t something I had noticed at first but after learning about it I noticed how often my supervisor would give me good feedback on my work. I get told each shift how good I am at my job and how much my work is appreciated, which is a nice thing to hear. In general, the workplace here seems to be more laid back and stress free. The employees at my organization take coffee or lunch breaks on their own time and do not stress themselves out by trying to rush through a task. At home, I am used to being at work 8-10 hours often without much of a break, but I do not have a problem with that. At my current placement, my supervisor tells me I can have a break or encourages me to take one whenever I want, even if I have only been there for a couple hours that day. 

In the United States, if you walk into a clinic or doctor’s office, the nurses and receptionists are often wearing scrubs and the administrators would be dressed in a business formal fashion. However, the employees at my organization wear business casual clothing, which is my dress code as well. No jeans, t-shirts, shorts, or low-cut clothing is allowed. Though it is a requirement to look professional, the dress code is less formal than what I would expect at a hospital in the United States. Because everybody dresses similarly and there isn’t too much pressure on the work being done, there doesn’t seem to be a hierarchy to put tension on relationships between managers and subordinates. 

Other than expected cultural differences such as the language barrier and lifestyle, there are not any cultural differences between what I would find at home and my organization that are significant enough overwhelm me or cause me to need extra clarification while at work. I believe that the concept of check-ups and doctor’s appointment is similar enough worldwide to make it an easy adjustment for anybody. 

Blog 4: Developing Intercultural Competence

When moving to a new country, having knowledge on its history, culture, and lifestyle can help bring more success in the workplace in that country. The content shared throughout the course of the internship seminar has gone above and beyond than just giving advice to students doing international internships. The content and information given has offered several ways to increase intercultural competence. 

I remember the first ever internship seminar and barely even talking about our internships at all, which at first I thought was strange. But after living in Prague and attending school and work, I now realize how valuable that first seminar was. Everything was talked about helped to improve my intercultural competence, especially in the Czech Republic. We discussed several topics such as the debate to determine if the Czech Republic is Central or Eastern Europe, the relationships between the Czechs and various other European countries, religion, history, politics, and even the beer of the Czech Republic. Though these topics are not directly related to internships, they are all different areas that improve our knowledge on the culture here which helped develop intercultural competence early on. 

The more time I spend in Prague, the more I am developing intercultural competence. I did not have any specific end goals or expectations upon my arrival, but I knew I wanted to immerse myself into the culture as much as possible. The opportunity to travel to different countries while being here has also helped me to progress my competence because I have been able to witness several different cultures and compare them to both the United States and the Czech Republic. It has been fun to be able to observe how different various cultures can be even if they are not too far away from each other on a map. 

The main challenges I have experienced relate to some kind of language barrier. Even if somebody speaks English, things can sometimes get lost in translation and I don’t get the full message that people intend to get across. We learned in the beginning that Czech people are not typically very openly friendly, and this has also been a challenge for me. I usually don’t mind asking a stranger a question but here I am very apprehensive to do that. I am trying to overcome this by talking to somebody who I have had interactions with before or that I am already in a conversation with. 

Working at an internship where new people are coming in and out every day with different reasons for coming has not only exposed me to new people that I would not have otherwise encountered but has helped get more of a glimpse of the medical field in the Czech Republic. That was one of my main goals throughout this internship and I feel that I have well reached that goal.

Although there have been challenges, I feel that my experience living in Prague with the help of the internship seminar has helped me to significantly improve my intercultural competence. I am now more confident and comfortable to travel to foreign places and feel like I fit in. 

Blog 5: Closure and Career Application

This internship was the first opportunity I had to really work in a company that was a part of the health care industry. I knew it would be a learning experience and I would have to adjust to it along the way. Starting a new job or internship is never easy. It is especially challenging when it is in a new industry and in a foreign country that you’ve never visited before where English is their second language. Although it was a challenge, it helped me to grow so much in so many ways. 

Though I was not expecting to be fully ready for a career in this field with no prior experience, I did not score as high as I thought on the NACE competency report. However, I was not surprised that I scored high in the communication category. Effective communication has always been a strength of mine and I am happy that it was noticed by my supervisor. I was always told how good of a job I do and how hard I work is appreciated, but that did not seem to show on my NACE report which I found surprising. I know that one thing I can improve is asking questions and directly asking for more tasks when I complete the prior one. My supervisor did mention in her comments of the evaluation that other than asking more questions there is nothing to improve and that I am very hardworking, which is rewarding to hear. 

Organization is a skill that I have significantly improved throughout this internship. Medical offices need to be well-organized in order to run efficiently and a lot of the work I did throughout the semester involved organization. I have taken different organizational techniques and used them in my home and school life.

One of my goals going into the internship was to gather more knowledge on healthcare in Prague and the Czech Republic and see how it compares to the healthcare in the United States. Not only was this a personal goal, but I believed learning this information would be beneficial in my career and give me more knowledge of the industry. I got the opportunity to have a private lecture with a doctor who speaks in front of many medical students around the world. He taught me all about American healthcare compared side by side to the healthcare of several European countries. It was one of the most enlightening and educational presentations I have ever heard and I learned so much. I believe this information alone contributed a lot to my career readiness because I got an inside look at the industry from various standpoints.

After viewing my NACE report, I got to see various different categories of career readiness and see which areas employers look at. Reading these categories and seeing where I fall on each of them will be a good way for me to self-reflect and improve to build my career readiness. Overall, this has been an enlightening and growing experience for me and I am very grateful for the opportunity to have been able to do an internship in Prague.

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