Third year Madeleine Steele shares her experiences as one of three Salford University students spending three months on placement at Oulu Hospital, Finland as part of the University's annual exchange programme.
Why go on placement abroad?
How could I turn down the opportunity? It was the chance to experience a country I'd never contemplated visiting and see what it was like to work as a radiographer over there.
What did you gain clinically?
I gained an insight into the differences in practice; for example
the hospital was better funded and so had more up to date equipment, however it had less strict radiation practices which raised my confidence in my own personal awareness of good practice.
I got the chance to practice procedures not done very often in the UK, which can only be a good thing.
What did you gain on a personal level?
I gained more confidence in myself and this trip has definately encouraged me to grasp opportunities and visit places I wouldn't normally think of visiting.
Had you travelled before?
Not very much, I've been on a couple of holidays with my family and boyfriend but nowhere particularly unusual. This exchange has made me want to travel more and I will be visiting Rome for my 21st birthday in a couple of weeks, which I can't wait for.
What was the highlight of the trip?
The whole visit was fantastic but the highlights would have to be visiting Lapland and meeting Santa and seeing the Northern Lights. also we went to the world air guitar championships - that was an experience!
What are the biggest differences between the departments in Finland and the UK?
The department was cleaner, however there was a heavy reliance on alcohol rub and no soap.
The equipment was very new and in large quantity; they had three MR scanners! The department was nowhere near as busy as UK departments, but the population of Finland is about a 10th of the UK.
Their radiation protection was a bit fickle at times, for example every patient would have gonad protection even for something like a finger (which I'm not knocking) however they gave considerably high doses, including using Buckys for things like knees, shoulders and chests which isn't really necessary.
How did you pay for the trip?
I applied for an Erasmus grant from the university which was easy to do. I got lots of advice with regards to this, however because they had to wait for the money off the government we didn't actually receive the money until about halfway through the exchange.
I had some money saved up and my student loan to help aswell. I'll admit I did spend more than I needed to but I didn't want money to prevent me from not doing something I wanted to do.
What say to other students who are interested in an exchange?
Definitely go for it! i would research the place you are visiting as there are going to be slight culture differences, for example the Finns love their naked sauna parties!
A tourist guide is a must have for trip ideas. Depending on where you go will depend on how much your going to struggle with the language difference.
Read Madeleine's blog.
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