Summer internship in Bankgkok was one of the best experiences in my life so far. Ever since I found out about the internship, I really wanted to visit Thailand and spend my summer there. I was really excited and couldn´t wait for my clinical internship to begin.
I bought a ticket soon, in March and paid almost 500 euros. I chose Qatar Airways with one transfer in Doha. 2 weeks before leaving to Thailand I contacted my contact person and asked her everything I wanted to know. I thought that my CP would wait for me at the airport, but she couldn´t because of school. So I traveled with my friend Diana and we arrived to Suvarnabhumi airport in the morning. Then we took a taxi to the hospital where our CPs were already waiting for us.
My CP showed me the way to the dormitory. Female dormitory is very close to Siriraj Hospital, it is in the same area so it takes approximately 5 minutes from dorm to the hospital. The dormitory was nice, I shared a room with my friend and another exchange student from Croatia. There was a microwave and fridge on the hallway, also computers in „library“. The rooms were big enough, with modest furniture and beds, also with a fan, aircondition and a small balcony. Toilets and showers were in a shared bathroom on each floor. Everything was really clean because these shared spaces were cleaned twice a day. There were 2 washing machines on the ground floor too. Right next to the dormitory was a small shop 7-eleven where is possible to buy almost everything – cosmetics, drinks and mostly food.
I´ve spend two weeks at the Department of Plastic surgery. At first I applied for general surgery, but the secretary switched me to Plastic Surgery and after two weeks to Head&Neck and Breast surgery. The doctors were really nice, always willing to help and explain everything. Every day we attended morning conference where resident doctors were presenting a current issue and discussed it together. Then we went to operating room, or to Out-patient department.
Something about the food… There is no food included during the internship. Before the first social programe our CPs gave us the money – something like pocket-money. I think it was 3000 bahts so 75 € for food. For breakfast we usually bought something at 7-11, for lunch we went to the canteen which was close to dormitory in a hospital area. But overall there are lot of possibilities where you can get food. Except the two I mentioned before I have eaten in a small restaurants at the market. You can also buy fresh fruit everyday for example pineapple, papaya and watermelon. And trust me they taste so much better than the ones you buy here in Slovakia. In general food is really cheap in Thailand. One simple dish costs 40 – 60 bahts, which means 1 – 1,5 €, sometimes even less.
Contact persons provided a social programe for all exchange students twice. The first was a meeting where they prepared all traditional thai dishes for us and also we brought someting from our country for them to taste. The next social programe was a whole-day trip around the most known and famous places around Bangkok – Wat Pho, Grand Palace, floating market, then they took us to thai dinner and finished with a night shopping at Asiatique the Riverfront. Except these two „official“ meetings some CPs also organised an unofficial dinner for us students to meet and get to know eachother. Me and my CP also spent time together but it was a bit difficult because thai students go to schol in July. So sometimes it was really hard to meet eachother.
I recommend you to travel as much as you can. The sightseeings and temples in Bangkok are beautiful and you can visit them during week in the afternoon. But weekends are great opportunity for you to go outside Bangkok. I recommend Chiang Mai, Ayutthaya, Erawan Waterfalls, Kanchanaburi and also Krabi, Ko Larn, Ko Phi Phi or Phuket for beautiful beaches and swimming. And also travel with plane. It´s more comfortable and the price is almost the same as a bus ticket.
One more advice in the end. The obligatory clothing for student at Siriraj Hospital is a black skirt and a white shirt, closed shoes with no heels for girls and black long trousers with a white shirt for boys. If you won´t bring these clothes with you, don´t worry because you can buy them at the market close to the hospital.
Thailand is a beautiful country with beautiful nature and humble peple who are always smiling and willing to help. If I could I would definitely go back because it was truly the best summer ever!
