Porto summer Exchange This year I had the chance to spend my clinical clerkship in Hospital São João in Porto, Portugal. It was a really an amazing month! I met new interesting people from all around the world, had the chance to visit some really beautiful places in Portugal and also I had the possibility to expand my knowledge and get some inspiration at the department of surgery, where I stayed the whole July. Stay I was accommodated in a student dormitory, which was near the hospital. I took me only 15 minutes by walking to get there, but I usually took the metro, because it was only 2 stops from the hospital away. Our dormitory was well equipped. Everyone had his own room with own toilet and shower. There was a shared kitchen on every floor, which was for us the place of meeting and where we prepared sometimes our dinner together. In the dormitory were also a washing machine and a dryer for reasonable price. The Hospital I spent my exchange in the Hospital São João in Porto at the department of general surgery. Every day I had to get up relatively early and because the hospital was really near our dorms, so I could sleep a bit longer. On Monday, Tuesday and Friday I had to be at my department at 8 a.m. and I stayed usually 5 hours there. Every Wednesday was for me the most interesting day of every week, because I’ve spent it at emergency room. I had to be there at 9 a.m. and I stayed there till 6-7 p.m. Thursday was my free day, when I had the chance to sleep and gain some energy for our social program which was truly amazing but also very exhausting. This year I got very lucky because my tutor was very nice, she explained me everything and I learned there a lot. I also had the chance to assist my tutor by the operations and also at emergency room too, where I saw a lot of different interesting patients. I was really nice surprised because the doctors and residents there spoke English very well and they really tried to teach me something, what I really appreciate. The city and social program Porto is the second largest city in Portugal, its historical centre is UNESCO world Heritage and it’s very beautiful. There are a lot of beautiful parks with amazing views. Porto is little bit windy but the summer there is very nice, the weather is not so hot and I could surf there, what I truly enjoyed. The seaside was great too, although the water was cold, it was really refreshing to swim there after a long day in the hospital. The best thing about it was that it took me only 30 min by bus to get there. Social program was absolutely amazing! There was something planned for every day and during the weekends there was national social program in Lisbon and in Braga, where I had the chance to meet even more medical students from different countries. What I liked the most about our social program was, that it was really well organised. We had all the important information on time and our contact persons were always ready to help us if there was some problem. All in all, it was a great experience, I really enjoyed my exchange and I’ll definitely visit Porto again.
Kamil Krempaský