Visit to Victoria Medical Centre

cre: Visit to Victoria Medical Centre

What I love most about the classes at FIE London is the fact that our teachers use the City of London as a learning tool! We are able to take field trips that relate to our classroom topics while exploring our temporary home. Recently, in my course on health policy, we visited the Victoria Medical Center, a health care practice in Westminster.

The UK has universal healthcare which means all of its citizens are medically covered by the government. The National Health Service (NHS) is the health system used and occupies many affiliated health care practices, Victoria Medical Center being one of them.

Victoria Medical Center is a “surgery” here in the UK, which we call “primary care” in the US. The Victoria Medical Center serves 16,000 patients each year. Patients can make a free appointment with a general practitioner or nurse, depending on their health care needs. Our visit was unique, as we were able to sit down and observe a monthly lunch meeting between general practitioners and nurses. We were also able to listen and participate in a presentation on otology and hearing aids. So what did I learn from my visit to Victoria Medical Center? Lots of things about UK healthcare!

General practitioners, nurses and other health workers all took the time to introduce themselves when we arrived at the Victoria Medical Center. As the presentation progressed, we were able to ask questions and clarifications as needed, which we responded to thoroughly and enthusiastically. After the meeting and presentation, a qualified nurse (known as a registered nurse in the US), sat down with us personally and discussed what it’s like to be a nurse in the UK. United. As a nursing student, I really enjoyed learning the differences between nursing abroad!

Finally, we had the opportunity to visit the Victoria Medical Center. We were able to see the patient waiting rooms, doctors’ rooms and a minor surgery room. Despite the differences in our healthcare systems, treatment rooms were not much different from those we know in the United States. Very simple and hygienic, Victoria Medical Center seems like a great place to receive health care, in my experience.

Being able to visit a UK healthcare facility, especially as a nursing student, has been an opportunity that I am very grateful to have had. Living your future career in a new country is very rewarding. I am very excited for our future hospital efforts here in London!

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