Reflective thinking is the NEOMED way. The comments below are a final reflection by Zhongke Hua (Betty), one of six students from Anhui Medical University in Hefei, China, who spent the 2017-18 academic year in an educational exchange between Anhui (pronounced On-Qway) Medical University and NEOMED’s College of Pharmacy.
The students recently received a certificate of attendance after participating in first-year and second-year College of Pharmacy courses, each for one semester.
Life in U.S.A 2017-2018
August 27, 2017. Our plane landed on Cleveland, and our life in America begins. Dean Kasmer gave us a warm welcome; he treated us with a hearty breakfast, which made us confident and expectant about our life here. In the OTC class, the most important thing we learned about is teamwork. We are divided into different groups; each group will have quiz before the class and do the case study together for different chapters. For the health care delivery systems, we learned about the current U.S. health care system and some critical issues. We also do a group presentation about the related situation in China. It's our first time to do it in English, after it through the question and answer session. We had a deep communication with our classmates and professor.
Last November, we attended a business etiquette dinner and professional fashion show at NEOMED. Thanks for this dinner, we learned a lot about table manners and how to behave well at a business occasion. On the day of Lunar New Year, NEOMED hosted a celebration; all of us were involved in this activity. We sang a song and had a dance show at this celebration. We were very happy that a lot of students of NEOMED showed great interests in Chinese culture. This night made us away from homesick.
In the pharmacotherapeutics class, we learned about the details in the process of communication with patients. Dr. Brownlee organize some specific outpatient cases for us to do group study. Dr. Soric introduced the electronic medical recording system in detail for us. Under the guide of Dr. Brownlee, we also went to the standardized patient simulation lab in the Wasson Center. Here we know more about the communication skills with patients and the patient model.
2018 April, Dean Kasmer took us to Cleveland to have a tour of pharmacy of Cleveland Clinic.
During the Cleveland Clinic field trip, we went to the inpatient pharmacy department where the pharmacist worked and knew more about the modern management system in this hospital.
What helps us a lot is that we had weekly meetings “Tea on Tuesdays.” We talked with different professors, teachers, faculty at this tea meeting, we learned a lot from them and got a lot of useful information from them. We also made many friends with classmates, they are very nice people. They provide us much help no matter in study or in life.
We went to Columbus to attend the OPA Student Legislative Day Conference. Through the discuss with the senator and lawyers, we learned a lot about
the current pending legislation.
Recently, we went to Columbus again and attended the Ohio Pharmacists Association Annual Conference. Here we listened to the presentation by different people from different fields.
Traveling
For Thanksgiving, we went to Chicago. What impressed me most was the skyline of Lake Michigan and the entire city of Chicago.
Before Christmas holiday, we went to New York City and Boston. The life in New York is non-stop challenging. Many New Yorkers still enjoy it because which is Diverse Inspiring and Unforgettable. In Boston, there are many famous universities. Boston is a literary city: QUIET and polite. We can feel a strong academic atmosphere.
During the spring break, we have a tour in Washington, D.C. We stroll around, and see the congress center, the White House, and many museums. This trip can let us escape the cold of Ohio for a short time and feel the spring and cherry blossoms in D.C. We all appreciate that Michelle and Kim picked us up to see the Niagara Falls. Although the weather is cold, their special care makes our entire journey very warm.
We do enjoy the life and study in NEOMED. The people here are so nice and we have a cozy study environment. Meanwhile we like the open personality and positive attitude of Americans.
Time goes so fast, we will go back to China this May. I want to say thanks to NEOMED. Especially Dean Kasmer, Jodie Dillner, Michelle Mulhern, Kim Kennedy, Professor Krinsky, Dr. Brownlee, and many other NEOMED faculties.
U.S.A., see you next time!