{"id":30840,"date":"2020-06-20T06:24:27","date_gmt":"2020-06-20T10:24:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.studyabroad101.com\/?p=30840"},"modified":"2022-07-13T10:11:13","modified_gmt":"2022-07-13T14:11:13","slug":"an-interview-with-kate-foster-student-of-the-semester","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.studyabroad101.com\/blog\/2020\/06\/an-interview-with-kate-foster-student-of-the-semester\/","title":{"rendered":"An Interview with Kate Foster: Student of the Semester!"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"CYA student Kate Foster has been making the most of her time in Greece.<\/p>\n

A self-proclaimed mythology fan, Kate was attracted to Greece\u2019s rich history long before she arrived here. For her, living in Athens has provided her the chance to explore various aspects of the country\u2019s history. She has had the chance to visit famous ancient sites from the Acropolis to the temple at Delphi to the palace of Knossos. Just two weeks ago, Kate even ran the 5k race of the Athens Authentic Marathon. But these experiences are only one part of her study abroad experience.\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

As a biology major, most of Kate\u2019s classes here are aimed to fulfill her general education requirements back at her home institution of University of North Carolina Chapel Hill. However, she has been doing much more than just studying. When she\u2019s not in class or on CYA field trips<\/a>, she dedicates a lot of her time to volunteering in the local community. Every week, Kate has been shadowing well-known surgeon Doctor Spyros Smparounis at the Metropolitan General Hospital.<\/p>\n

When the doctor has patients, Kate interacts with them firsthand, learning about their illness and how to treat them with the Doctor. Kate even had the opportunity to witness a surgery in the room! On less busy days, Dr. Smparounis gives Kate lessons about illnesses and medical emergencies and how to treat them. As an EMT, Kate was interested in the differences between the Greek and American healthcare systems. Here in Greece, there is a universal healthcare program as well as private options. Meanwhile, in America, healthcare is mainly private. This week, Kate will sit in on a lesson from Dr. Smparounis about the cutting edge da Vinci Robotic Surgery System. Getting the chance to work closely with a renowned surgeon and developing a friendship is \u201conce in a lifetime\u201d Kate declared.<\/p>\n

When she\u2019s not working with Dr. Smparounis at the hospital, Kate also been volunteering\"\"\u00a0with an organization called Medical Volunteers International (MVI). MVI<\/a> is a non-profit that provides medical assistance to refugees. Once a week, Kate goes to one of their women and children\u2019s clinics and assists doctors as they see patients. On their busiest day, fourteen patients came through during the few hours she was there. She gets to work alongside the doctors as they listen to patients about their symptoms, ask follow-up questions, and determine a diagnosis.<\/p>\n

Unlike at many internship and volunteering experiences in the US, at MVI Kate gets to provide real input and contributions to the doctors she works with. She says that this work has given her the chance to see \u201cwhat\u2019s actually going on and how the process occurs and to look at the symptoms and go \u2018okay, I think it\u2019s this.’\u201d Every time she goes in, she gets another opportunity to put the skills and knowledge she has gained in the classroom to the test.<\/p>\n

One of Kate\u2019s favorite parts of her volunteer work is that she feels she\u2019s been able to provide more continuity at the clinic than usual.\u00a0The doctors she works with are volunteering their time and efforts, so they often stay for about two weeks before switching out with a new doctor. Kate, on the other hand, has been helping at the clinic every week since mid-September. Since she has been coming for weeks now, she feels confident helping doctors recognize recurring patients and checking on their previous problems before helping them with new ones.<\/p>\n

This is far from Kate\u2019s first time venturing out into the medical field. She is a certified EMT, has worked in a burn clinic and trauma center, and has shadowed a variety of different medical professionals already. But even with all this experience under her belt already, she feels that her experiences here in Greece have been unique. While shadowing in the US is just \u201cwatching,\u201d she describes her work here shadowing and with the volunteer organization as more \u201cinteractive\u201d and \u201cinvolved.\u201d She\u2019s had the chance to speak up and give her opinion to real medical professionals in a way that she hasn\u2019t had the chance to in the US. While she has loved the work she has done in the US previously, she admits that \u201cit\u2019s one thing to learn it in the classroom but its another to actually go and to see what you\u2019re learning in class in action and to see the consequences\u00a0of it.\u201d In her volunteer work here in Greece, Kate has gotten to witness the healing impact her help has had on real people.<\/p>\n

This healing impact is all the more meaningful because Medical Volunteers International assists refugees. For Kate, this has been different than caring for patients at a hospital back in the US. Without the work of organizations like MVI, it can be extremely difficult for refugees to find\u00a0medical care. In countries like Greece, where so many refugees have arrived in the past few years, this kind of humanitarian aid is critical. By seeing up close the situations of these refugees, Kate has gained more than just medical experience from her volunteering \u2013 she feels that her work at MVI has \u201copened up a whole new realm of sympathy.\u201d<\/p>\n

When it comes to for future CYA student who are considering volunteering, Kate\u2019s advice was simple: \u201cdon\u2019t be hesitant\u2026 it\u2019s going to be great.\u201d<\/p>\n

For her amazing work throughout her time at CYA<\/a>, Kate has been named the Student of the Semester for fall \u201919! Bravo Kate!<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

CYA student Kate Foster has been making the most of her time in Greece. A self-proclaimed mythology fan, Kate was attracted to Greece\u2019s rich history long before she arrived here. For her, living in Athens has provided her the chance to explore various aspects of the country\u2019s history. She has had the chance to visit […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_ppma_block_editor_authors":""},"categories":[3,436,464,21,435,445],"tags":[],"ppma_author":[681],"class_list":["post-30840","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-abroad101-news","category-after-study-abroad","category-students-2","category-stories-from-abroad","category-student-of-the-week-2","category-study-abroad-advisors","author-sarahhanley"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t