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Robert Wood Johnson
I
MEDICINE 13
L
auren Kurlander, Aixa Navia, and I wanted to
spend the summer between our first and second
years of medical school improving our medical
Spanish skills and experiencing medical practice in
Medellín, Colombia. For one month, we lived with
a host family in barrio El Poblado and participat-
ed in several rotations throughout the city. We
were able to experience a successful national
health care system, learn about illnesses that are
uncommon in the United States, and see Colombia
in a very different light from what many people
had known only a generation before.
#
,
#
Medical
Practice
Medellín
,
in
Experiencing
Colombia
_
B Y
L A U R E N
E V A N S
`
"
We
were able to experience
a successful national health care
system, learn about illnesses that are
uncommon in the United States, and
see Colombia in a very different light
from what many people had known only a
generation before," says Lauren Evans,
a third-year medical student (left),
with classmates Aixa Navia (middle)
and Lauren Kurlander
.
COURTESY
OF
LAUREN
EVA
NS
_
Editor's Note: The Global Health Fellowship is
supported by the Robert Wood Johnson Medical
School Retired Faculty Association and several
other sources. The summer experiences are coordi-
nated by the Office of Global Health. Lauren Evans, a
third-year medical student, and two classmates
spent the summer of 2014 observing and working in
the medical system of Medellín, Colombia. This is
her account of the experience.
`