Students have the opportunity to work at PUCRS São Lucas Hospital
Photo: Mariana Haupenthal
A recent agreement with Fundación Universitaria Autónoma de las Américas, signed in February 2018, mediated by the administrative coordinator of the Office for International Cooperation, Mrs Sandra Beatriz Mino, allows medical students of the Colombian university to take part in an Internato, also called Curricular Internship, at the School of Medicine. The first effective result of this partnership is the arrival of student Santiago Giraldo Artunduaga, who is specializing in the area of Dermatology of the São Lucas Hospital. The internato represents the last cycle of the undergraduate medical course, without academic courses, and with students receiving systematic training under the continuous supervision of professors.
For the Colombian student, international mobility is a growth experience. “I chose to have my internship here at PUCRS not only to get to know a new country and culture, but also for the possibility of gaining theoretical and practical knowledge in this area,” says Artunduaga. The physician-to-be was at first apprehensive about coming to a country with a different language, but now he is pleased with the learning, both in the medical field and in the language and sociocultural environment.
International Experience
For Professor Marcelo Garcia Toneto, coordinator of the international students program, the internship aims to provide university students with the opportunity to acquire and develop techniques and skills essential to the medical practice. “The presence of international students allows for an interaction between different cultures, which is always interesting for the growth of all people involved in the process. It also grants foreign students the possibility of establishing links with PUCRS, both in the Medical Residency programs offered by HSL and in the University’s graduate programs,” says Toneto. In the second term of 2018, more international students will come to PUCRS for their internships.