Student Matěj: "I already knew that I wanted to go on an internship before I started at the faculty."
Matěj Plevák, a fourth-year student of General Medicine, went to Turkey for a four-week internship during the summer holidays. As an active member of IFMSA, he gets points for participation in organized events and in simple words: the more active the student, the more points and better chance to get to the dream destination.
Matěj Plevák already knew about the opportunity to go on an internship before joining the faculty. "I discovered IFMSA on social media and I knew right away that I wanted to go on at least one internship. During the academic year you participate in events organised by IFMSA and you get points for that. At the end of the term, a points ranking is made and you are given one of your chosen countries. Simply put, the more points you have, the higher your chances of getting your top priority country. You then pay an IFMSA fee, in which you have your accommodation and 1 meal a day paid for at the internship. You already pay your own flights and internship costs, but since the faculty supports us, you can apply for a very nice scholarship. Details such as vaccinations are then handled by the country, usually all the information about mandatory vaccinations and examinations is provided by the country in advance in their internship conditions," says Matěj about the internship process.
There is a choice of clinical or research internships. Matěj chose clinical and spent 4 weeks (20 days) in orthopaedics in Istanbul, Turkey. "You see a different medical system, the procedures and types of operations are also different from ours sometimes. It depends on where you are and how much the locals prepare for you. For example, we had a very rich social program, every day the local students prepared something for us and we really didn't get bored. As part of a national program for all incoming students in Turkey, we spent 2 weekends in the southern part of Turkey. We visited the famous Cappadocia or had a day trip on a boat, where we sailed around the bays and swam," Matej concludes his experience and recommends taking advantage of this opportunity not only to develop language skills, but to get a glimpse of other health systems and to make various contacts.
