Spending a month in Thailand has been such an amazing experience that I surely will never forget. I learned about pharmacy and the public health system as well as many cultural customs. Learning about Thailand's universal healthcare system and how every person in Thailand has insurance was interesting since that is not the case for people living in the United States. I found it interesting that people have one hospital that they can go to to receive care and how the must be referred by a doctor at their assigned hospital in order to receive free care at another hospital in the country. Otherwise, receiving care from another hospital will cost them money. They also only have a certain drugs that are covered by this universal healthcare coverage. This makes sense to keep prices down. However, I learned that what is considered first line in the United States might not be offered/covered in Thailand because they have chosen a cheaper option to start with first. Then only if the other therapies fail will they go to better and more expensive option. It is great that every person in Thailand has health insurance but the downside of this is that waiting times for important medical tests such as and MRI might be as long as 30 days. In the United States if you need an MRI you usually get it with in a couple days.
Some cultural things I learned about are that Thai people often take their shoes off before entering a house or small building. They also bow when saying thank you and toilet paper is not always provided in the bathrooms.
I would recommend this APPE rotation to anyone who is lookin to learn something new and get out of their comfort zone!
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