Hello! My name is Riya Patel and I just finished my sophomore year at Pitt! I am majoring in Public Health on a Pre-law track. On campus, I am currently involved in Smart Women’s Security Club (SWS), a professional fraternity Phi Alpha Delta (PAD), and am a liaison for the BSPH program. Around campus, I enjoy trying new restaurant spots, hanging out with my friends, going on walks, and doing movie nights.
I am excited to be spending the next four weeks in different parts of Austria and Slovenia studying global healthcare and their respective history. During this trip, I will be visiting Salzburg, Vienna, Graz, Zagreb, and Maribor. While this is something outside my comfort zone, I knew there was no way I could let this opportunity go. As I begin this trip, I look forward to embracing myself in their culture, conversing with other students and Austrians, meeting other professionals in the healthcare profession, and learning more about healthcare.
My goal for this trip is to professionally, compare the health systems in Austria and Slovenia to the United States. I would like to broaden my professional skills by learning to converse with people from different backgrounds and ages while also understanding the complexities of healthcare . Additionally, personally, I want to learn to embrace new cultures and understand their way of life. There is so much history in this part of Europe that makes these countries so unique and has helped shaped the world that they live in.
From this program, I not only hope to learn about how the healthcare in the United States differs from Austria and Slovenia and how history led to the formation of their system, but also the daily lives of the Austrians. I am interested in learning about their traditional dishes, what Austrian students at the University of Graz do during their evenings, find their local restaurants, and much more. I am excited to talk to the locals and hear what they have to say!
To be successful on this trip, I can use my strengths to achieve my goals. One of my strengths is communication. Communication will allow me to engage with local culture and participate in local events, build a network with students, professors, and local professionals, learn and practice german to communicate, and participate in discussions with leaders we meet. I am already in Graz and cannot wait to further explore this country!