Pitt Global Experiences

Aditi Junagade, Comparative Healthcare in Graz Summer 2023

For starters, the Comparative Healthcare in Graz (CHIG) program is based primarily in Austria with the last week of the program being held in Slovenia. Due to this, you’ll need to learn a little bit of German and Slovene. I recommend doing Duolingo for a week or 2 prior to arriving in Austria so that you can have some basic phrases down before even landing. This can help tremendously when you’re trying to order at local cafés. Although people in Austria do speak English quite well, it’s always appreciated when you try to learn the native language, as we were told by several locals and shop owners. While in Austria and Slovenia, you will get a lesson on German and Slovene, but Duolingo truly helps master the basics of the language. Truthfully, Slovene wasn’t as much used as German was, so even if you solely learn German, you’ll be all set for much of the program.

When it comes to academics, you’ll learn so much more outside the classroom with this program. Frequent health-related excursions to places like hospitals, monasteries, medical universities, and health facilities will expose you to the vast amount and types of fields in healthcare. The experiences and interactions you will have during these excursions will shape you to have a much broader understanding of the intersection of culture and medicine that just textbooks would not do. Because of this, make sure to bring a very comfortable pair of walking shoes. While on these excursions, I also recommend taking short notes of what resonated with you or you found interesting- it’ll provide great talking points for later, and even serve as a little souvenir journal of your experiences.

And finally, when it comes to financials, there are numerous scholarships for this program, many sponsored by Pitt GEO or the Austrian Room at Pitt. Make sure to search and apply as soon as possible! When you’re in Austria and Slovenia, budgeting will be your best friend. You must be able to recognize what constitutes as ‘wasting’ money and what is correctly spending money. Food, cultural experiences, and souvenirs (to some extent) are what I consider a good use of your money. Unnecessary shopping for clothes (like we did), was not the best idea, but happened due to poor packing skills, so bear that in mind.