Today, we presented our final group research projects. My team and I focused on the topic of public and private hospitals, and it was great to wrap up the trip by sharing what we’ve learned. It was also a huge stress relief after working hard the past few days to put together our research and prepare our presentation. Tonight is our last group dinner, a bittersweet ending to a great trip.

Yesterday, our program split in half to visit two separate public hospitals in the Buenos Aires province. The hospital I visited, Hospital Juan A. Fernandez, is located in and funded by the city of Buenos Aires. Additionally, this hospital is known for being one of the top 5 hospitals in Buenos Aires, and a top hospital worldwide for HIV treatment.

Later in the day, we visited the Evita Museum to learn about Eva Perón, the First Lady of Argentina during the late 1940s and an important social and political figure in Argentinian history. Evita (the affectionate name the public used for Eva) was born into a working class family and moved to Buenos Aires to pursue acting when she was 15. Her story demonstrated the possibility of rising from the bottom to the top, and she stood as a symbol for the working class who wished for better representation and pay. Evita’s role in helping to give women the right to vote also made her a prominent figure in the women’s rights movement.

Throughout our trip, we’ve studied the public sector of Argentina’s healthcare system and visited many public hospitals and primary care centers. The objective of these health centers is to provide the best possible care with their available resources to citizens that may not be able to afford private insurance or are not covered by social security (known here as “obras sociales”). In the way that Evita provided to the less fortunate and bridged the gap when it came to the social inequalities of her time, the present public healthcare system helps to give those who are struggling or living in poverty access to adequate healthcare and other important community programs. Primary care and community centers provide homework help to young children, and teach young mothers how to care for their babies. The public maternity hospital that we visited in Tigre gave pregnant women a comfortable visit, pre-birth classes, and even exercise balls to help during labor. The public sector bridges the gap like Evita did by providing trustworthy healthcare to those in need, and giving people opportunities that they may not be able to have or afford otherwise. In this way, Evita’s legacy lives on.

I’ve really enjoyed being able to learn so much about Argentina’s culture, history, and healthcare system. Looking back on these past few weeks, I feel that I’ve learned a great deal of valuable information that I’ll take with me beyond my group presentation and final paper, and into the real world.

Today may have been our last full day in Argentina, but my blogposts are not done yet! One more to come, so stay tuned!