After returning home, I am glad to see my friends and family, but I also miss being in Argentina. The trip was a once in a lifetime experience that I will never forget. The trip was packed with fun activities and plenty of things that I learned about not only healthcare in Argentina but also their culture and history. The Plus3 trip to Argentina were some of the best 2 weeks of my life and I am so glad I was able to make those memories and I hope I get the chance to go back again.

I made plenty of great memories and got to grow close with plenty of great people throughout my two weeks in Argentina. One of my top highlights from the trip would be getting to explore the Caminito in La Boca for the day. The Caminito is an amazing colorful neighborhood with streets lined with vendors and beautiful art. The vendors had some really cool things that I got as gifts for my family like knives with handles carved from animal bone, handmade jewelry and several paintings. I also got the chance to try a grilled chori pan sandwich from a vendor right off the street. The chorizo sandwich was one of the best sandwiches I had ever had. Another highlight of my trip would be getting to go to the Don Silvano ranch and getting a feast for lunch while getting to hear an amazing performance from a live singer and guitarist. Aside from his incredible voice I thought that it was really cool how the singer sang different songs from the respective countries of all the visitors that were there with us that day. The countries ranged from the United States to Taiwan. A final highlight that had a huge impact on my experience was when we got the chance to volunteer at the children’s center of Conin. It was a very rewarding experience to be able to give back to the children and the mothers there and see the smiles on their faces as we played with the children and worked on things around the community center.

Aside from all of the fun I had, I can definitely say I learned a lot on my trip to Argentina. One of the most important things I learned was that the Ministry of Health in Argentina really has no power over the provincial ministries of health. This was particularly important to my group because we were focusing on the Ministry of Health. Another important thing that I learned was that private hospitals are nicer than most public hospitals. I had learned that in a large city like Buenos Aires the public hospitals will be just as nice as private ones, but I was able to learn that since a private hospital is run off of donations and private funding it is not struggling as much as the public ones who receive funds from the government or taxes of the people living in the area. A very important fact that I learned in Argentina was also that they have a very fragmented healthcare system and that is why there are so many problems in the system today, but I also found that this system can be advantageous. For example in the Tigre the primary care units play a much larger importance than hospitals in that municipality, but it differs by municipality, city and province.

Overall, my trip to Argentina was amazing and I would recommend this trip to anyone with a desire to learn, grow as a professional and eat plenty of amazing foods. The Plus3 Argentina trip was a success on its maiden voyage and I think it will be for years to come.