Our day at Birmingham City University was very lecture-heavy. We began with a short presentation by David Waters, the associate professor at the university, about the general aspects of the UK’s health and social care. This was then followed by an operating department practitioner named Dee Taylor speaking to us about her responsibilities and the everyday aspects that go along with being an ODP. Next was Sue who spoke about the NHS from her personal perspective as a primary care practitioner as well as the roles and expectations that go along with delivering primary care to patients. Rachel Hogan followed by discussing the specific sector of community nursing. Then was Lisa Jesson who presented on midwifery since many people in our program, including me, have an interest in labor and delivery. Samantha Perry was up next to discuss how children with special needs and disabilities are supported in UK healthcare, education, and social systems. Lastly, we were accompanied by Claire and Nikki to hear about experiences abroad and how enriching and exciting they can be.

I thought that my knowledge on UK healthcare systems was pretty good but after the presentations I realized how little I actually knew. By the time they were all over I felt as though I had an extreme amount of knowledge about UK healthcare systems, as well as a little bit about the education system, that I didn’t have before. These presentations obviously highlighted how all these different subjects work within the UK but it also gave us clear information to determine aspects of both the UK and US healthcare and education systems that are similar and different. 

Beginning with similarities, there were fewer of these than I had expected. One that was very apparent to me was the topic of referrals. For example, in the UK if a patient is having frequent migraines and wants to see a specialist they cannot simply show up at a neurology office requesting to see a physician. Just like in the US, patients need a referral from their actual primary care physician first in order to see a specialist for any concerns they may have. A key feature of successful nursing in the US involves patient comfortability and satisfaction. These are also extremely important aspects of successful nursing in the UK. In order for these goals to be met however it is important to communicate and confirm consent with patients in order to provide them with individualized care so they feel comfortable and content with the care they’re receiving. 

I was able to see many differences present in the US and UK’s education and healthcare systems. One key difference of education in these two systems involves how long students are in university. Students generally finish their education in 3 years and will focus on classes that pertain specifically to their majors, while in the US students typically complete four years of school with many general education classes their first year before moving onto classes specifically for their major. I also noticed that nurses in the US and UK have completely different job titles. In the US we are used to the terms RN (registered nurse) and APRN (advanced practice registered nurse) and many others while in the UK they have titles such as GPs (general practitioners) and GPNs (general nurse practice). Also because healthcare is free in the UK, clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) determine what is and isn’t covered when it comes to a patient receiving care while in the US where healthcare isn’t free, insurance companies have the final say in what is covered for patients.