Today, we began our day bright and early to visit La Universidad de Austral in their main campus. We got on the bus at 8:00 am and began our hour-long journey to the university. When we arrived, we were greeted with warm croissants and coffee. Our first lecture was given by Dr. Marcelo Pellizzari who discussed the services provided in their hospital and university facilities. According to him, the Austral Hospital provides quality care that patients from all over Latin America come to receive treatment. In fact, they have received the Joint Commision International certification which commends them for high standards of care and for providing a safe environment for their patients. He discussed the difficulty in conducting quality reseach due to the lack of funding. This differentiates from the U.S considering that they invest tons of money on research. He talked about the major payers for their services including OSDE (making up the largest percentage), Swiss Medical, and their own private insurance. It was interesting to learn about how they have their own insurance company which contrasts to Los Arcos Hospital. The following lecture was given by Mariano Pelorosso who discussed significant challenges the hospital faces particularly in process and efficiency. Some major challenges faced were enforcing cybersecurity, managing increased demand for services, and staff shortage. 

Afterwards, we were given a tour of the hospital and university. Because of the close proximity, it is easy for students to intern and start training at the hospital, making it an added benefit. Students start training their first year in the first semester to become medical professionals. This contrasts from the U.S. as students start clinicals their second or even third year. Another difference I noticed was how they did not require any sort of standardized examination to become a nurse. Because of the high demand for medical professionals, the system attempts to attract more students by not incorporating these requirements. After the hospital tour, we walked to the university where we met with students attending the university. We ate empanadas while conversing with their personal experiences. I found out that anyone can become a nurse regardless of grade point average. However in the U.S, students are required to keep a certain GPA. This goes back to the point stated earlier regarding the increased demand for healthcare staff.  It was interesting to talk to them about how our healthcare system varied.

To end off the day, we visited one more hospital at San Isidro Public Hospital. They informed us about the various hospitals strategically located around San Isidro. They also told us about the challenges they faced such as developing networking, facilitating access to patients without complications, and financing issues. They also gave us a tour of their hospital. They even showed us the ICU which only had about 10 beds. I am looking forward to the rest of the hospital visits in the remainder of our trip.