Second Class Speaker and More Post-Program Adventures
March 16th, 2023
Class Speaker: Dr. Nora Groce
Our guest speaker on Thursday was Dr. Nora Groce, who discussed the NHS from the patient perspective as she is a user of the NHS. She is actually originally from the US but had moved to London years back. Our discussion with Dr. Groce was very insightful. Below are some highlights from the talk:
Dr. Groce published a comparative twin study in the British Journal of Medicine that she wrote with her own identical twin sister about their experiences with breast cancer. Dr. Groce’s experience was with the NHS while her sister’s was with the best of the best of US private healthcare.
To make a long story short, Dr. Groce paid nothing for her breast cancer treatment, which included genetic testing, regular screenings, and a double mastectomy. Her sister, on the other hand, had a very stressful experience. A breast cancer diagnosis in itself is overwhelming, but the US healthcare system made it far more stressful for Dr. Groce’s sister. She had to negotiate things about every step of the way, pay multiple expensive bills before insurance reimbursed her, and had limited sick leave so she still had to work even through treatment.
One thing that stuck out to me during Dr. Groce’s talk was how she outlined that every other developed country in the world views healthcare as a right and uses a public system to some degree; the United States does not seem to view healthcare as a right for all of its citizens, as indicated by its privatized healthcare system.
She also mentioned that the question we should really be asking is how does the best US private healthcare compare to the public NHS healthcare? Comparing those without healthcare in the US to the NHS does not answer the right questions because it doesn’t compare the actual experience using the system.
Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed hearing Dr. Groce’s patient perspective and learning about the twin study she conducted with her sister. If you would like to read the study in the British Journal of Medicine, click here.
Class Journal Prompt Response #3
The activities that stood out the most so far during the study abroad program for me was the pathologies walking tour, UCL campus tour, and discussion with Dr. Nora Groce. All those activities provided me with such a different perspective regarding public health, the college experience, and views of the NHS.
Post-Program Adventures
After the programming was finished for the day, me and Bryce took to tube to down near the Thames so that we could walk to Tower Bridge and to the Tate Modern Art Museum. This was such a fun afternoon! The walk along the river was beautiful and walking across Tower Bridge was really neat. Along the way to the Tate Modern, we just so happened to pass by Shakespeare's Globe Theater. We didn't know it was along our route and were pleasantly surprised by this little piece of history. I think the Tate Modern is up there with my favorite parts of the trip. The museum architecture itself was so cool that even just looking at the way it was built inside was like looking at the art galleries, which were, not to mention, incredibly interesting. In the photo gallery below, you will find photos from our walk to the Tate Modern, as well as inside the museum. The last picture in the gallery is my photo on Millennium Bridge, which if you are a Harry Potter fan, you might recognize from the sixth movie.
