- Medicine
- France, Lyon
- Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1 – Hôpital Edouard Herriot
- 10/2022 – 02/2023
Preparation:
Around 6 – 7 months in advance I started applying at university hospitals in France that had a partnership with my university in Aachen. As soon as I got the approval for a 4-month-internship at the University Claude Bernard Lyon 1 I applied for the Erasmus + traineeship programme with the support of the international office at my hometown university. Within a few weeks everything was set and I only had to take care of the needed insurances for the internship and started looking for accomodation in Lyon.
© Semiha Apaydin
Accomodation:
First of, housing in Lyon can be very frustrating. For my part I ended up doing a sort of flat-hopping. I had already heard a lot about the difficulties of finding housing in Lyon. Since I had a student status I could apply for student housing offered by the Crous but ended up not getting a spot. Therefore, I tried several months ahead to find a room in a shared flat on websites (lacartedescolocs.fr, leboncoin.fr) that people recommended in blogs. In the end I decided to text people who posted into Facebook groups about sub-letting their rooms for 1-2 months and finally ended up living in three differents apartments during my four months. This might sound very exhausting but it actually made my stay and experience very special as I got to live with different people in different parts of the city and made a lot of friends in an unique way.
Transportation:
To go to my internship and almost everywhere else in the city by metro (or bus) I had a public transport card from TCL which costs 25 Euros/month for students. Additionally, I subscribed to Velo’v bikes which were really useful when staying out late or just having an afternoon stroll along the river. Bike stops can be found everywhere in and around the city and the subscription costs 15 Euros/year.
Daily life:
As one of the biggest French cities, Lyon has a lot to offer without being too big or chaotic. Everything can be reached with the metro in less than 30 minutes and there are always events around the city. Especially if you are interested in going to museums, the cinema or the theatre, I can highly recommend the Carte Culturel for about 18 Euros which offers free or at least discounted entry fees.
© Semiha Apaydin
© Semiha Apaydin
On warm days everyone is meeting up at one of the two rivers or in the Parc de la Tête d’Or which was also one of my favourite spots in the city. A common thing to do after work or just with friends are Apéros which are usually just a little get-together in a bar for example. It is mostly before dinner and includes drinks and snacks.
Every day life including grocery shopping, going out for drinks or a restaurant were generally a more expensive than in Aachen. Concerning payments I always paid with my German Debit or Visa Card and barely needed cash. Also, I kept using my German mobile phone number and contract.
Additionally, it is very easy to travel around Lyon as Paris, Annecy, Nice and a lot of other pretty cities are easy to reach by train or BlaBlaCar (long-distance carpooling application) which is very popular in France.
Internship:
During my first six weeks I was in Internal Medicine. As we were only two externs (students are called externs at the hospital while residents are called interns) there was a lot to do for us. I mostly covered administrative tasks including phone calls and and preparing patient files but was also responsible for being the first one who examines newly administered patients on the unite. In the beginning I was a bit overwhelmed especially when having to do phone calls. On the other side, this helped me a lot to understand the language and speak freely in a short amount of time.
© Semiha Apaydin
I spent the followoing six weeks in Digestive Surgery. This internship was rather observatory. The interns explained a lot but I did not feel like being a great help to them as there were almost no tasks for us students. Every thursaday, the department organised a teaching session with the students and one of the doctors. Each week two students had to present a patient’s case which was then discussed.
During my last six weeks I was assigned to the department of Dermatology. Dermatology at HEH consisted mainly of accompanying a residents for the planned or emergency consultations. Every student was assigned to resident. One of my tasks was to carry out skin biopsies, this way I additinally got to work on my suturing skills.
Conclusion:
Even though I struggled a lot finding an apartment in the beginning, everything else was so easy going and made me love my stay in Lyon a lot. Lyon offers everything one could search for especially regarding cultural activities while yet not being over-crowded. Especially with it’s two rivers paired with the French enthusiasm to go out, especially after work, the city has an inviting charme that inspires for deceleration.
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