I have experienced two Swedish health care systems. They are a bit different, but each have wonderful aspects.
The first one is the Swedish health care system in Washington State. My primary care physician, Dr. Chen, was amazing (in Sammamish). I will miss her. But I also had preventative routine screenings done at the new Swedish hospital on the Sammamish Highlands.
The inside looks more like an office building than a hospital.
This was where I had my annual mammograms done.
About a month ago—so just about 2 months after arriving—I received a letter informing me that I had been scheduled for a mammogram! Wow! This is the way to get people screened, just assign them a time and let them know it is free (or at least paid by taxes). There was a way to re-schedule, but I didn’t have to. I just biked over yesterday morning. I didn’t confirm anything or get a reminder notification, so I wonder what is the actual completion rate. For me, 100%.
(I didn’t take pictures of the examination.)
Yes, I am fascinated that I actually have experienced two Swedish health care systems in two continents. Of course, they are different. I would describe the Swedish system here as no frills (no Starbucks; no gowns to change into, though one doesn’t have to transfer into another room), but it is pretty impressive that I was in their system and they got me screened already. I’ll be scheduled again in 18 months. The access for all citizens and residents is more important to me than the frills.
I am aware of some timeliness issues for some specialized care, as a co-worker gave me some details about a 6-month wait for an operation for her son. I’m sure I’ll hear more stories long the way, but access to care is good.
Today, I taught again. It didn’t go as well as last week, but today, I had to cover 11 biblical books in a little less than 3 hours. But I don’t just want to deluge students with information. I try to engage them meaningfully in some main points. Still, I sense that I was generally able to do this, I just wish I didn’t have to remove so much great content.
In the afternoon, a colleague invited the staff over to his house for fika. There is a nice camaraderie among all, from cleaning crew, teachers, and administrators.
In an oblique reference to another part of today, language learning is very frustrating! Sometimes, I think this is crazy being here! I’m consoled knowing that Anya is thriving.
Encourage, encourage, encourage! Language learning is the toughest part for us ‘older’ mission types. Eventually it balances when you find out how much you really need to know to do the job for which you’ve been hired. Ah, you WILL get to where God wants you to be. . . I know you will do your part. . .