Jaiden Gatson

Title of Work: 

The Healthcare System in the United States vs Spain

Abstract:

In my work, I will be comparing and contrasting the healthcare systems in Spain and the United States. Specifically, I will be comparing Spain's universal healthcare system to the US's system, which includes both public and private coverage plans. To do this, I analyzed the average cost of healthcare and insurance, the efficiency of each system, and the average health-related debt for patients in both countries. During my experience, I discovered that Spain's universal healthcare system is less expensive and leads to less debt for patients when compared to the US. Despite this, it is less efficient but has a higher average lifespan. I will also discuss the linguistic and cultural differences I found in Zaragoza. For example, there are specific words only used in Zaragoza like ‘cierzo’ which is a word for the strong winds in this region, or the suffix -ico instead of -ito to signify something being small or cute. I also found many cultural differences like the daily ‘siesta’ or nap in which most people go home and spend time with their families, eat, and sleep while everything in the city closes down. This showed me that people in Spain really valued having quality time with family and personal time away from the hustle of day-to-day life. 

Title of Work (IGP Language):  

Las Sistemas de Sanidad en EEUU contra España

Abstract (IGP Language):

En este trabajo, voy a comparar y contrastar los sistemas de sanidad en España y Los Estados Unidos. Específicamente, voy a comprar el sistema universal de España al sistema de EE.UU, que incluye planes de cobertura pública y privada. Para hacer esto, analicé el promedio de costos de sanidad y seguro, la eficiencia de los dos sistemas, y la deuda promedia relacionada con la salud para pacientes en ambos países. Durante mi experiencia, descubrí que el sistema de sanidad universal de España era más barato y llevaba menos deuda para pacientes en comparación con los EE.UU. A pesar de eso, el sistema fue menos eficiente, pero tienen mayor esperanza de vida promedio. También, voy a discutir las diferencias lingüísticas y culturales que encontré en Zaragoza. Por ejemplo, hay palabras específicas de Zaragoza como cierzo que es una palabra que significa viento fuerte en esta región, o usan el sufijo -ico en lugar de -ito cuando una cosa es pequeña o linda. También, descubrí muchas diferentes culturales como la siesta diaria en la que la mayoría de las personas se van a casa y pasar tiempo con sus familias, comer, y dormir durante todo en la ciudad cerrada. Esto me demostró que la gente en España realmente valoraba tener tiempo de calidad con la familia y tiempo personal lejos del ajetreo de la vida cotidiana. 

Elevator Pitch Video

Elevator Pitch Transcript: 

Hi everyone! My name is Jaiden Gatson. I'm a fifth-year IGP student here at NAU, and I did my year abroad in Zaragoza, Spain. So at NAU, my majors are biomedical sciences and Spanish, and I have minors in chemistry, Arabic, and Asian studies. During my time abroad at the Universidad de Zaragoza, I studied medicine and Spanish. So for my internship, I completed it at the Hospital Clinico Universitario Lozano Blesa, which is a partner hospital with the university. Under that I shadowed doctors and I also worked in a laboratory called Centro de Investigación Biomédica de Aragón, or CIBA, for short. So most of my work was done shadowing doctors. So the first 200 hours I spent shadowing Dr. Gerardo Rodriguez, who works in neonatology and in pediatric urgent care. Then the 340 hours needed to complete the internship I worked with Daniel, Doctor Daniel Oros Lopez in obstetrics and gynecology. And also under him, I worked in CIBA, in the laboratory. So because my internship didn't really include a lot of research, I had to do research on my own. So I decided to study the healthcare systems in Spain and the US. So basically, the private and public health care systems that both countries have. I did that by looking at the average cost, the average debt each patient has, the efficiency of the healthcare systems, and the average life expectancy of each country. So throughout my year abroad, I learned a lot about the culture and the Spanish language. So something I learned about Zaragoza in particular, we're in the region of Aragon. So we have, a few different words that are specific to our region or our city. For example, we have cierzo, which is wind, but a very strong wind that's only mainly found in the Aragon region. There are also other little things like the suffix of some words they change instead of -ito they use -ico, like ICO. To signify something as kind of cute or little, and that's just something very specific to the region I was in, too. Something about the culture that I really learned and learned to appreciate was the culture of siesta, which is basically a nap or just a time when everything in the city closes down around the afternoon, like early afternoon. It could be anywhere from one to 4 or 5 p.m. Most shops close down. People usually go home from work to eat lunch, spend time with family, and maybe nap. It was a really big culture shock at first, but I really kind of got used to it and enjoyed it in the end. And I felt like it showed that people in Spain really value the importance of having that quality time alone and with family away from work and away from the hustle of day-to-day life. So if you wanna hear more about my time in Spain and in Zaragoza, about my internship, and about my research to see which healthcare system I think is better, just come to the summit on November 15th, and I will see you there. Thank you.

Digital Poster