AMSEP

Delegate : Nadira Nibras Taqiyya (FK Unpad Pendok 2017)
Event : Asian Medical Students’ Exchange Program (AMSEP)
Host : King’s College of London, London, UK 
Date : 25 January-3 February 2020

The AMSA-Indonesia delegates arrived in London on January 23rd, two days ahead of schedule. The 10 delegates were Savero (our Chief of Delegates from AMSA-UI), Dita, Sandra, Elena, Hubert, Tannica, Alicia, Chaca, Chita, and Nibras.

On January 25th, the first evening of the scheduled exchange program, we met the two AMSEP Officers from AMSA-UK, Jom and Charlotte. We then went to King’s College to be introduced to the other AMSA-UK members, who had just finished an AMSC UK meeting.

The next day, we toured around Evelina London Children’s Hospital, a specialist hospital for advanced pediatric cases, and St Thomas’s Hospital, one of the three teaching hospitals for the students of King’s College London School of Medicine. For lunch, we ate at Giraffe’s and went for a walk along Thames River and London Eye. After lunch, we visited another King’s College campus building and had a relaxed game session. Later that night, we stopped over at King’s Cross and St. Pancras to check out Harry Potter’s Platform 9 3/4.

On Monday, January 27, we started the day at the King’s College London’s main medical campus, Hodgkin Building, and explores the Gordon Museum of Pathology. It is the largest medical museum in UK with around 8,000 pathological specimens. Entrance to this museum is strictly limited to medical students and professionals, and pictures were also prohibited. We then ate lunch at Borough Market. After lunch, we returned to campus to join a heart dissection with first-year medical students, led by Dr. Alistair Hunter. It was mesmerizing to do a hands-on dissection and direct exploration of the human anatomy.

Tuesday was a whole day dedicated to cultural and leisure activities. We visited Buckingham Palace, St. James’s Park, and then on to Covent Garden for some shopping. At night, we continued on to Regent Street and Trafalgar Square, and had a delicious dinner at Nando’s.

On Wednesday, we took a tour of Imperial College London, led by the Imperial AMSA-UK members. We also saw the Royal Albert Hall, currently under renovation. After that, we ate lunch at Gourmet Burger Kitchen, visited other museums around London, and had a Chinese dinner.

Thursday brought us back to King’s College campus for a cardiovascular and respiratory history-taking session in the morning and physical examination at noon, all arranged by AMSA-UK’s King’s Academic members. We finished the day with a dinner at Zizzi’s with many other AMSA-England members.

Friday, January 31st, we rose early to travel to Oxford, a couple of hours’ train ride away from London. We saw the buildings of Oxford University, visited Christ Church and its breathtaking grounds, shopped at Westgate, and lots more around the small town. After returning to London, we went on to have a Cultural Night, where we got to know more of AMSA-England structurally, and the Indonesian delegates performed some easy traditional dances to dance along with our English friends.

Saturday was very relaxed. We had a late start to the day, with a wholesome homemade lunch with our AMSA-UK friends at Jom’s apartment. Everyone said goodbye to Hubert, who had early departure back to Indonesia. Then, we went back to Regent Street for more shopping and dined at the irresistible Nando’s once more.

On Sunday, we had more cultural and social activities by visiting the Tower of London, Tower Bridge, St. Paul’s Cathedral, and Covent Garden. Savero, Dita, Sandra, and Elena also flew back early that day, so we parted ways. We had a lovely dinner at Homeslice Pizza.
Our final day, February 3rd, we had more time to finish any errands or shopping we wanted to do around London. Our last lunch was at Côte Brassiere, where the AMSEP Officers and two other AMSA-UK members bid farewell to the remaining girls: Chaca, Chita, Tannica, Alicia and Nibras. We then grabbed our luggages and took the train back to Heathrow Airport, concluding our lovely exchange journey.