Healthcare and Spirituality: My Favorite Classes in Ireland

My name is Abby Pearson, I go to Simmons University in Boston, and I studied abroad at the University of Limerick through CIS Abroad’s Summer in Ireland program. Here's a quick breakdown of the courses I took and what my experience was like!

I took a course titled Developing Self as a Healthcare Practitioner: Context to Celtic Spirituality, taught by Dr. Claire O’Donnell and Kerry McGlynn. This class was taught over the course of the three-week program and included a site visit to Raheen Community Hospital, a geriatric facility in County Clare. This class was amazing, and I learned so much. Our professors co-taught the class separately, meaning one professor would teach one day, and it would switch from day to day. I loved this teaching style, as the professors each got individual time with the class while still maintaining some consistency.

My class was one of the smallest ones offered during the summer school, with only eleven students. I come from a school with small class sizes, so this was no problem for me! Our class had a wide variety of academic areas of study, however, which created a fascinating learning environment even with a small group of students. I, as well as one other person in the class, study social work; there were also nursing, speech pathology, and pre-med students in class. We were also from all over the country, with quite a few students from the Midwest and West, and me being the only one from the East/New England. I loved this, as I have never left the East Coast (except to come to Ireland) and learned so much about how these areas culturally differ from my New England way of life.

In terms of specific course content, a few lessons definitely stand out to me. Our introduction day on Celtic Spirituality was one that sticks out in my mind, as my professor did an incredible job of weaving her own knowledge into the lesson and teaching us some Gaelic words (our class loved “anam cara" which means “soul friend”). This lesson led into healthcare principles, as we were able to view the Irish healthcare system with a new culturally cognizant approach.

I definitely enjoyed our field trip to Raheen Community Hospital, where we were able to see a real healthcare setting and how the system differs so strongly from the United States. This experience was especially interesting to me because I had just finished an internship at an incredibly similar site in Boston, so I definitely did a lot of comparing and contrasting! I really enjoyed that Claire and Kerry always asked us questions about the American experience, as it seemed like they were as interested in us as we were in them. We had several fascinating conversations about the differences in our systems and cultures that I often look back upon.

One really fun class I love looking back on is our Irish Hand Massage class, which we learned from the two women at the University of Limerick who pioneered the method. After we watched a presentation on the benefits of this practice, we all broke off into small groups to try it on each other. It was educational and a lot of fun! Overall, I loved my courses at the University of Limerick. I will take away so many important lessons about healthcare, spirituality, and culture, as well as amazing friends. No regrets, I would absolutely recommend it to anyone looking for a fun and fascinating experience.

Blog by Abby Pearson, Simmons University