Norwegian medical exchange students Jarle Solberg (left) and Line Holmen with Linda Olson, Ph.D., director of special projects in the Office of Medical Education at the UND medical school

“The best thing is the way they treat us and help us here,” says Line Holmen, an exchange student from Trondheim, Norway, who spent last semester in North Dakota in a program offered by the UND medical school.  “The way we are made to feel so welcome here – I think that is unique. That has been so nice and we appreciate it.”

Holmen, who’s originally from Bergen, and Jarle Solberg, who grew up on a farm near Lillehammer, Norway, were seeking a location where they could practice speaking English and “improve our medical English,” Solberg says.  “We talked to students who had been here before, and they were extremely pleased.”

“They were so happy, and couldn’t say enough about their experience here,” Holmen says.
 Both students were excited about being able “to do more yourself, such as in the emergency room, like suturing and other procedures,” Holmen says.  “We really learn a lot from that.”

The opportunity to work one-on-one with the teaching physicians is a great advantage, Solberg says. In Norway, “the doctor can explain things to us, too, but usually we’re in a lot bigger group.”

As part of their exchange program, they spent time learning about Native American health care by spending a
week with Monica Mayer, M.D. ‘95, at the Trinity Clinic in New Town, ND.

“We learned a lot about Indian history,” Holmen says. “We saw what a good physician like her means to the community and what she can do for them,” Solberg says.  “I think she means more to them than physicians in other larger cities.”

They found it very interesting, too, to compare the country’s health care systems, noting that there are pros and cons in each system.