For the second time in program history, the University of North Dakota department of Family and Community Medicine has facilitated two medical exchange students to Hettinger.

Børje Andre Cronbald Andersson (Left) and Krister Tyssen Johnson (Right) will be spending five weeks at West River Health Services through the Norwegian Medical Student Exchange Program and the University of North Dakota School of Medicine. (Photo by Cole Benz/The Record)

By COLE BENZ | Record Editor | cbenz@countrymedia.net

In 2014, West River welcomed Mathias Thorvaldsen and May-Helen Håpnes for a six-week student exchange elective. Linda Olson, an associate professor in the Department of Family and Community Medicine with the UND School of Medicine, and Director of the Norwegian Medical Student Exchange Program, said the program was started in 2001, and the newest students are the 29th and 30th members to participate.

Børje Andre Cronbald Andersson (Narvik, Norway) and Krister Tyssen Johnson (Kristiansand, Norway) are both fifth year medical students in Norway and arrived in Hettinger on Jan. 18. They have both been in the United States since Jan. 4 and were afforded some time to site see around the country.

So far, both have been pleasantly surprised with the warm welcome the community and hospital staff have given them, saying that in Europe the candor isn’t as personable as it is in America. “It’s exciting to come here,” Johnson said. “They’re (the community) very polite, and interested in you.” The warm welcome has made them even more excited to meet more people from the area.

Andersson said he saw an advertisement for the exchange program on their medical school website. Curiosity got the best of him and he signed up, then he recruited Johnson. Neither had been through an exchange program before, and decided that now was the right time, and both are ready for the adventure.

They will spend roughly five weeks in Hettinger, with most of their time being spent in Family Medicine, though both would gladly go to another department if another doctor requested their presence.

It is early in their medical school careers, but thinking ahead Johnson is very interested in the brain and nervous system, a possible path to Neurology. Andersson has two departments in mind—surgery or psychiatry—but both students said nothing is set in stone.

Aside from the medical training, both Johnson and Andersson are very interested in gaining an understanding of the American healthcare system. The healthcare system in Norway differs greatly from the United States.

“I hope to learn something more about that (American healthcare system),” Andersson said. Johnson echoed his sentiment, saying he would like to bring their knowledge back to their own country.

Olson said that the program has used up to four different facilities around the state, which includes Hettinger. She also said that the program continues to grow in popularity, and applications are overflowing.

“Every year, more interest builds,” Olson said “I’ve got more people applying than we can accommodate.”

She said that one of the main reasons for the growing interest is the fact that the students get more one-on-one attention from the doctors. In Norway sometimes the ration between student and instructor is not very favorable.

After the five weeks are completed, both plan to do a more site seeing in the United States before returning to Norway.
Neither ruled out the possibility of working in America after their medical training was complete.