Concordia College

May 2007

May 2007:  Understanding Healthcare in Europe

Bruce C. Anderson, Leader
branders@cord.edu 

Ryn Pitts, Associate Leader
rpitts@cableone.net

Business Accounting and Economics Department
Business 300
Prerequisite:  Business 250 (Pre-May Seminar, half-course)

We will travel to the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Germany, Finland and Sweden to see firsthand four different national approaches to providing citizens with access to quality healthcare at a reasonable cost.  We'll visit with government officials and healthcare administrators, as well as doctors and nurses to learn how other developed countries approach healthcare delivery.  Understanding how their systems were conceived and evolved, as well as the challenges those systems face today, will provide us with new perspectives about how those challenges may be confronted in the United States.

May Itinerary

London:  We will meet with British Finance and Human Resources students to exchange presentations, visit an inner city medical practice and the South West London Strategic Health Authority, and have free time to tour the historic sites of London.  During an evening we will take in a current London stage show.

Berlin:  We will visit the German Ministry of Health and Social Security, travel to Wittenberg and tour the hospital and visit with staff, tour a long-term care facility and visit with the staff, and visit historic sites of the reformation.  Back in Berlin we will visit the largest Medical Center in Europe to explore contemporary issues in Germany followed by free time to take in the many historic sites of the city.

Amsterdam:  We will visit with representatives of a healthcare system that may be a model for other developed countries to follow in a culture and environment that may present us with challenging and difficult ethical issues to ponder.  Again we will have free time to explore the many historic and cultural institutions of this city.

Helsinki:  We will visit a global pharmaceutical company, Nokia's occupational health operation, and for profit hospital in this country with a national health service.  In addition, we will take a day trip to Estonia and visit a medieval walled city.  We will travel by overnight ferry to Stockholm crossing the Baltic Sea.

Stockholm:  We will visit a birthing center, the National Board of Health, the National Insurance Board, Noah's Ark AIDS foundation, and the Star of Hope.  We will have free time to enjoy this city built on the water and enjoy a dinner cruise to see its many sites.