Leonie Boeley and Lea König did an internship in Austria with Erasmus+.
The country, the city, the workplace, the team: everything was new for Leonie Boeley (22) and Lea König (23). Last autumn, the trainees swapped their places at the School for Dieticians for an internship at the General Hospital (AKH) in Vienna. They learned a lot of new things in the Austrian capital and at the hospital. Their stay abroad was made possible by Erasmus+, an EU funding programme.
"We were given a very warm welcome and felt at home right from the start," says Leonie Boeley, raving about her colleagues in the Department of Diabetology at the AKH. With around 1,700 beds, the hospital is the largest in Austria and a leading centre for patient care and research – an interesting place to learn for trainee dieticians. Leonie Boeley was assigned to the endocrinology department. "In my second week, I was already allowed to advise patients myself, under the supervision of my instructor," reports the trainee dietitian enthusiastically. She also gained insights into oncology and gastroenterology. Lea König completed her internship in the children's clinic at the AKH. There, she mainly dealt with children and adolescents suffering from gastroenterological and endocrinological diseases. She was involved in many tasks in dietetics: "I was allowed to draw up nutrition plans and discuss them with the children and their parents. I also helped with training courses on topics such as diabetes, obesity and the metabolic disorder phenylketonuria," explains Lea König.
During their internship, the young women lived in an Airbnb apartment with a small garden not far from the city centre. The two were overwhelmed by the many new impressions in the hospital and also in the city. In their free time, they explored Vienna and visited sights such as St. Stephen's Cathedral, the Hofburg and Schönbrunn Palace. And of course, a piece of Sachertorte at the legendary Demel café was also part of the experience. Lea's conclusion after the four weeks: "It was an enriching and educational experience in every way."
Text: Tina Götting