Northern Ireland -- June 30 and July 1

What a whirlwind 2 days in Northern Ireland!  The purpose of our trip there was to learn more about their healthcare system since NI is part of the United Kingdom, and thus under the National Health Service.  At the most basic level, the difference between NI and the rest of the island is that NI has universal healthcare like the rest of the United Kingdom, while the Republic of Ireland (the rest of the island) has a mixed public/private system that is in many ways more like the US.  The big difference is that Ireland is working toward universal coverage, while at least at this moment, the US is not. 

We started the day in Belfast at Stormont Estate.  The grounds are beautiful -- and home to the Parliament Buildings that house the Northern Ireland Assembly (https://www.niassembly.gov.uk/visit-and-learning/visit/).  The students had the chance to have a dialogue with Diane Dodds, a member of the Democratic Unionist Party, about her work as a member of the health committee (https://aims.niassembly.gov.uk/mlas/details.aspx?&aff=18792&per=124&sel=1&ind=0&prv=0).  She was very gracious with her time and no questions were off-limits to her!  We were supposed to have some other members join us, but an expected vote got called and the NIA went back into session during our visit.  We got a chance to watch the NIA in action -- and the most interesting thing to me was that every vote they take is done by walking to a "yes or no" room (depending on how they are voting on a particular issue) and casting it that way.  I can only imagine how long things would take with Congress if they did it that way! Oh, and did I mention they had the most delicious scones for us while we where there?! 

 

 

After a quick lunch in Belfast, we headed on to Queens University (https://www.qub.ac.uk/) for a session on the economic comparisons of the health systems of Ireland, Northern Ireland, and the US given by Professor Ciaran O'Neill and Dr. Blanaid Hicks.  Ciaran's background is economics, while Blanaid focuses on epidemiology, so we were able to pick their brain about a whole variety of topics related to health and healthcare.  It was a good reminder to me that university faculty from around the world all have the same goal in mind -- to prepare (and serve) the next generation of leaders! Campus was absolutely beautiful -- and it was graduation day, so there was a lot going on (like the acapella group that started belting out songs like "Son of a Preacher Man" right outside our window in the middle of the talk.  Ha!).

We continued further north to the top of the island for our stop for the evening -- the village of Ballintoy.  This village of sheep and water and one main street was just perfect -- such a relaxing place to spend the night.  We stayed at a place called Sheep's Island View Hostel (http://www.sheepislandview.com/) -- and the first thing we saw when we got off the bus was SHEEP!  We walked to the harbor and down the street to the local pub after dinner -- and then it was time to call it a night.  We had a full Irish breakfast in the morning and I loved the soda bread, but wasn't so sure about the baked beans (which is weird because I generally like baked beans).  The sausage was better than what we normally have at home and the bacon tasted like country ham. 

Wednesday morning found us off to Giant's Causeway (https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/visit/northern-ireland/giants-causeway) and the Carrick-a-Rede Rope Bridge (https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/visit/northern-ireland/carrick-a-rede).  The natural beauty is really hard to describe in words here in Ireland -- it's a perfect combination of green, rolling hills and mountains, rocks, and water.  So often we'll stop someplace and it's like "ahh...that's breathtaking."  And then, the next place is equally as beautiful! 

 

 

One more blog to wrap up the week tomorrow -- stay tuned for a recap of my visit to 14 Henrietta St. and our tours of the Primary Care Centre and Secret Streets.