School of Medicine and Health Sciences Poster Presentations

Exploring How Universal Health Care in the Icelandic Community Impacts the Management of Pediatric Allergy

Jocelyn Cooper, George Washington University

Abstract

Background: Iceland is a small Nordic country (population of 300,000) that has publicly funded healthcare, with the government paying for 80% of healthcare services and a small percentage of physicians working in private practice (fee-for-service). Experiential learning is a method in which an individual interacts with, observes, and reflects upon their environment in order to achieve new understanding, ideas and applications. Objective: The objective of this project was to understand how allergic disease in pediatric populations (a problem of increasing prevalence) is being handled by Icelandic physicians, community organizations and their healthcare system using experiential learning principles. Methods: Methods used to explore these research questions included key informant interviews, site visits, literature review, and shadowing pediatric providers over a period of two months. Results: Student gained an in-depth understanding of the factors in Iceland that affect medical care in the context of pediatric allergy. These factors include a culture of stewardship and equity in the healthcare setting, a newly emerging concept of public health pertaining to asthma prevention and food allergy awareness, a high education level of the general population affecting the utilization of healthcare resources, and the restrictions of cost and availability of services in a government funded healthcare system. Conclusion: The benefits and drawbacks of the Icelandic healthcare system tended to be very specific to the country’s ideology, geography, and resources. However, exploration on how the the culture of a universal health care model might apply to the US healthcare system and medical education are of interest for future research.

 

Exploring How Universal Health Care in the Icelandic Community Impacts the Management of Pediatric Allergy

Background: Iceland is a small Nordic country (population of 300,000) that has publicly funded healthcare, with the government paying for 80% of healthcare services and a small percentage of physicians working in private practice (fee-for-service). Experiential learning is a method in which an individual interacts with, observes, and reflects upon their environment in order to achieve new understanding, ideas and applications. Objective: The objective of this project was to understand how allergic disease in pediatric populations (a problem of increasing prevalence) is being handled by Icelandic physicians, community organizations and their healthcare system using experiential learning principles. Methods: Methods used to explore these research questions included key informant interviews, site visits, literature review, and shadowing pediatric providers over a period of two months. Results: Student gained an in-depth understanding of the factors in Iceland that affect medical care in the context of pediatric allergy. These factors include a culture of stewardship and equity in the healthcare setting, a newly emerging concept of public health pertaining to asthma prevention and food allergy awareness, a high education level of the general population affecting the utilization of healthcare resources, and the restrictions of cost and availability of services in a government funded healthcare system. Conclusion: The benefits and drawbacks of the Icelandic healthcare system tended to be very specific to the country’s ideology, geography, and resources. However, exploration on how the the culture of a universal health care model might apply to the US healthcare system and medical education are of interest for future research.