Margaret Nelson Looks Back on her Internship Experience


April 29, 2020

Photo of the NHS sign

As I finish my time as an intern at Healthwatch Hackney in London, United Kingdom 

(UK), I cannot help but look back with appreciation for all that I have learned and for all of the 

people that I have met. I conducted work for Healthwatch in their office as well as throughout 

the community, allowing me to learn about the UK health system from both the public health 

professional side and the community’s perspective. Both of these types of experiences led to 

meet so many kind and passionate people. 

While I did learn a lot of factual information about the UK’s universal healthcare system, 

the National Health Service (NHS), through my office duties, most of what I learned came from 

the residents within the community that I had the chance to speak with. I was exposed to the 

wide diversity of London, meeting people from many different countries of origin living together 

in a very integrated community. In addition, I was able to experience the slight differences in 

culture between the United States (U.S.) and the UK, such as greetings and attitudes towards 

helping the most vulnerable in society. Socialistic ideas towards aiding those less fortunate and 

ensuring basic standards of living for everyone are very prominent throughout London. This was 

very refreshing to witness, after coming from a culture that largely idealizes “every man for 

himself.” Ideas towards social welfare intersect with the NHS, and most patients that I talked to 

respected these ideas and were proud of their country’s health system. 

I am very thankful that I had this opportunity to work in London and gain skills in the 

global workforce. While the London work environment was certainly an adjustment from my 

previous work experiences in the U.S., I really enjoyed the change and will take away many 

lessons and a greater understanding of the global health setting from this internship.