Learning about a country’s health care system from a textbook can only go so far. That’s what Maureen Watkins, a professor in the U.S., realised after years of teaching health administration. So, she created a special summer course that takes students all the way to London.
The course helps them see, hear, and experience how the UK’s famous health care system—the NHS—really works.
What Is This Course About?
Maureen Watkins teaches at Northeastern University and specialises in physical therapy. She designed a five-week course called “Health Care and Culture in the United Kingdom.” Students travel from the U.S. to London for the summer and learn about how the UK treats health care differently from the U.S.
Instead of just reading textbooks, students explore hospitals, attend guest lectures, and visit historical places like the Houses of Parliament, Canterbury, and the Surgeons’ Hall Museums in Edinburgh. This mix of classroom learning and real-life experience makes the topic more interesting and easier to understand.
Why the NHS Matters
Watkins chose the NHS as the focus of the course because it’s one of the oldest government-run health systems in the world. Unlike the U.S., where people mostly use private health insurance, the NHS offers health care to everyone, free at the point of use. The course helps students understand how history, politics, and culture have shaped the UK’s health care model.
What the Students Learned
For many students, this course was more than just a regular summer class. Isabel Desai, an 18-year-old from New Jersey, said the visits to museums and cultural sites helped bring the lessons to life. She found that seeing things in person made a much bigger impact than just reading about them.
Students also had a chance to meet people with firsthand experience in the NHS. Guest speakers included Steve Brine, a former health minister, and Lisa Henschen, a long-time NHS manager. These talks helped students get different views on how the NHS works and the challenges it faces.
Real Stories from the Front Line
One of the most moving sessions came from Anthea Allen, a senior nurse who worked in an ICU during the COVID-19 pandemic. She spoke about the hard times she and her team faced, working long hours in full protective gear, often without knowing the names of the patients they were trying to save.
Allen wrote a book about her experience called Life, Death and Biscuits, which shares her story of strength and determination. She told students how she raised her voice on radio and TV to demand not just more ventilators, but more trained nurses to run them. Her message was clear: machines don’t save lives—people do.
What the Students Had to Say
Nursing student Tyle Asamoah, 19, said she came to London to see how the UK and U.S. systems compare. She believes that seeing both systems up close will help her become a better health care provider in the future.
Another student, Saagar Shah, said the NHS was the complete opposite of what he was used to in the U.S. He found it eye-opening to hear directly from people who had worked inside the NHS and to understand their honest views.
Shah explained, “It’s one thing to hear about it in class, but totally different to hear the real-life stories from people who were there during big moments. That makes it real.”
This unique course is helping future health professionals look beyond textbooks. By coming to the UK and seeing the NHS up close, they’re gaining real insights into how different health care systems work.
The stories, the culture, and the people they meet give them a deeper understanding of the many ways that history, politics, and society shape public health. Experiences like these are powerful—they teach lessons that no book ever could.
