Over spring break, a group of Regis students travelled to Northern Ireland to complement their academic studies through an immersive experience at Ulster University. The week-long experience was part of a course that focused on comparative healthcare systems which blended classroom learning with international exploration.
Led by Regis faculty, the program provided students access to healthcare professionals, state-of-the-art laboratories, and lectures at Ulster. The course examined the United Kingdom’s publicly supported National Health Service (NHS) as compared to the private insurance-based system in the United States.
After attending the lectures, Regis students were able to reflect on and analyze the similarities and differences of the nations’ healthcare systems. “I used to think the healthcare in the United Kingdom was simply free and completely efficient,” said Isabel Seccareccio ’27, who is pursuing her BS in Exercise Science. “Now I know that healthcare in the U.K. has its share of challenges just like the U.S. system and there are a lot of other factors that go into it.”
The mission of the Regis Center for Global Connections is to provide global learning experiences for all students by seamlessly integrating international and intercultural perspectives into the university's teaching, learning, research, and service functions. A core component of the Regis mission is to empower students to challenge themselves academically, to serve, and to lead throughout the world.
The study abroad program fosters students’ academic development while widening perspectives, which is intended to complement Regis’ objective of educating students as global citizens. For many students, it marked their first time studying abroad and engaging in cross-cultural learning across their field of study.