Graduate school exchange programme brought Sultana to Linköping

How has your time been in Linköping, Sweden?

– My time in Linköping, Sweden was excellent, filled with great opportunities, research and wonderful people. My stay was facilitated by valuable help from the Swedish National School for Research in General Practice, who provided my full accommodation and airfare expenses. The apartment I was provided was clean and neat in a safe environment, a bus ride from the university. It was a unique opportunity to learn how research is conducted in Sweden through conducting my own research, attending multiple seminars and networking with like-minded researchers. In particular, I was excited to be invited to the two-day National Research School in General Practice seminar, where I was able to meet Professors Lars Lindholm and Anna Myleus and many distinguished Swedish and international researchers. My supervisor, Senior Associate Professor Karin Rådholm, was an excellent mentor in my research project and went out of her way to help me in settle in my accommodation in Sweden and make me feel welcome at the Department of Health, Medicine and Caring Sciences (HMV) at Linköping University. Similarly, Professor Carl Johan Östgren at the Department of HMV was very kind and welcoming and made valuable introductions for me during my stay. It was a pleasure to meet them and work under their supervision. Besides work, I also had a first-hand experience of Swedish culture, food, architecture, history and countryside, which made the experience even better.

What was the purpose with the research stay?

– The purpose of my stay was to work in a new research environment, increase my experience of international scientific teaching and build international research collaborations. For this purpose, I completed several pre-placement requirements, including applying for the scholarship opportunity to receive funding for accommodation and airfare, submission of a research protocol that I would be conducting in Sweden with the team based in Linkoping, and applying for the appropriate visa.

Has your visit to Linköping, Sweden been rewarding?

– Yes, my visit to Linköping, Sweden was very rewarding. I was very fortunate to receive the scholarship from the Swedish National Research School in General Practice as the first Reciprocal Pre-PhD student from Sydney, Australia. I was able to gain valuable insights on how research is conducted in the General Practice setting in Sweden through connecting with many researchers in this field and being invited to multiple seminars. I was able to learn about the newest innovations in research in General Practice in Sweden when I attended the National Research School in GP seminar, which included great presentations from high profile researchers across the world, skill-building workshops in research writing and informative thesis showcase sessions. The academic writing workshops led by Stuart Spencer, retired Senior Executive Editor of the Lancet and Simon Griffin, Professor at the University of Cambridge, were very informative and useful. I also had a chance to hear from and talk to guest speaker Neil Poulter from The Imperial College, London, about global blood pressure screening and what are the challenges we still need to address on a global scale. I was also fortunate to give feedback to the National Research School Executive Committee, including Lars Lindholm, Katarina Hedin, Karin Rådholm and Carl Johan Östgren, about my research experience in Sweden as the first Reciprocal Pre-PhD student from Australia. During this meeting, I was also very fortunate to hear from and speak to Zoë Mullen and Rupa Sarkar, Editor-in-chief of the Lancet Global Health and Lancet Digital Health respectively. I was also reacquainted with previous PhD students who completed their Reciprocal Pre-PhD placements at the George Institute, Miriam Pikkemaat and Ulrika Andersson. Furthermore, I was invited to present my PhD thesis and receive feedback during the general practice seminars at Linkoping University and Soderkopings Brunn. I was also given the opportunity to lead a research project relevant to my PhD thesis using a very robust and comprehensive Swedish dataset and given very strong research support from my supervisors based at Linkoping University. Apart from academic pursuits, I socialised with the other PhD students on several occasions to visit the local countryside and have dinner. I also enjoyed taking some personal time to visit other places in Sweden and nearby cities. Overall, my time spent there was a wonderful enriching experience, both workwise and socially.

Tell me more about the research you conducted there – what was it about?

– My aim of my thesis is to investigate the associations of high blood pressure and associated parameters with cognitive decline and dementia. I conducted a research project in Linköping, Sweden around this research topic. The aim of the project was to investigate the cross-sectional association of home blood pressure variability and pulse wave velocity with self-reported cognitive dysfunction using the Cognitive Dysfunction Questionnaire in a population-based study. We also planned to explore the association of mean office and home BP with self-reported cognitive dysfunction for comparison. For this project, I received supervision and feedback from an experienced group of researchers with diverse expertise in clinical medicine, geriatrics and cognition and statistics, namely my supervisors Karin Rådholm and Carl Johan Östgren, and other faculty members based at Linkoping University – Katarina Nägga, Pontus Henriksson, Angel Herraiz-Adillo, and Peder af Geijerstam. Through my project, I refined my academic writing skills, statistical analysis skills and learned how to prepare and analyse causal diagrams, or DAGS.

How do you think this trip can contribute to your future work?

– Through this research placement, I was able to meet and work with researchers across Sweden with multiple expertise who are interested in blood pressure changes and its effects on the cardiovascular and cerebrovascular systems, which is an extension of the work I am currently doing. I think the experience and connections I have made can foster future collaborations and interesting projects in this area between the George Institute, The University of New South Wales, and Linkoping University (and potentially other universities in Sweden).

Did anything not go as planned? Was there anything that surprised you?

– One thing that did not go as planned was a delay in getting access to the data I had planned to analyse in the first two months of my placement. This ultimately resulted in a shorter time to finish all of the planned analysis as I could not bring the data over to Australia. However, I discussed this issue with Karin Rådholm and Carl Johan Östgren and we were able to find a resolution through handing over the rest of the statistical analysis to a statistician, Bertil Wegmann, based at Linkoping University. In terms of accommodation, there were some issues which I resolved with help from my supervisor, Karin, such as picking up my apartment keys after work hours, initial cleaning of the apartment, lack of a microwave oven and appropriately donating or selling it before leaving, and multiple international bank tranfers to pay and get reimbursed for my rent.

What was the biggest difference between your home environment and the research environment at Linköping, Sweden?

I think the biggest differences between my home and the research environments in Linköping, Sweden were as follows:

1. The PhDs in General Practice based in Linköping, Sweden, are usually part-time compared to the PhDs at the George Institute (full-time). The PhDs in general practice I met during my stay in Linkoping were more involved in clinical practice. This also increases the duration of their PhDs in general practice in Linköping, Sweden. However, I thought being more clinically involved during their PhDs provided them with valuable clinical insights relevant to their research, as compared to PhDs who only do full-time research. Having more time to complete a PhD could provide more flexibility, especially women in general practice who may also have familial responsibilities.
2. The language spoken for both academic and social events is English in Australia, whereas in Sweden, students can opt to present in Swedish.
3. There are more social events for PhDs in my home environment, compared to that in general practice in Linköping, Sweden, since all of them work clinically and may have conflicting schedules. However, the National Research School in General Practice holds large-scale conferences a few times during the year which gives students to connect and socialise with other students and senior researchers across multiple universities and disciplines in Sweden. This provides a unique opportunity to stimulate creativity and start new collaborations across researchers from different universities and expertise.

Do you have any tips for others considering doing a research stay in Sweden?

– Yes, from my experience I would advise others planning to do a placement in Sweden to be prepared to deal with certain language barriers, both in the work environment and navigating daily life. They can use language translator apps on their phones/laptops, which was very useful to me. Accommodation can take a long time to sort out, therefore future students should discuss and plan with their supervisors and host university at least 6 months in advance. The same is applicable for those needing a visa to enter Sweden. It can be an isolating experience at times to be far from close friends or family for a while, so it is good to reach out to their supervisor(s) and other fellow students and discuss any issues. It was helpful for me to schedule regular meetings with my supervisor, Katie Harris, back home and stay connected with my friends and family in Australia regularly. 3 months can be quite a short time to set up and complete a new project with a new dataset, so it is very important to discuss realistic timelines with their host supervisors.

What did you most enjoy doing in your free time in Sweden?

– In my free time, I enjoyed sight-seeing around Sweden. Linkoping was a beautiful town with a lot of preserved history, such as Gamla Linkoping. I also visited Stockholm on the weekend, and I very much enjoyed the architecture, food, museums and history. Visiting the Vasa Museum has been a long-held fascination of mine and it was amazing to see it up close. The Old Twon, or Gamla Stan, had beautiful preserved architecture, cobbled streets, shops and restaurants to explore. I got the opportunity to try Swedish meatballs. I enjoy seeing local animals and it was an interesting experience to see the Nordic animals like reindeer, moose and bison when I visited Stockholm. I also visited the neighbouring city of Copenhagen in Denmark, which allowed me to experience another beautiful city in the north of Europe and eat the famous Smørrebrød open-faced sandwiches.
– I enjoyed a nature walk with my fellow PhD student Maria through Omberg, a forested mountain in western Östergötland County, and took in the amazing views of the mountain side and the lake. I was also able to visit Jönköping, Norrköping and Söderköping while attending several seminars around Sweden thanks to the National School and my hosts at Linkoping University. Most notable was visiting Ystad, in the south of Sweden. This allowed me the opportunity to socialise with my colleagues in Sweden as well as do some sight-seeing. It was also a unique experience to try the local food, do nature walks and observe the beautiful colours of Autumn in Sweden. I was invited to attend Fika with my colleagues there, which gave me chance to embrace this wonderful Swedish tradition.