Healthcare in the Netherlands: Is it really that good?

Amazingly, the Dutch rate their health care very highly. They must have low expectations. The Netherlands was number one on the Euro Health Consumer Index in 2015 for its health care system. It has also been listed in the top 3 European countries since 2005. It may be the best system in terms of economics. However, I’m not so certain it works well for everyday patients.

Dutch huisartsen (general practitioners) are notorious for sending you home from an office visit with advice to rest and take a paracetamol. Come back in 2 weeks if you’re not feeling better. This goes for everything from a sore throat to an amputated limb (ok, that may be a slight exaggeration). You have to have one foot in the grave for your huisarts to either prescribe an antibiotic or to send you to see a specialist. Now, I am not someone who believes in prescribing antibiotics for every minor illness, but for bacterial infections they are sometimes necessary. The same goes for pain meds and anesthetics. The Dutch seem to believe one needs to suffer for a while before doing anything proactive.

Read more at: Healthcare in the Netherlands: Is it really that good? – DutchReview

President Obama: Rolling Stone Names President Obama ‘One of the Most Successful Presidents in American History’

In the mag, Nobel Prize- winning economist Paul Krugman wrote an amazing piece in defense of President Obama’s presidency.

Krugman declares President Obama as one of the “one of the most consequential and, yes, successful presidents in American history” and acknowledges the harsh and often unfair criticism he endures.

 Read more: Rolling Stone Names President Obama ‘One of the Most Successful Presidents in American History’ | 93.1 WZAK

Health Care: UK end-of-life care 'best in world' - by Nick Triggle

End-of-life care in the UK has been ranked as the best in the world with a study praising the quality and availability of services.

The study of 80 countries said thanks to the NHS and hospice movement the care provided was "second to none".

Rich nations tended to perform the best - with Australia and New Zealand ranked second and third respectively.

But the report by the Economist Intelligence Unit praised progress made in some of the poorest countries.

For example Mongolia - ranked 28th - has invested in hospice facilities, while Uganda - 35th - has managed to improve access to pain control through a public-private partnership.

Read more: UK end-of-life care 'best in world' - BBC News

Education:Studying in Europe, low fees and more choice - by Louise Holden

Increasing numbers of Irish students and their parents are looking beyond Ireland for higher-level education: not just the traditional hop across the pond, and not just in search of hard-to-access programs such as medicine and veterinary. 

Patrick Orr has just started a three-year degree programme in liberal arts and science in Utrecht. As he approached his Leaving Cert in Sandford Park School in Ranelagh, Dublin 6, he became increasingly frustrated with the offerings available through the CAO.

“I come from a family of doctors and I’m interested in medicine, but I didn’t want to tie myself to a career too early because I also have a keen interest in the arts,” he says. “I was looking for a course that was more open and that combined science and humanities and an element of choice. I just couldn’t find it in the Irish system.”

Orr’s aunt lectures in linguistics in Utrecht, in the Netherlands, and she drew his attention to a programme in her college that offered all the subjects he was looking for and the chance to specialise as he went along. The course is taught through English, along with hundreds of degree and masters-level courses right across Europe.

“I have so many interests and don’t want to pigeonhole myself into a profession at 18 years of age,” says Orr, who also has a keen interest in music and has worked as a band technician as well as performing. “This year I’m studying philosophy, literature and physics. I’m also taking a module in research and academic skills. 

Over the course of this year I’ll take modules in anthropology, mathematics and sociology. There are loads of options and I don’t have to specialise until further into the degree. It’s very exciting to consider all the possible qualifications I could come out with.”

Traveling to the Netherlands wasn’t a major upheaval for Patrick; he’s a keen traveller and has spent many summers with relatives in Europe. “I really liked the idea of studying in the Netherlands. It’s an interesting country and the system is well-developed for this kind of teaching. This university seemed the best one, although I applied to others as well. I was offered a place on my chosen course in Utrecht even before I sat the Leaving Cert.”

Read more: Studying in Europe: Low fees, more choice - Education News | Primary, Secondary & Third Level | The Irish Time - Tue, Nov 12, 2013