Brandon Bond - Biopsychology, Cognition, Neuroscience Junior

The summer after my sophomore year I had the opportunity to study abroad in Madrid, Spain on the CGIS: Psychology & Research program. This program not only allowed me to make life-long connections with Michigan students but students and staff across the United States and Spain. Although knowing Spanish was not an enforced pre-requisite for the program, I was fortunate enough to have studied it for a few years, which came in handy when communicating with my host family and being selected for my internship placement at la Clínica López Ibor de Madrid.

For my internship, I had the opportunity to actively engage with patients, participate in therapy sessions, and learn about the Spanish psychiatric clinical practice. As someone just finishing their second year of school, this was an amazing opportunity to get a genuine look at the psychiatric profession. Aside from the internship, I took a Biological Psychology course, which was taught in a smaller course size making it easier to seek out help from the professor with such a complex subject. Even with the packed schedule the cohort still had time to venture to different parts of Spain as part of our programming. We still had more than enough time to take our own adventure to other Spanish cities and countries. I would highly recommend this program to any student, especially one studying BCN or Psychology, for the academics, culture, and friendships that come along with the experience.