A Ukrainian woman living in Spain is amazed by the doctors here: "Why do they always prescribe me paracetamol?"

Yuliia Zadachenkova , a young Ukrainian woman who has lived in Spain for nine months , has shared her experience adapting to everyday life in our country in a video, particularly her impressions of the healthcare system. The young woman is currently in Murcia , but has lived in other Spanish cities and has learned many secrets about life in Spain.

On her YouTube channel ( @julilife.z ) , Zadachenkova recounts the most striking aspects of her adaptation process, from the language to bureaucracy, including access to healthcare . “I moved to Spain nine months ago and I'm ready to share my immigration experience,” she says in the introduction to the video, where she also highlights the difficulty of adapting to the cultural rhythm and the way of communicating in Spanish.

Culture shock with the Spanish healthcare system

One of the points that caught her attention most was the medical care: “Every time a problem arose, it was the doctor who told me to take paracetamol or ibuprofen. Why do I have to take these pills all the time?” she says. The Ukrainian admits she's not used to this approach, as in her country she went directly to a specialist instead of first seeing a family doctor.

Zadachenkova explains that at first she didn't understand the role of the family doctor: "Why do I have to do that? And whatever the problem, it's simply the family doctor who handles this medical issue." She says this intermediation seemed confusing to her, although she later understood that it's the usual way the healthcare system is organized in Spain.

Beyond the medical issue, the young woman also talks about the importance of having health insurance and the bureaucratic difficulties she encountered in obtaining it. After two rejections, she finally managed to regularize her status . "They gave me this insurance because I have all the rights," she notes, emphasizing the need to persist and be familiar with the procedures when living in another country.

Although she admits that she initially felt frustrated by these differences, she now asserts that her experience in Spain has been enriching, and that every day she learns something new about the Spanish way of life, from the healthcare system to social and family life.