Today’s visit to the hospital was quite an experience for me! On the way there I was amused by some of my fellow Aggies, as they came straggling into the train station looking a little worse for wear 8-).
It was so great to be able wear the scrubs, and the mask, and the hair net, and those special green clogs. I was a little nervous about going in the operating room, to be honest. I was really hoping that I wouldn’t get queasy, because, how would that look if an aspiring surgeon couldn’t handle blood and guts? Luckily, I surprised myself by being really enthusiastic in the operating room! I couldn’t tear my eyes away from the procedure, and I hope that my steady stream of questions wasn’t distracting for the anesthesiologist. I don’t thnk I’ll ever be able to forget that pivotal moment in the operating room when I realized I was staring at a living, pumping human heart.
In trading off prime viewing spots with Lindsay, I got a chance to speak with the anesthesiologist about his experience as a doctor here in germany. After a few minutes of conversation, I found out that he had actually practiced in several other places, including Houston, Texas! When I asked him about the primary differences between the US and Germany he immediately listed respect and cooperation between anesthesiologists and surgeons. He actually said he felt he was more respected here in Germany, and he like dbeing able to be in control of his working hours, instead of being at the disposal of the surgeons (as he put it). When I brought up the subject of malpractice insurance in the States, he repeated what Dr. Penner had said, which was that malpractice suits in Germany are far less common, and that he felt is was much more expensive in the states to be insured.
One interesting thing I noticed about my time at the hospital in Bonn was the lack of female doctors, at least in the three operating rooms we were observing. I wonder if the medical field here (specifically the surgical specialties) is even more male-dominated that it is in the US….?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment