First I want to wish my Dad a very Happy Birthday! We're here in Amsterdam. We got in late last night after 3 changes and a few delays. Our hostel was originally supposed to be at the Flying Pig Uptown, which is in a nicer area of Amsterdam, but due to renovation our reservation was moved to the Downtown hostel, in the middle of the red light district. Needless to say it's a little shady. We had no more than a 5 minute walk from the train station that went fine, I don't think anything bad is going to happen as long as we stay together. Today should be pretty fun as there's a lot of cool stuff to do in this city.
I'd like to talk more about yesterday, however. Yesterday we took a day trip to Goettingen, about an hour train ride from Hannover, to visit a cardiovascular clinic. For some reason I didn't realize we would be receiving two lectures on topics I'm quite familiar with, so it was a very nice surprise. First, the head of the department gave a lecture on the various procedures they perform at their hospital and current research projects being done to advance each area. Having assisted a cardiothoracic surgeon this past summer, I knew from personal experience what each one of these procedures was and followed along intently. I asked him about transplant assist devices, on which I have done research, and found that they are doing some pretty interesting things, like creating the first linear pulsatile pump, a very innovative development that I had not heard of before.
We took a short tour of the facility and had another lecture by a younger attending on creating animal models of heart failure. This correlated extremely well with the work I did in a CV surgery research lab in Houston, so I was again very intrigued. This guy, Dr. Schmitto, may have successfully created a model using microspheres of 90 microns each that simulate coronary heart disease very accurately in sheep. The goal is to be as non-invasive as possible and to create signs and symptoms as close to the real thing as possible. This guy has apparently done such a good job that he was accepte for a research position at Harvard where he will be for two years starting in a few months. He's even got his Red Sox cap already.
After all that I can't help thinking about my future and what I want to do as far as surgery goes. I'm almost certain it's what I will end up doing, but after that it's going to be tough. I love cardiothoracic surgery and the research being done in the field. Maybe it's that or just that it's the only field, aside from plastic surgery, that I've had a lot of experience in. Nevertheless, I'm trying to keep my mind open and accepting as I start medical school. Last night I submitted my rankings for the Texas Medical Schools. So far I've got Houston first, then Southwestern, followed by San Antonio and UTMB last (I'm already in UTMB so it doesn't matter). So now I wait until Februrary 1st.
Anyway, everyone seems to be doing great, I know I'm having a blast. I love and miss everyone at home, and I'll be calling you (Dad Mom Barb and Liz) later today. Again, Happy Birthday Dad!
PEACE
Asher
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