We finally made it!!

My first plane ride was an adventure. That morning I drove from San Antonio to Houston to get on the plane. We got there very early so check in was very fast. I am very glad that my friends were with me. If they were not, I would have definitely been lost. I think that I was the only one to have to go through the body scan. That would happen to me on my first time. Well after several hours wondering around the airport, it was finally time to board the plane. That was when we noticed that Brian Davis, former Aggie men’s basketball player, was on our flight. That was an unexpected surprise. I did not realize that airplanes were so crammed!! I did not really enjoy the little space there was. Well finally we were about to takeoff. It really was not as bad as I had expected. However, the landing was much worse. My ears kept popping on the way down, but once we landed I was relieved. I also thought that it was a bit odd how we had to unload the plane on to a ladder in the middle of the runway then take a bus to get back to the airport. This was because Frankfurt had so much snow in the weeks prior. Well 10 long hours later, I was finally in Germany.

It was very reassuring how Nils met us right outside the airport. At that point everyone was feeling very tired, anxious, and lost. It was comforting to know that everything was already taken care of and we were just along for the ride. The bus ride from Frankfurt to Bonn was beautiful. It was the first time that I had ever seen that much snow. Also I had not expected Germany to be so open. I had expected it to be covered in small buildings that were very close together. However, this was much more beautiful than I had expected.

One thing I really enjoyed during the first week was going to the hospital to shadow doctors. I shadowed an orthopedic surgeon which was especially exciting for me because that is what I want to do. I have shadowed doctors before in the US, but I had never seen anything like this. The first surgery was a radial head fracture. The surgeon put a “sugar screw” in the bone to hold it in place. This was also the first time that I saw a surgeon stitch up a wound. I did not know that each layer is stitched together separately. The second surgery was a lady who had shattered her wrist. She had surgery before, but the bones have not healed as fast as they should. The surgeons placed a long titanium rod all the way through her ulna. I never knew how strong you had to be to break through the bone. I better start going to the gym more. The last surgery was a teenager who had a bacterial infection called cat scratch. The infection had covered both legs and arms. She has had over 20 different surgeries to remove all the bacteria. The surgeons were beginning to close all the wounds by stretching the under layers of tissue. All of her skin below the knee was gone and her legs were covered with open wounds.

The resident that we followed was very nice, and helpful. He explained to us how medical school worked in Germany and how it has changed recently. It has shifted from a more theoretical training to hands on. The one thing that really surprised me was how orthopedics and trauma are one in the same in Germany. I find that very odd. Orthopedic surgeons plan out their surgeries very carefully and trauma surgeons work very spontaneously. It would be very hard to be expected to do both.