"I Want to Ride my Bicycle"

Though this week was shorter, it still felt as busy as any other week. We rescheduled our bike tour to later in the week, so we started the week off with class and a visit to the University Clinics in Bonn. Of course, on the day we get to watch surgeries, Meredith and I sleep through our alarms. However, we still made it with time to spare!

I had never observed a surgery for human medicine, so I was a little nervous and anxious at the same time. Throughout this trip, I have realized how strongly I feel about becoming a veterinarian. All of the information regarding human medicine that we have learned has been very interesting and valuable. However, I realized I am not fit for human medicine. 

The surgeries at the clinics were really interesting. Alexis and I saw a young boy undergo surgery to remove some rods in his femur. This orthopedic surgery required more effort than expected. The surgeons had to take a hammer to the knee in order to get the rods out of the bone. It was definitely a really awesome surgery to see. Alexis and I realized there are some similarities in the surgery room when comparing it to veterinary medicine, too. Most of the equipment seemed similar.

After the orthopedic surgery, I joined Sarah in another surgery. It was an intense surgery on an older, over-weight woman who was suffering from multi-organ failure. The nurse was very approachable and friendly. She explained a lot about the patient and the surgery, even though we only stayed for a short time and did not get deep into the main part of the surgery. The surgeons present were experts in the gastrointestinal department. From what we saw, she had a lot of fluids in her body because her body had been trying to make up for the organ failure. Also, she had a laceration in her intestine that was causing most of the infection. Even though I am more interested in veterinary medicine, watching the surgeries was one of the coolest events of this trip.

One of my favorite activities of this week was the bike tour to Remagen. It was absolutely beautiful to ride along the Rhine River. It was also a great workout because we rode a total of 44 km that day! It was one of those days on the trip that was really relaxing and gave you time to appreciate your surroundings. We even got to picnic along the river. Before we biked back to Bonn, we visited the Peace Museum with Mr. Kurten. The museum is dedicated to the idea of peace and is situated at the ruins of the Ludendorff Bridge, a major symbol in WWII. Because it was the only standing bridge over the Rhine River that lead into Germany, the Americans captured the bridge in March 1945 and were then able to travel across with supplies and necessary equipment. The Germans tried several times to collapse the bridge, but were unsuccessful. The bridge spontaneously collapsed on March 17.

Finally, on Thursday, we went on a Rhine cruise. Again, the beautiful scenery was relaxing. It made for an enjoyable ride. Before we went on the cruise, we went on a guided tour of the Museum am Strom in Bingen. To reinforce the knowledge we gained from our lecture on Hildegard von Bingen from Dr. Wasser, we were able to see the model of her monastery, pictures of the artwork representing her visions, and even a garden full of the plants she would use in her medical works. Hildegard only recently became an official Saint, but she has been known in history as a saintly woman full of concepts regarding medicine. It has been a great opportunity on this study abroad trip to have physical visualizations of what we have learned. I appreciated the ability to actually see the plants Hildegard used, whether they worked as healing treatments or not. During this time, it was commonly accepted to use plants that physically resembled what they needed to be used to heal. Plants that looked like eyes would be used to heal eye infections, etc.

Our Rhine cruise stopped in St. Goar, where we hiked up to Rheinfels Castle. This was a creative part of the day because since there was no guided tour, we split up into groups to come up with our own story about a certain part of the castle. I really enjoyed participating and seeing each group’s imagination at work. We even have some great actors on the trip! Our week was cut short for the long weekend ahead. We are off to Switzerland!