Week 6-Part 2

Our week in Berlin was a busy one. On Monday we did a bike tour of the city. Our tour guide was entertaining and I enjoyed learning about Berlin since it is such a historically important city. I was a little bit nervous biking in the city, but it did allow us to see a lot of the city. Amongst the many places we visited along our tour were the place where Hitler’s bunker was, the main government buildings, and the Jewish holocaust memorial. My favorite part of the tour was visiting Checkpoint Charlie and seeing parts of the Berlin wall. It was a powerful experience to see these things for ourselves instead of just reading about them. On Tuesday we first visited the Reichstag government building. I really liked the architecture of the building that holds the offices of the government officials. It was very impressive and modern. After the Reichstag, we went to the Sachsenhausen concentration camp memorial. This was a powerful, humbling experience. It is one thing to hear about the atrocities committed in concentration camps, but it is entirely different to see the memorial in person. It was sickening to imagine the fear and pain that so many people endured at the hands of the Nazi regime. I found it very difficult to imagine how human beings could commit such terrible crimes against humanity.

On Wednesday we visited the Charite learning center and museum. At the learning center, some of the medical students informed us about the system of students helping other students. We had the opportunity to put on a suit that simulated being old and also experienced a tremor simulator. It was quite comical to see our classmates trying to sign their names with shaking hands. We also have their intubation simulation a try and identified lung and heart problems on fake patients. I thought it was neat that they had all of these resources to use for learning. Next we visited the Charite museum. Our tour guide there was great, and we got so see some very interesting anatomical specimens and exhibits.

Thursday took us on a short train ride over to Leipzig for the day. First we visited the KFH kidney center. We learned a little bit about the center and about kidney problems and treatments. After that we visited the Pharmacy museum, where we learned a little bit about homeopathy and the history of pharmaceutical products and tools. Finally we took a walking city tour. This day trip to Leipzig was not my favorite excursion, but I did think Leipzig was a nice city with an interesting city. Finally on Friday we visited the Otto Bock center, which was really cool. I loved how interactive the exhibits were and the concept of movement that the museum was based on. I was amazed by the prosthetic products on display. The bionic leg that we saw was incredibly sophisticated and looked like something out of transformers. I was most amazed by the video they had of someone who had a new technology that allowed him to use mind control to move his prosthetic arm. This was one of my favorite places that we visited.

I can’t believe we are about to get on a plane to go back to the states already. Our time here in Europe has flown by, and it’s a bittersweet goodbye. This study abroad has been the best decision in my college career so far, and I will definitely encourage others to give it a try. Experiencing different cultures was a wonderful experience, one that I think everyone should partake in if they can. The most surprising thing about this trip and the most rewarding has been the people we have met, including those within our study abroad group. We all have a whole new group of friends that have shared our experiences and seen each other at our best and worst. Our time here would not have been possible without a great professor too. It would not have been the same without Dr. Wasser as our professor. The AIB was a great organization to be in league with as well. Olivia was a fantastic coordinator, and we couldn’t have done it without her. All in all, this was a wonderful experience and I am so glad that I decided to study abroad in Germany.