Ok so I'm going to treat this as my potentially last blog while abroad. and what a trip it has been. Today we went to the medical history museum of Vienna and it was interesting to see all the wax models and the instruments from back in the day. It would have been incredibly painful, especially if you needed an amputated limb from that saw that only took doctors a minute and a half to use. Makes me grateful for living in a time when medicine has come so far. Last night we went to the opperetta, and I can honestly say I enjoyed it. I've been to several plays, but never an opera. Having the english subtitles helped a lot, but even without it I think I would have been able to enjoy the performance.
I can't believe three weeks has almost come to a close. I thought I am completely surprised that I have not been homesick at all, not even once. So I guess this experience has made me more independent. I'm used to talking to my mom on the phone everyday, so it has been an adjustment. I'm so glad that everyone in the group got along really well and I hope when we get back to school we can continue to hang out. Overall it has by far been the best experience of my life.
Thursday, January 15, 2009
Vienna Send-Off
Yesterday, we went to Freud's old home. It was cool to visit and to hear about his life, but one of the real problems with the musuem is that it is almost completely empty. You see, the Freud's were fortunate enough to plan their emigration to London in 1938 before it was no longer possible to flee from the Holocaust. They took most of their things with them, and their apartment became a Jewish ghetto. What was there was very impressive, especially since the "talking cure" is making a little comeback, from what we were told.
My favorite idea that Freud had was the supreme influence parents have on their children based on what they tell them, and not so much based on their actions. I feel that my personal experience confirms that. For some reason it seems that what parents say has a much greater impact on me than what parents do. It makes me want to be very aware of what I say around my children years from now.
Today was a trip to the medical history museum that is attached to the medical university in Vienna. There were a lot of very impressive wax figures that are extremely well preserved considering their age (many around 250 years old, still with real hair!). There was also a large painting of a surgery with early anesthetics signed by none other than John Quincy Adams. No idea on its authenticity. Some of Vienna's medical history highlights the tension between physicians and surgeons. One of the university's primary goals was to give surgeons a formal education and move away from an apprentice based system.
There's a very good chance that this will be my last time online in Europe. I've had a lot of fun on this trip and I wish I could stay here and see more things like this for a very long time, but I've got some work to do back in the States so I guess this is farewell. I recommend this program to anyone who can get in, no matter what your interests may be. Much of what we've learned on this trip are things every person ought to know. I wish everyone safe travels on their way back to school, and a very good semester in College Station.
My favorite idea that Freud had was the supreme influence parents have on their children based on what they tell them, and not so much based on their actions. I feel that my personal experience confirms that. For some reason it seems that what parents say has a much greater impact on me than what parents do. It makes me want to be very aware of what I say around my children years from now.
Today was a trip to the medical history museum that is attached to the medical university in Vienna. There were a lot of very impressive wax figures that are extremely well preserved considering their age (many around 250 years old, still with real hair!). There was also a large painting of a surgery with early anesthetics signed by none other than John Quincy Adams. No idea on its authenticity. Some of Vienna's medical history highlights the tension between physicians and surgeons. One of the university's primary goals was to give surgeons a formal education and move away from an apprentice based system.
There's a very good chance that this will be my last time online in Europe. I've had a lot of fun on this trip and I wish I could stay here and see more things like this for a very long time, but I've got some work to do back in the States so I guess this is farewell. I recommend this program to anyone who can get in, no matter what your interests may be. Much of what we've learned on this trip are things every person ought to know. I wish everyone safe travels on their way back to school, and a very good semester in College Station.
Beautiful Vienna
Since arriving in Vienna just a couple of days ago, we've already gotten to see and learn so much. Yesterday, Wasser took us on a Medical Walking Tour of the city. It snowed steadily the entire day, and was very cold, but it also made it an especially beautiful walk through this beautiful city. We got to see the place where Motzart died, and learn about some of the things he did within his short (33 years), but very outstanding life. We also visited another cript, of the Hapsburg family, which were a royal family of the past.
After this, we headed to the Freud Museum, where we first recieved a lecture from Wasser, giving us some background information about his family, his research, and his life in general. He was a VERY interesting man in many ways. The things that he discovered about the human physche are controversial, but also brilliant. We learned about his famous concept of the id, the ego, and the superego, and how they work and interconnect with each other. We also learned about Jung, one of his 'students' or 'apprentices' if you will, and also about their falling out (which he seemed to do a lot with many of his friends and collegues). After the lecture, we got to tour his old house, which was also his old meeting room, where his patients would come to see him. It was very cool being a room where one of the most brilliant men in history once lived and worked. When the Nazis invaded Vienna back in WWII, he and his family were forced to flee to London, where he eventually died from cancer (he was a chain cigar smoker for most, if not all of his adult life). His youngest daughter Anna, was the only one of his children to follow in his footsteps of studying phychoanalysis, and was also the one who provided the museum with many of the original pieces of furniture, artifacts, etc. We also learned that one of Freud's 'passions' was letter writing, and got to see one of his most famous correspondents with Einstein. I had no idea that the two of them had been in touch, but it's fascinating that they did.
Last night, we got to see an Operetta, which was AMAZING. The acting and singing were spectacular, and they had subtitles giving the general plot of each scene, which helped out a lot. They all had subtitles for all of the songs. I only wish I would ahve been able to understand the dialoge between the characters, because it was apparently very humerous. It was an amazing show to see, nonetheless.
This morning, we got to sleep in a little later than usual (until about 9:30!!), and headed to the Josaphine Museum, where we got to see wax models of every single human body part you could ever imagine. They had models that were still in human form (a full body opened up, and exposing the organs of the abdomen, etc), and also had wax models of just each individual part, bone, muscle, etc. It was just amazing. They were all in their original cases, and the hair on some of the models was actual human hair.
So far, Vienna has been an incredible city, full of so much history, and also beautiful architecture. I can't believe we only have one more day left to experience before heading back to the states! Better make it count!
After this, we headed to the Freud Museum, where we first recieved a lecture from Wasser, giving us some background information about his family, his research, and his life in general. He was a VERY interesting man in many ways. The things that he discovered about the human physche are controversial, but also brilliant. We learned about his famous concept of the id, the ego, and the superego, and how they work and interconnect with each other. We also learned about Jung, one of his 'students' or 'apprentices' if you will, and also about their falling out (which he seemed to do a lot with many of his friends and collegues). After the lecture, we got to tour his old house, which was also his old meeting room, where his patients would come to see him. It was very cool being a room where one of the most brilliant men in history once lived and worked. When the Nazis invaded Vienna back in WWII, he and his family were forced to flee to London, where he eventually died from cancer (he was a chain cigar smoker for most, if not all of his adult life). His youngest daughter Anna, was the only one of his children to follow in his footsteps of studying phychoanalysis, and was also the one who provided the museum with many of the original pieces of furniture, artifacts, etc. We also learned that one of Freud's 'passions' was letter writing, and got to see one of his most famous correspondents with Einstein. I had no idea that the two of them had been in touch, but it's fascinating that they did.
Last night, we got to see an Operetta, which was AMAZING. The acting and singing were spectacular, and they had subtitles giving the general plot of each scene, which helped out a lot. They all had subtitles for all of the songs. I only wish I would ahve been able to understand the dialoge between the characters, because it was apparently very humerous. It was an amazing show to see, nonetheless.
This morning, we got to sleep in a little later than usual (until about 9:30!!), and headed to the Josaphine Museum, where we got to see wax models of every single human body part you could ever imagine. They had models that were still in human form (a full body opened up, and exposing the organs of the abdomen, etc), and also had wax models of just each individual part, bone, muscle, etc. It was just amazing. They were all in their original cases, and the hair on some of the models was actual human hair.
So far, Vienna has been an incredible city, full of so much history, and also beautiful architecture. I can't believe we only have one more day left to experience before heading back to the states! Better make it count!
Crossfire!
Thanks to Asher for getting that little 2 lines of a song stuck in my head for the rest of eternity.
The weather was actually really nice today! I was able to walk around for a little without a coat on; I hope it stays this way until we leave. All this "unusually cold weather" is wearing on me. Today's visit to the Medical History museum was fantastic! The wax figures were so realistic, and I couldn't believe that they were all originals, case and all, from the 1700's. The displays with the unborn babies' heads cut off were a little disturbing, as were the babies being delivered with forceps. I just googled instrumental birth, and it looks like that method is still used today! You learn something new everyday... Die Fledermaus last night was amazing! The perfect first experience at the opera. My favorite character was Alfred :), but the entire cast was great and I enjoyed every part of it... the acting, the singing, the orchestra especially. If I was not already decided on a career in medicine, I would seriously consider going into musical performance after seeing the concert in Prague and the operetta last night. Thanks to Dr. Wasser for planning that for us! -Just as a sidenote, I do wish that we were allowed to take our dogs with us everywhere in the states.- St. Stephen's Cathedral was beautiful; that should go without saying, every cathedral that I've ever visited has been amazing. However, I am a big fat scaredy cat and did not enjoy the visit to the catacombs at all. Especially the mass graves. I don't know how that will affect my studies in medicine, but just seeing all those bones piled on top of each other was *not* my cup of tea. Last but not least, I would like to write a bit about the visit to the Freud Museum. Before yesterday, I knew very little about Freud and his findings/research, and after Dr. Wasser's lecture and the museum tour, I have come to realize that he was a fascinating man. I don't think that I could handle studying any of his work in depth, but reading a biography about him sounds intriguing. I thought it especially interesting his relationship with Vienna, and I recall reading something like he thought of Vienna as a prison, but was content to stay and did not want to leave for London during the rise of the Nazis. That's all for now, although I know I left out several important things. Until next time!
The weather was actually really nice today! I was able to walk around for a little without a coat on; I hope it stays this way until we leave. All this "unusually cold weather" is wearing on me. Today's visit to the Medical History museum was fantastic! The wax figures were so realistic, and I couldn't believe that they were all originals, case and all, from the 1700's. The displays with the unborn babies' heads cut off were a little disturbing, as were the babies being delivered with forceps. I just googled instrumental birth, and it looks like that method is still used today! You learn something new everyday... Die Fledermaus last night was amazing! The perfect first experience at the opera. My favorite character was Alfred :), but the entire cast was great and I enjoyed every part of it... the acting, the singing, the orchestra especially. If I was not already decided on a career in medicine, I would seriously consider going into musical performance after seeing the concert in Prague and the operetta last night. Thanks to Dr. Wasser for planning that for us! -Just as a sidenote, I do wish that we were allowed to take our dogs with us everywhere in the states.- St. Stephen's Cathedral was beautiful; that should go without saying, every cathedral that I've ever visited has been amazing. However, I am a big fat scaredy cat and did not enjoy the visit to the catacombs at all. Especially the mass graves. I don't know how that will affect my studies in medicine, but just seeing all those bones piled on top of each other was *not* my cup of tea. Last but not least, I would like to write a bit about the visit to the Freud Museum. Before yesterday, I knew very little about Freud and his findings/research, and after Dr. Wasser's lecture and the museum tour, I have come to realize that he was a fascinating man. I don't think that I could handle studying any of his work in depth, but reading a biography about him sounds intriguing. I thought it especially interesting his relationship with Vienna, and I recall reading something like he thought of Vienna as a prison, but was content to stay and did not want to leave for London during the rise of the Nazis. That's all for now, although I know I left out several important things. Until next time!
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
Jus Jon 10
Yesterday, was my first daz in Vienna. To get here, I had to awaken at 3:30am, get dressed, met with the group, catch a taxi to the airport, fly to Vienna for about an hour and a half, and then catch a bus to the hotel. From here, we got settled in for a few minutes, went to a local alternative coffee shop, and then toured a museum of Vienna that gave us valuable information about Vienna and its history. I enjoyed the museum a lot because of all of the old antiques of the museum from the B.C. times. I also enjoyed the many replicas of Vienna, as a city, from its birth to its modern day glamour. The museum gúide was verz nice, energetic, and reaaaally had her information and facts together. That to me was the most amazing thing about her. From here, we took a tour of St. Stephen's Cathedral and the catacombs of the church. The cathedral was just as impressive as the Köln Cathedral. It had the stained glass, the romanesque architecture, the beautiful artwork, and the enormous catacombs. In the catacombs, their were coffins, tombs, urns, collections of bones, and a lot of dead people. I mean a looooot of dead people. After these catacombs, I went back to the hotel to relax for a little bit. I wanted to go to the Jazz Cafe, but I decided that I really needed sleep, so I just stayed in the hotel for the rest of the day after dinner. Seams like there is a lot of fun and education coming up in Vienna. Im looking forward to it.
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
The Waiting is the Hardest Part
Just when I thought it couldn't get more interesting/relevant... we go to Bad Oeynhausen to the Heart and Diabetes Center. After getting back from Amsterdam, which was the weirdest/most sketchy city I've been in, we take a day trip to this clinic to learn more about cardiac surgery and actually observe an operation for a few hours. Twelve of us got to observe 1 of 6 procedures, meaning two of us chose one procedure we liked and went in together. Dr. Mirow, one of the senior surgeons at the clinic, briefed us on each case, which were pretty much either coronary artery bypass (CAB) or valve replacement.
I was pretty familiar with both procedures, except for one aortic valve replacement case on a patient who had a largely dilated ascending aorta that possibly needed reconstruction using a wide Dacron graft. I was hooked, and Francisco and I jumped on that one pretty quick. Once we got in there, we learned that it was a double valve replacement (aortic and mitral) and that the aortic reconstruction probably wasn't going to happen. The surgeon, Dr. Morshuis I believe, discussed the ramifications of completely arresting a 76 year old man, even for 10 minutes to do the procedure. So it didn't sound like they would go through with it. Regardless, that was the biggest aorta I'd ever seen, not that I've seen that many, but it looked like another organ growing on top of this guy's heart... truly fascinating.
Anyway, we got to see most of the valve replacements. We had leave right after he slipped in the new mitral valve. It was really cool to see the consistency of techniques between countries. Although the surgeon I assisted is from Berlin (ironically), he used almost exactly the same steps in his valve replacement procedures as Dr. Morshuis did yesterday. After lunch, we had a tour of the VAD ward, a very interesting tour that I was able to get a lot from. I asked our tour guide a ton of questions, and got his perspective on a few different debates going on in regard to VAD research. After a quick tour of the MRI unit, we bid farewell to Stefi and headed back to Hannover.
On the way back I realized how bittersweet these kinds of experiences can be. On the one hand, I'm extremely excited and interested to observe these procedures and discuss certain things with the physicians. On the other hand, however, after I'm done shadowing or assisting, the last thing I want to do is go back to school. And I have not only for one semester, but for 4 years plus one semester. It's not that I don't enjoy school, it has it's ups and downs, but I know it's only going to get harder from here, and honestly, I'd much rather be working in a hospital than sitting in a classroom or in a laboratory all day. I want to learn, but it's much more exciting learning in at bedside or in the OR than in a lecture hall. It's also tough to realize all of the long hours I'm going to have to put in to become as good as the physicians I've observed and assisted. I know it's a long road, I just wish I didn't have to wait so long. But I'm ready and willing, and the best part is that these experiences keep me motivated. So they're good and bad, but mostly good.
Anyway, we're in Vienna now. We flew in WAY too early this morning from Hannover. But it's great. The city is beautiful and historical, just like all the cities we've been to. That's not to say that each city is the same. Somehow, they're all different, which makes each stop different and interesting in its own way. There's so much history in this part of Europe and even the smallest towns bring something different to the table. We've already learned a lot just here in Vienna, and tomorrow should be quite interesting as we tour the Freud Museum before receiving a lecture on the infamous psychologist from Dr. Wasser.
Lastly, I hope everyone back home is doing well. I love you all and miss you all a lot!
PEACE
Asher
I was pretty familiar with both procedures, except for one aortic valve replacement case on a patient who had a largely dilated ascending aorta that possibly needed reconstruction using a wide Dacron graft. I was hooked, and Francisco and I jumped on that one pretty quick. Once we got in there, we learned that it was a double valve replacement (aortic and mitral) and that the aortic reconstruction probably wasn't going to happen. The surgeon, Dr. Morshuis I believe, discussed the ramifications of completely arresting a 76 year old man, even for 10 minutes to do the procedure. So it didn't sound like they would go through with it. Regardless, that was the biggest aorta I'd ever seen, not that I've seen that many, but it looked like another organ growing on top of this guy's heart... truly fascinating.
Anyway, we got to see most of the valve replacements. We had leave right after he slipped in the new mitral valve. It was really cool to see the consistency of techniques between countries. Although the surgeon I assisted is from Berlin (ironically), he used almost exactly the same steps in his valve replacement procedures as Dr. Morshuis did yesterday. After lunch, we had a tour of the VAD ward, a very interesting tour that I was able to get a lot from. I asked our tour guide a ton of questions, and got his perspective on a few different debates going on in regard to VAD research. After a quick tour of the MRI unit, we bid farewell to Stefi and headed back to Hannover.
On the way back I realized how bittersweet these kinds of experiences can be. On the one hand, I'm extremely excited and interested to observe these procedures and discuss certain things with the physicians. On the other hand, however, after I'm done shadowing or assisting, the last thing I want to do is go back to school. And I have not only for one semester, but for 4 years plus one semester. It's not that I don't enjoy school, it has it's ups and downs, but I know it's only going to get harder from here, and honestly, I'd much rather be working in a hospital than sitting in a classroom or in a laboratory all day. I want to learn, but it's much more exciting learning in at bedside or in the OR than in a lecture hall. It's also tough to realize all of the long hours I'm going to have to put in to become as good as the physicians I've observed and assisted. I know it's a long road, I just wish I didn't have to wait so long. But I'm ready and willing, and the best part is that these experiences keep me motivated. So they're good and bad, but mostly good.
Anyway, we're in Vienna now. We flew in WAY too early this morning from Hannover. But it's great. The city is beautiful and historical, just like all the cities we've been to. That's not to say that each city is the same. Somehow, they're all different, which makes each stop different and interesting in its own way. There's so much history in this part of Europe and even the smallest towns bring something different to the table. We've already learned a lot just here in Vienna, and tomorrow should be quite interesting as we tour the Freud Museum before receiving a lecture on the infamous psychologist from Dr. Wasser.
Lastly, I hope everyone back home is doing well. I love you all and miss you all a lot!
PEACE
Asher
Post 6
Yesterday we visited the cardiac hospital in Bad Oeynhausen. This was probably my favorite part of the trip academically to date. The highlight of course was watching the open heart surgery. I saw an aortic valve replacement from beginning to near end. Surgery has always been my main interest and peaked while watching. The surgeon was a very skilled surgeon. She performed every delicate maneuver swiftly without any sign of hesitation. Everyone in the room listened to every word she spoke and knew that her words were law. The surgeon team was a intricate machine with the cauges working in perfect unison. If the other members with me had not been watching the clock I would not have known when it was time to leave, but they did, and I hesitantly left for the next part of the hospital tour. I was also really interested in the temporary heart pumps that the doctors showed us as I was unaware that we had reached that point in medicine yet. Overall, I feel like I took more from this day than any other day on this trip.
Post 5
So we finished the free weekend in Amsterdam and it went pretty well. I think I went in with too high of expectations though because I thought I would have a lot more fun. Don't get me wrong though. I still had a lot of fun and saw a lot of things. We made it to the Anne Frank house, and I felt like it was done really well. You get a good feeling about what it was like for the Frank family and the time period they were living in. Seeing the place where such a wide known event happened always sends chills crawling down my back. All the memories from when I first read the famous diary in middle school engulfed me in an instant as I walked through the dwelling. Once we left there we made it over to the Van Gough Museum. I felt like it was a little incomplete. My favorite Van Gough is Stary Night and that, unfortunately, rests in another museum. I'm trying to keep this as more of an academic post but I will mention that the Heineken Experience is something everyone who visits Amsterdam should visit. I'm not a beer drinker, but I still enjoyed this immensly. The rest of the trip consisted of hanging out and a lot of pool playing. Overall it was a complete success!
Cardiac bypass and Vienna
Yesterday was by far my favorite day of the trip. We had the oppurtunity to watch cardiac bypass surgeries in Bad Oeynhausen at the Heart and Diaetes center. Before we went to the operating rooms, a short history of the hospital was givin along with some statistics of the procedures performed yearly. Lauren Link and I where able to be in the surgery that was done by Dr. Mirow, it was a quadruple bypass with a mitral valve replacement and he fixed the patients tricuspid valve, which was dialated. I had never seen any surgery before yesterday, so I was a little nervous on how watching all the procedures whould effect me. But by the time we were supposed to leave, I was reluctant to go. I really enjoyed watching the surgery and I hope that I might be able to see an entire surgery once I get back home. It started out with watching the anastesiologist prep the patient for surgery. Once the patient was wheeled in and everthing was set up we where able to stand on the platform at the head of the patient. This afforded us a view of the opening of the chest and the saphenous vein removal from the patients leg. I will admit that wathcing the doctor saw through the patients sternum was a little weird for me, but seeing the heart pumping in the chest was the coolest thing I have ever seen. I can not even describe what that moment felt like. The doctors and attending staff where very helpful and explained all they could during the surgery. I was able to watch the actual bypass surgery of the blood and the beginning of Dr. Mirow fixing the tricuspid valve of the patient. The doctor doing the bypass joked that it was the operation to prepare for the operation. I really enjoyed my time in the OR and I would have loved to see the rest of the surgery, especially the valve replacement.
The other half of the day was spent visiting the normal patient wards, where we were able to see the LVAD\artificial heart units and visit with patients who had them installed. There was one older gentleman who we where able to talk to about his living situation with the LVAD and how it had helped him immensly. I am amazed at everything that medicine is able to do at the present time and what it will continue to do. If I did not like clinical work so much, I might go into cardiac research. We also visited the ICU, where some patients have been there for 6 months! It seems that they keep getting problem after problem with no relief in sight. That just goes to show that even with all the technology of our day, there are still things beyond our reach. After visiting with the patients we went down to what felt like the basement and checked out the MRI machine. I had never seen one up close and we where able to feel its magnetic pull by placing a piece of aluminum sheeting (which is not magnetic) in the MRI, when you tried to pull it away the force against you was amazing. Also there was a hanger placed into the field of the MRI and we where asked to pull it out, instead of coming out the hanger actually bent! I was amazed, little side note, whenever I went near the MRI machine I could feel my belt pull away from my belt loops, I have many little metel studs on it and it felt really weird.
That evening before heading back to Hannover, we said goodbye to Steffi. We are all going to miss her, I really enjoyed her company and her help throughout the trip. Once we were back in Hannover Dr. Zäck met us at the train station, and he accomanied us to Vienna for the rest of our journey.
Today was not the best day for me and not only because we had to meet in the hotel lobby at 4:20 in the morning. I started feeling bad once we got into the taxis to go to the airport. Luckily I still had my bags with me and I was able to take an anti-nausea pill, which helped for a little while. Unfortunately I became ill on the plane about 15 minutes before we landed. I also became sick two more times on our way to the Hotel Zipser. It was decided that instead of me going to the cafe and touring the Stephansdom I would go visit a doctor. Dr. Zäck's sister-in-law recommended a doctor to us and I was able to be seen right away. He was 95% sure that the sickness came from my kidney stone, but was slightly worried that it might be appendicitis. So after paying for the visit and a prescription against nausea, the total coming out to €110!, I laid down in the hotel the rest of the day until it was time to go to dinner. I checked my temperature periodically and was relieved that I did not develop a fever. It is very unfortunate that I missed today because seeing the catacombs in the cathederal wuold have been very interesting I think. Our dinner was at a very nice italian restruant and the AIB paid for dinner. Hopefully I will stay in good health the last 3 days of this trip. I can hardly believe that our time here is almost done. I have had a wonderful time, despite the cold, and would dearly love to visit again in the summer time.
The other half of the day was spent visiting the normal patient wards, where we were able to see the LVAD\artificial heart units and visit with patients who had them installed. There was one older gentleman who we where able to talk to about his living situation with the LVAD and how it had helped him immensly. I am amazed at everything that medicine is able to do at the present time and what it will continue to do. If I did not like clinical work so much, I might go into cardiac research. We also visited the ICU, where some patients have been there for 6 months! It seems that they keep getting problem after problem with no relief in sight. That just goes to show that even with all the technology of our day, there are still things beyond our reach. After visiting with the patients we went down to what felt like the basement and checked out the MRI machine. I had never seen one up close and we where able to feel its magnetic pull by placing a piece of aluminum sheeting (which is not magnetic) in the MRI, when you tried to pull it away the force against you was amazing. Also there was a hanger placed into the field of the MRI and we where asked to pull it out, instead of coming out the hanger actually bent! I was amazed, little side note, whenever I went near the MRI machine I could feel my belt pull away from my belt loops, I have many little metel studs on it and it felt really weird.
That evening before heading back to Hannover, we said goodbye to Steffi. We are all going to miss her, I really enjoyed her company and her help throughout the trip. Once we were back in Hannover Dr. Zäck met us at the train station, and he accomanied us to Vienna for the rest of our journey.
Today was not the best day for me and not only because we had to meet in the hotel lobby at 4:20 in the morning. I started feeling bad once we got into the taxis to go to the airport. Luckily I still had my bags with me and I was able to take an anti-nausea pill, which helped for a little while. Unfortunately I became ill on the plane about 15 minutes before we landed. I also became sick two more times on our way to the Hotel Zipser. It was decided that instead of me going to the cafe and touring the Stephansdom I would go visit a doctor. Dr. Zäck's sister-in-law recommended a doctor to us and I was able to be seen right away. He was 95% sure that the sickness came from my kidney stone, but was slightly worried that it might be appendicitis. So after paying for the visit and a prescription against nausea, the total coming out to €110!, I laid down in the hotel the rest of the day until it was time to go to dinner. I checked my temperature periodically and was relieved that I did not develop a fever. It is very unfortunate that I missed today because seeing the catacombs in the cathederal wuold have been very interesting I think. Our dinner was at a very nice italian restruant and the AIB paid for dinner. Hopefully I will stay in good health the last 3 days of this trip. I can hardly believe that our time here is almost done. I have had a wonderful time, despite the cold, and would dearly love to visit again in the summer time.
Vienna!
This morning I got up a 3:10 to start packing and meeting the group at 4:20 AM. As if that was not hard enough as it was, we all went the airport, flew to Vienna, checked in the hotel, and then ate breakfast at Cafe de Provinz (or something like that... it was really good!). I was exhausted, but the huge chocolate waffel with kakao woke me up at least! We then went to the Wein Museum, where we learned about the history of Vienna and had a guided tour of the museum as well as the actual city. My favorite part was St. Stephen's church! It was huge and absolutely beautiful inside. It amazes me how dedicated Christains were to build these magnificent churches to worship in. Anyway, we then went inside the catacombs of the church, and I literally got to see piles upon piles of bones. Many femurs, humerus' (is the plural for that humeri, maybe??), and skulls. Very eerie!!! But I still thought it was really cool! I then went around a couple souviner stores, went back to the hotel, and took a nice three hour nap! At seven PM Dr. Zäck took us to a nice restaurant and bought us dinner! It was very good and very nice of AIB. Anyways, tomorrow I am excited about going to the Opera!!! I am going to enjoy it! Vienna is very nice!
Bad Oeynhausen and First Day in Vienna
It's so weird that we're on our last stretch of the trip and only have 3 more full days here!! It was nice to walk outside the hotel in Hannover this morning and not be freezing, but then when we got to Vienna it was really cold again unfortunately. I guess the cold likes to follow us around everywhere. I am still really enjoying everything though. I was thankful for the time to nap and just relax this afternoon, especially after getting up at 4:00 this morning! St. Stephan's Cathedral was beautiful, just like many of the other cathedrals that we have visited. The amazing buildings and architecture are definitely things that I will miss when I am back home. I love walking outside anywhere and seeing really pretty, and usually very old, buildings everywhere. I wish we had things like this at home; parts of America (such as College Station and Arlington) will seem so much more plain now!! The catacombs were really cool to visit, but I have to admit that it was a little creepy being right next to the coffins. I think my favorite part of the catacombs was seeing the rooms full of bones. I had never seen anything like this before and it's so weird to think about how many people there are "buried" in these rooms. It was also a little creepy to think that there used to be alot of dead bodies stacked in many of the rooms that we walked through down there. It was still an awsome experience though! I wish I wasn't so cold after finishing up with everything because I would've liked to shop around some, even though I don't have much money left to spend. It has been awesome getting cash dispersements throughout the trip though, I am very thankful for this money!
I absolutely loved seeing the open heart surgery in Bad Oeynhausen and all the different areas of the clinic were extremely interesting also, but I really wish I had felt better that day. I need to remember to drink water much more than I have been doing. The heart surgery was definitely one of the coolest things I have ever seen, if not the coolest. Dr. Mirow showed us the angiograms of all 6 patients, one of which we would have the opportunity to see that day. It was cool that he pointed out exactly what would happen in each surgery. Krystyna and I chose to see the surgery of a 77 year-old man who was having quadruple bypass and a mitral valve replacement. He was also on dialysis, so he wasn't in very good shape. We had the opportunity to see the man be put under anesthesia before going into the room and even this was interesting to watch. We got to stand directly behind the patient's head, which gave us the opportunity to see everything that was happening. It was awesome!!! We saw them cut open the man's chest and saw through the sternum and the cartarize the bone and surrounding tissue. The smell from this wasn't too pleasant. While they were opening the man's chest, there was another surgeon who cut open the man's leg from just above the ankle to right below his knee in order to remove his saphenous veing to use as a source for the bypass grafts for his heart. I think it is amazing that they can do this. It was really cool to see how they spread his chest open and to watch them cut through the pericardium. When we first got a glimpse fo the beating heart it was incredible...one of the most amazing things I have seen for sure! They then put the heart on full bypass by connecting tubes to the inferior and superior vena cavae and drained the blood from the heart and area surrounding the heart to put it through extracorporeal circulation. Once the heart was on full bypass, it soon stopped beating. It was really really cool to see. The cardiologist, Dr. Mirow, then lifted up the heart to point out where the bypass grafts would be sewn. I really wish we had more time and that we didn't have to go to lunch because I would've loved to see the rest of the surgery!!
Seeing the artifical heart/LVAD unit was also really awesome. I didn't realize how large and heavy the pulsatile pumps were. There was a large size difference and weight difference between the axial flow and pulsatile flow LVADs. The gentleman who showed us his device and talked to us about it was really nice. I really enjoyed this part of the clinic. We also visited the intensive care unit for the LVAD patients. It was really sad to see them and hear how bad of shape they were all in. The MRI demonstration was very cool. I had seen MRI machines on television before, but I never realized how strong the magnetic field was that they created. The last thing we did was see MR images of diseased hearts. I liked that the doctor clearly explained what we were seeing and which areas of the hearts were diseased. I am really interested in the medical technology and I am looking forward to my BMEN classes that deal with medical instruments and imaging, especially after having a small introduction to the machines. Everything that we saw was incredibly interesting!!! I was extremely exhausted by the time that we got back to the hotel that night. This was without a doubt my favorite day by far!
I am so excited about medical school! I was really excited about going before this trip too, but I am much more confident that the medical field is where I want to be after everything that we have done. Learning about everything in much more detail in medical school will be awesome! The human body fascinates me!! And so do all of the medical advancements that have been made! It is incredible that devices exist to replace and assist the functions of organs, such as the heart. Reading Blood and Guts made me realize just how much medicine has advanced. It is all incredible!
These last few days will be great, but I feel like we are all pretty worn out by now so we will enjoy the free time that we have and all the time to relax. The opera will be really cool to see and I am excited about the medical walk around Vienna as well as the museums we will visit. It will be a good last few days! Vienna is a really pretty city and I've already enjoyed the time here.
I absolutely loved seeing the open heart surgery in Bad Oeynhausen and all the different areas of the clinic were extremely interesting also, but I really wish I had felt better that day. I need to remember to drink water much more than I have been doing. The heart surgery was definitely one of the coolest things I have ever seen, if not the coolest. Dr. Mirow showed us the angiograms of all 6 patients, one of which we would have the opportunity to see that day. It was cool that he pointed out exactly what would happen in each surgery. Krystyna and I chose to see the surgery of a 77 year-old man who was having quadruple bypass and a mitral valve replacement. He was also on dialysis, so he wasn't in very good shape. We had the opportunity to see the man be put under anesthesia before going into the room and even this was interesting to watch. We got to stand directly behind the patient's head, which gave us the opportunity to see everything that was happening. It was awesome!!! We saw them cut open the man's chest and saw through the sternum and the cartarize the bone and surrounding tissue. The smell from this wasn't too pleasant. While they were opening the man's chest, there was another surgeon who cut open the man's leg from just above the ankle to right below his knee in order to remove his saphenous veing to use as a source for the bypass grafts for his heart. I think it is amazing that they can do this. It was really cool to see how they spread his chest open and to watch them cut through the pericardium. When we first got a glimpse fo the beating heart it was incredible...one of the most amazing things I have seen for sure! They then put the heart on full bypass by connecting tubes to the inferior and superior vena cavae and drained the blood from the heart and area surrounding the heart to put it through extracorporeal circulation. Once the heart was on full bypass, it soon stopped beating. It was really really cool to see. The cardiologist, Dr. Mirow, then lifted up the heart to point out where the bypass grafts would be sewn. I really wish we had more time and that we didn't have to go to lunch because I would've loved to see the rest of the surgery!!
Seeing the artifical heart/LVAD unit was also really awesome. I didn't realize how large and heavy the pulsatile pumps were. There was a large size difference and weight difference between the axial flow and pulsatile flow LVADs. The gentleman who showed us his device and talked to us about it was really nice. I really enjoyed this part of the clinic. We also visited the intensive care unit for the LVAD patients. It was really sad to see them and hear how bad of shape they were all in. The MRI demonstration was very cool. I had seen MRI machines on television before, but I never realized how strong the magnetic field was that they created. The last thing we did was see MR images of diseased hearts. I liked that the doctor clearly explained what we were seeing and which areas of the hearts were diseased. I am really interested in the medical technology and I am looking forward to my BMEN classes that deal with medical instruments and imaging, especially after having a small introduction to the machines. Everything that we saw was incredibly interesting!!! I was extremely exhausted by the time that we got back to the hotel that night. This was without a doubt my favorite day by far!
I am so excited about medical school! I was really excited about going before this trip too, but I am much more confident that the medical field is where I want to be after everything that we have done. Learning about everything in much more detail in medical school will be awesome! The human body fascinates me!! And so do all of the medical advancements that have been made! It is incredible that devices exist to replace and assist the functions of organs, such as the heart. Reading Blood and Guts made me realize just how much medicine has advanced. It is all incredible!
These last few days will be great, but I feel like we are all pretty worn out by now so we will enjoy the free time that we have and all the time to relax. The opera will be really cool to see and I am excited about the medical walk around Vienna as well as the museums we will visit. It will be a good last few days! Vienna is a really pretty city and I've already enjoyed the time here.
I saw an open heart surgery!!!
Yesterday we went to Bad Oeynhausan and to the HDZ, the local hospital that specializes in cardio and throacic surgery. We were welcomed by Dr. Mirow and Frau Traut, and then led us to the big moment I had been waiting for this whole trip-- the open heart surgery! I scrubed out and observed a bypass surgery. It was amaying. The doctors were really nice and they let me stand like two feet away from the beating heart! I also watched the doctors cut out a vein from the patients leg to use in the bypass. That part was a little disgusting to watch, I must admit. At one point there were seven huge clamps (shaped like scissors) hanging off of the patient's leg. And the vein they cut off was really long! But anyways, I absolutely loved watching the surgery, with the beating heart and everything. The only problem that I had was my face mask, two hairnets, and thick scrubs were making me very, very hot, and the fact that I was already severly dehydrated from this trip in general, I felt like I was about to pass out. I excused myself, rushed to the dressing room and drank some water to recover. I waited about ten minutes before returning to the surgery. I had passed out from heat exhaustion before, so luckily I knew the signs that I was experiencing so it wouldn't turn into a bad experience! For the record, to get out of the surgery room I used the excuse that my back was hurting and I needed to sit down, which also was true as well, haha. I just didn't want to look like a wimp in front of all the professional doctors! One thing I do know though is that I do not want to do surgery. I just like watching it!
After the surgery, we toured the VAD ward and learned about the latest artificial hearts. We then toured the ICU where we saw patients that had been in the hospital for a couple months to several years! It was depressing. After that we went inside the MRI room! That was also one of my favorites. I got to see how strong the magnetic field of the machine was by pulling a sheet of aluminum away from it! Seeing as aluminum is non-magnetic, it was actually hard to pull it away! That turned out the be the final activity of the day and we headed back to Hannover. What a day. I will remember this forever!
After the surgery, we toured the VAD ward and learned about the latest artificial hearts. We then toured the ICU where we saw patients that had been in the hospital for a couple months to several years! It was depressing. After that we went inside the MRI room! That was also one of my favorites. I got to see how strong the magnetic field of the machine was by pulling a sheet of aluminum away from it! Seeing as aluminum is non-magnetic, it was actually hard to pull it away! That turned out the be the final activity of the day and we headed back to Hannover. What a day. I will remember this forever!
Amsterdam!
So I know this is a little late, but it has been a while since I have been on a computer. We arrived in Amerstdam around an hour or two later than we were supposed to because of a train delay, and then we checked in at our hostel, The Flying Pig. It was a party house! There was a bar in the first floor with lots of people, and our room was in the basement and it sort of looked like a prison, haha! But I didn't think it was that bad. The next day, we went to Anne Frank's house first, and that was absolutely moving. Very sad and special at the same time. There were quotes of Anne Frank all around the house that made you visualize the things that she was going through, and it just seems unreal... After that we went to the Van Gogh museum, which I thought was interesting, but I find it hard to appreciate art and understand paintings, so I tried to make the best of it. Then we had the Heineken experience and it was so much fun! I got a free bracelet as well as two free beers out of it! Later in the night we toured the red light district and it was very scandalous!!! We actually saw the ladies standing in the windows, advertising themselves and waiting for someone to walk through the door and buy them! It actually scared me! Then we called it a night and went to bed!
The next day we did not adventure much... Just walked around in a few stores, read some in a cafe while drinking coffee, watched some people play pool, and then went on the train back to Hannover. Overall, I would say that I liked Amersterdam a lot! I have a better outlook on it than most other people in our group. I just thought that you had to understand the culture more (since prostitution and marijuana are legal in Amsterdam, there was a lot of both around!) in order to enjoy the experience. Not that I approve of either or those things or engage in those activities myself, I'm just saying! But for the record, I really liked Amsterdam and thought it was a pretty cool place.
The next day we did not adventure much... Just walked around in a few stores, read some in a cafe while drinking coffee, watched some people play pool, and then went on the train back to Hannover. Overall, I would say that I liked Amersterdam a lot! I have a better outlook on it than most other people in our group. I just thought that you had to understand the culture more (since prostitution and marijuana are legal in Amsterdam, there was a lot of both around!) in order to enjoy the experience. Not that I approve of either or those things or engage in those activities myself, I'm just saying! But for the record, I really liked Amsterdam and thought it was a pretty cool place.
Goodbye Amsterdam, Hello Vienna!!
And it WAS an early one! We arrived in Vienna this morning, leaving Hannover sadly behind just as it seemed to be warming up a little bit. Even though it was an overcast day, Vienna is one of the most beautiful cities I have ever seen to date. We had a guided tour of the Vienna Museum, the Stephensdom today, learning about the history of the city, all the way back to Midevil times. The city used to be surrouded by a stone wall, which was knocked down many years ago, and is now a street called Ring Strasse. Very interesting city. We also visited the Catacombs of the Stephensdom, which holds the cript of Duke Rudolph IV (with his wife and family), and many of the past Cardinals. We also saw a few cripts (sort of 'community' cripts), that hold the bones of up to 11,000 civilians. It was really cool. I didn't think it was too creepy, but don't get me wrong, I wouldn't want to be down there in the catacombs alone!
This past weekend has also been pretty eventful. 14 of us went to Amsterdam for the second free weekend. We ended up staying in the Downtown Flying Pig Hostel (instead of the Uptown one like originally planned, because of renovations and such), which is located in the Red District. I'm not sure about everyone else, but I really didn't know what to expect. The room ended up being alright, but the atmosphere was just as crazy as I expected. When you get out of the dowtown area, though, Amsterdam is one of the nicest looking cities anywhere. There are canals running through it everywhere and the buildings are quaint and gorgeous. You can be walking in the Red Light District and then literally one minute later be on the most beautiful street in town. It's very strange.
I was very happy to have gone to the Anne Frank House. That was one of the most surreal places I have been on this trip, and the most moving. She was such an amazing girl at her young age, and under those kinds of circumstances. The saddest part of the entire museum was towards the end when there was a video of Otto Frank (her father), talking about surviving the war, finding out that his children were not coming home, and finally mustering the strength the read Anne's diary. It was heart breaking. No parent should ever have to go before their children. But that family's story is incredible to see and experience 'first hand.'
On a less serious note, a few of us had the Heineken Experience at the original brewery there is Amsterdam. It was a LOT of fun; very interactive, and free beer a couple of times throughout. Doesn't get much better than that.
After we returned to Hannover again, we visited Bad Oeynhausen for the day at the Heart and Diabetes Center there. Since I had already seen a surgery last friday, the other 12 students spent the morning at various types of heart surgeries. Me, Sarah, and Lauren Lewis had a couple of lectures and tours. First, we heard from a biologist about the effects that immunosupressive drugs can have on patients, specifically patients undergoing heart transplant surgeries. Sometimes the drugs can result in raised levels of serum creatine in the patients, which then causes kidney and liver failure. Very interesting stuff. Then we visited the transfusion part of the hospital, and got to see many centrifuges and other cool equipment that they use to test the blood, plasma, platelets, etc. The most interesting part of the day in my opinion, though, was the MRI lecture. Since my specialty within Biomedical Engineering will be Medical Imaging, seeing the machine up close and learning about how it works (breifly) was fascinating to me. It also got me thinking about Radiology again. For years I dreamed of going to Medical school and specializing in radiology, but over the past couple of years, I've kind of slipped away from that idea. Maybe this trip was just what I needed to get back to that mind set. :)
This past weekend has also been pretty eventful. 14 of us went to Amsterdam for the second free weekend. We ended up staying in the Downtown Flying Pig Hostel (instead of the Uptown one like originally planned, because of renovations and such), which is located in the Red District. I'm not sure about everyone else, but I really didn't know what to expect. The room ended up being alright, but the atmosphere was just as crazy as I expected. When you get out of the dowtown area, though, Amsterdam is one of the nicest looking cities anywhere. There are canals running through it everywhere and the buildings are quaint and gorgeous. You can be walking in the Red Light District and then literally one minute later be on the most beautiful street in town. It's very strange.
I was very happy to have gone to the Anne Frank House. That was one of the most surreal places I have been on this trip, and the most moving. She was such an amazing girl at her young age, and under those kinds of circumstances. The saddest part of the entire museum was towards the end when there was a video of Otto Frank (her father), talking about surviving the war, finding out that his children were not coming home, and finally mustering the strength the read Anne's diary. It was heart breaking. No parent should ever have to go before their children. But that family's story is incredible to see and experience 'first hand.'
On a less serious note, a few of us had the Heineken Experience at the original brewery there is Amsterdam. It was a LOT of fun; very interactive, and free beer a couple of times throughout. Doesn't get much better than that.
After we returned to Hannover again, we visited Bad Oeynhausen for the day at the Heart and Diabetes Center there. Since I had already seen a surgery last friday, the other 12 students spent the morning at various types of heart surgeries. Me, Sarah, and Lauren Lewis had a couple of lectures and tours. First, we heard from a biologist about the effects that immunosupressive drugs can have on patients, specifically patients undergoing heart transplant surgeries. Sometimes the drugs can result in raised levels of serum creatine in the patients, which then causes kidney and liver failure. Very interesting stuff. Then we visited the transfusion part of the hospital, and got to see many centrifuges and other cool equipment that they use to test the blood, plasma, platelets, etc. The most interesting part of the day in my opinion, though, was the MRI lecture. Since my specialty within Biomedical Engineering will be Medical Imaging, seeing the machine up close and learning about how it works (breifly) was fascinating to me. It also got me thinking about Radiology again. For years I dreamed of going to Medical school and specializing in radiology, but over the past couple of years, I've kind of slipped away from that idea. Maybe this trip was just what I needed to get back to that mind set. :)
Question? Question
This whole trip has been a whirlwind of knowledge, and for the most part, information about things that I have at least some general background on. I cannot leave here however without wishing that I was more inquisitive when the Q&A part of the tour, lecture, etc came around. Most of the time I am just baffled by the information I had received that I don't even know where to begin asking questions! I know this is something I need to work on if I want to be a true scientist...a late New Year Resolution perhaps?
P.S. Tramp stamp in the U.S.=A$$ antlers in Germany but don't use the phrase lightly! :)
P.S. Tramp stamp in the U.S.=A$$ antlers in Germany but don't use the phrase lightly! :)
Things I have learned about myself...
Hey there upper East Siders,
So, since I have been abroad and roaming the train tracks of Germany and it's neighboring countries, there are several things I have learned about myself.
I now know that I can handle a human surgery. Ever since I was young I knew I loved animals and wanted to be a vet therefore never really considered human medicine. This whole time I thought I wouldn't be able to be a M.D. because I thought I would "feel the pain", but now I know that's not true thanks to the lovely Dr. Schmitto! :) (That's for you Michelle!) Although this fact might be a little late in preparing for my future career, but who knows, I may someday be a heart surgeon because what I saw in that O.R. had a much greater impact on my perspective of medicine and surgery than any vet. surgery I have witnessed.
I have also learned that my shoe collection needs some European help and Amsterdam is not my favorite city...but I must give Amanda the computer now so ttyl!
xoxo GG
So, since I have been abroad and roaming the train tracks of Germany and it's neighboring countries, there are several things I have learned about myself.
I now know that I can handle a human surgery. Ever since I was young I knew I loved animals and wanted to be a vet therefore never really considered human medicine. This whole time I thought I wouldn't be able to be a M.D. because I thought I would "feel the pain", but now I know that's not true thanks to the lovely Dr. Schmitto! :) (That's for you Michelle!) Although this fact might be a little late in preparing for my future career, but who knows, I may someday be a heart surgeon because what I saw in that O.R. had a much greater impact on my perspective of medicine and surgery than any vet. surgery I have witnessed.
I have also learned that my shoe collection needs some European help and Amsterdam is not my favorite city...but I must give Amanda the computer now so ttyl!
xoxo GG
Universitätsmedizin Göttingen: Klinik und Poliklinik für Thorax-Herz und Gefäßchirurgie, Altstadt Göttingen Medical tour.... oh, and Amsterdam
Day trip to Göttingen. Very very awesome trip to the University clinic. We concentrated mainly on the areas of cardiology and cardio-thoracic surgery which are by themselves of interest to me. We met Dr. Jan Schmitto and the director of the department whose name I could not get... sorry again. We got a little run through history, back to the Egyptians and the weight of your heart, which determined your afterlife, the Aztecs and their sacrifices, and finally we came to today.
Cardiac surgery could not be possible without a extra corporeal circulation, and in fact, the heart was rarely touched by surgeons in the old times. We got a little overview of the procedures done today, for instance:
1.) Valve prostheses
2.) Coronary revascularization
3.) Cardiac Transplantation, and
4.) Treatment for Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy.
The first surgery of the heart was performed by a fellow named Walt Lillehei in 1954. In Göttingen, the first surgery was the closure of an atrial communication in 1956. Before the invention of the EC circulation machines, a technique called cross-circulation was used in children. Basically, one of their parents served as the EC 'machine'! In 1955, Mayo clinic developed the first heart-lung machine and with the advent of anesthesia, the understanding of heart phisiology, involvement of cardiology and better intensive care, heart operations were a dream come true!
There are many procedures that can be done today. There are also several machines that can prolong the lives of patients awaiting a transplant. These machines, or assist devices, are portable and can have either a rotational or a linear flow mechanism. The goal today is to better understand all this and develop newer methods and machines. That is why we need young researchers, new ideas, and intelligent design.
The hospital has 4 wards, 1100 EC circulation operations are performed each year, as well as 400 vascular and thoracic operations. There are 28 ORs for every specialty! We visited the ER, and got to see a new arrival pass by. It was a glimpse of real life! Some of us saw a bypass (revascularization) surgery and then we all went with Dr. Schmitto to see the animal research facilities and ORs. The animals are used to research heart failure. The doctors can induce this heart failure using several methods. The one Dr. Schmitto used involved microbeads that block segments of the coronaries in sheep. then the results are analyzed.
After our visit, we walked to a place where we began a small medical tour of the city. Aside from pointing out that half of us froze, it was interesting. Göttingen lies amongst one of the oldest trading routes in Europe. It has the oldest pharmacies around. For instance, the Universitäs-Apotheke was founded to bring doctors to teach at the University as part of an insurance program. At the same time, the Raths Apotheke had been there since 1332. The apothekes were founded when doctors (at the time monks, but later layspeople) could no longer make their own remedies (early 1200s). Medicine at the universität became modern in 5 ways: It became theoretical, practical, focused on biology, anatomy and chemistry. We visited a bathouse... which disproved our misconception that people in the Middle Ages were dirty folk! Well, at least until syphilis came around, a bathouse was a fun place... then they became a bit more private (no more mixed bathing :( ) Our last stops were in the first maternity hospital which was modern for its day with air circulation, semi-private rooms and good care. Next we saw Friedrich Wähler's statue. He was the first to synthesize urea. Finally, we stopped at a building with a plaque commemorating Johann Andreas Eisenbarth, a barber (surgeon) who was among the best of their kind, but was heavily criticized by colleages who made him seem like a brute.
Few notes on Amsterdam.... overpowering smell of Cannabis sativa, lots of sex shops, and the 'window shopping' on the Red Light district is true. On more positive notes, the Anne Frank Huis (House) "a museum with a story" was a worthwile visit, just seeing how they lived and the bravery of Otto Frank for opening it sends shivers down my spine. I saw the original diary of Annelise Marie Sara Frank (her full name), and the real bookcase door! To know that they were betrayed, arrested and separated is a very moving thing. Anne Frank died on March 31st, 1945, at the age of 16. The Van Gogh museum was equally amazing. It had what I consider his two most renouned works his Self Portrait as an Artist and Wheatfield with Crows. I also learned that he pressumably suffered from a rare epilepsy which caused manic mood swings during which he cut off a piece of his left earlobe (the famous Van Gogh's ear) and that he comitted suicide.
To close this blog, consider this quote:
Cardiac surgery could not be possible without a extra corporeal circulation, and in fact, the heart was rarely touched by surgeons in the old times. We got a little overview of the procedures done today, for instance:
1.) Valve prostheses
2.) Coronary revascularization
3.) Cardiac Transplantation, and
4.) Treatment for Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy.
The first surgery of the heart was performed by a fellow named Walt Lillehei in 1954. In Göttingen, the first surgery was the closure of an atrial communication in 1956. Before the invention of the EC circulation machines, a technique called cross-circulation was used in children. Basically, one of their parents served as the EC 'machine'! In 1955, Mayo clinic developed the first heart-lung machine and with the advent of anesthesia, the understanding of heart phisiology, involvement of cardiology and better intensive care, heart operations were a dream come true!
There are many procedures that can be done today. There are also several machines that can prolong the lives of patients awaiting a transplant. These machines, or assist devices, are portable and can have either a rotational or a linear flow mechanism. The goal today is to better understand all this and develop newer methods and machines. That is why we need young researchers, new ideas, and intelligent design.
The hospital has 4 wards, 1100 EC circulation operations are performed each year, as well as 400 vascular and thoracic operations. There are 28 ORs for every specialty! We visited the ER, and got to see a new arrival pass by. It was a glimpse of real life! Some of us saw a bypass (revascularization) surgery and then we all went with Dr. Schmitto to see the animal research facilities and ORs. The animals are used to research heart failure. The doctors can induce this heart failure using several methods. The one Dr. Schmitto used involved microbeads that block segments of the coronaries in sheep. then the results are analyzed.
After our visit, we walked to a place where we began a small medical tour of the city. Aside from pointing out that half of us froze, it was interesting. Göttingen lies amongst one of the oldest trading routes in Europe. It has the oldest pharmacies around. For instance, the Universitäs-Apotheke was founded to bring doctors to teach at the University as part of an insurance program. At the same time, the Raths Apotheke had been there since 1332. The apothekes were founded when doctors (at the time monks, but later layspeople) could no longer make their own remedies (early 1200s). Medicine at the universität became modern in 5 ways: It became theoretical, practical, focused on biology, anatomy and chemistry. We visited a bathouse... which disproved our misconception that people in the Middle Ages were dirty folk! Well, at least until syphilis came around, a bathouse was a fun place... then they became a bit more private (no more mixed bathing :( ) Our last stops were in the first maternity hospital which was modern for its day with air circulation, semi-private rooms and good care. Next we saw Friedrich Wähler's statue. He was the first to synthesize urea. Finally, we stopped at a building with a plaque commemorating Johann Andreas Eisenbarth, a barber (surgeon) who was among the best of their kind, but was heavily criticized by colleages who made him seem like a brute.
Few notes on Amsterdam.... overpowering smell of Cannabis sativa, lots of sex shops, and the 'window shopping' on the Red Light district is true. On more positive notes, the Anne Frank Huis (House) "a museum with a story" was a worthwile visit, just seeing how they lived and the bravery of Otto Frank for opening it sends shivers down my spine. I saw the original diary of Annelise Marie Sara Frank (her full name), and the real bookcase door! To know that they were betrayed, arrested and separated is a very moving thing. Anne Frank died on March 31st, 1945, at the age of 16. The Van Gogh museum was equally amazing. It had what I consider his two most renouned works his Self Portrait as an Artist and Wheatfield with Crows. I also learned that he pressumably suffered from a rare epilepsy which caused manic mood swings during which he cut off a piece of his left earlobe (the famous Van Gogh's ear) and that he comitted suicide.
To close this blog, consider this quote:
"To build up a future you have to know the past"
~Otto Frank
You got one shot
Monday in Bad Oeynhausen may have been the best day by far on the trip. I didn't think I would be bale to handle being in an OR room since blood isn't really my thing, but when in my life would I be given another opportunity? So I sucked it up, scrubbed up (which I wanted to take pictures of) and went in. Jared, Brian, and I witnessed an aortic valve replacement. At first it was hard since I'm short and the curtain came really high so I got a calf workout and it was worth it. The doctor finished the operation in under an hour, and made it look so easy. They placed a mechanical valve with two flaps in the heart. The doctors were also really nice to explain what they were doing in English so we could fully understand what was going on. After lunch we toured ICE and got to play with an MRI Machine, which was a lot of fun. Today we woke up at an ungodly hour to travel to Vienna where we will finish our travels. (scary thought)
Brian Gibson and the Love Gloves
Friday we went to the Gottingen clinic. Dr. Jan Schmitto gave us a presentation on a brief history of heart surgery and the different types of surgery and the use of animal models to research heart failure. I really learned a lot about the current heart operations and terminology which came in handy Monday in Bad Oeynhausen. After lunch we went on a medical history walk through the town. I was excited to see the Royal University Pharmacy and the oldest pharmacy in town. It was also cool to hear the stories of how the old pharmacies had to work.
Friday night was the beginning of an adventerous weekend. I have a friend who has been to Amsterdam and he said I'd be fine as long as I avoided the Red Light District at night. So I was nervous arriving around 1 AM in a seedy part of town, but it really wasn't that bad. Saturday we saw the Anne Frank House, which was such a great museum. Then the Van Gogh museum and the Heineken Experience, which was by far my favorite part of Amsterdam, even though I don't like beer. Saturday night I found my true calling in life, playing pool. (total joke) but it was still fun. All in all, it was a great weekend and I'm so glad we went to Amsterdam.
Friday night was the beginning of an adventerous weekend. I have a friend who has been to Amsterdam and he said I'd be fine as long as I avoided the Red Light District at night. So I was nervous arriving around 1 AM in a seedy part of town, but it really wasn't that bad. Saturday we saw the Anne Frank House, which was such a great museum. Then the Van Gogh museum and the Heineken Experience, which was by far my favorite part of Amsterdam, even though I don't like beer. Saturday night I found my true calling in life, playing pool. (total joke) but it was still fun. All in all, it was a great weekend and I'm so glad we went to Amsterdam.
Jus Jon 9
Today, I have arrived in Vienna, but I would like to talk about the day after the Amsterdam night out. Surprisingly, I awoke with more energz than I had the day before. I awoke with everybody else and checked out of the Hostel. We ended up going to a book store in the city, walking around the city shopping, and then going to chillout for a little while before the train ride. Me and 4 others went to go play Pool for about 2 hours for 10,50 Euros an hour. It was reallz fun. I haven't played Pool in some years, but I thought I did prettz good. After a while, we boarded the train and went back to Hannover. In my opinion, Amsterdam was the stuff. I liked the city a lot because people in the city minded their own business, there were many different lifestyles one could live withut being judged or crucified for it, the people were nice and helpful, and there is a significan nightlife, which I experienced first hand. The thing that I found to be the most interesting about the lifestyle scene was the gay lifestyle. I noticed that there were manz gay friendly places all around teh city with the gay flag on them like bars, clubs, and shops. I alson noticed that the city didn't seem to be really homophobic at all. If anything, the city welcomed gay people. Gay people were welcomed to go into any building of the city that they wanted to go to. I also noticed that at the clubs, gay people hungout and danced with their partners and nobody found if offensive or made a big fus about it. People didn't even look at them wierd. They just blended in with everybody, which I thought was cool because in the states, gay people get wierd looks from people, and are even gay bashed sometimes. This aspect of Amsterdam, social tolerance and equality, is what I enjoyed and liked the most about Amsterdam. Here, you can be whoever and whatever you want to be.
Next Time You're Near Bad Oeynhausen, You Should Stop By...
...because you might get to see someone's heart beating in the middle of their chest. We visited the heart and diabetes center in Bad Oeynhausen, and oh, the things we saw! We began by watching open heart surgeries. Amanda and I saw the last half of one bypass and the beginning of another. It was fascinating to see. We also saw the ward they have for patients with artificial hearts. In Germany, the wait for an organ is typically much longer that it is in America, so there is a much larger market for devices that can keep a person well until a new heart is available. We got a chance to meet some of the patients. They were even kind enough to show us the wires coming out of them and into their battery packs. From there we went to see their MRI machine. The radiologist showed us a few tricks that can be done with a 1.5 T magnet. Overall the experience was thrilling. Seeing these professionals and the passion they have... well, it's contagious. Whatever area of medicine--no, whatever sort of career--I end up in, I hope I can be as dorky about it as these guys are about they're work.
Today was day one in Vienna, and it is a terrific city. The place itself is beautiful, and it has a rich and long history. Some of the stories of besieged Vienna seem strangely similar to certain scenes in the Lord of the Rings trilogy... but never mind. Vienna has been attacked several times by the Turks throughout its history, making it feel as if Vienna has been both the center and the fringe of European civilization. I can't wait to see and learn more about Vienna in the next few days.
PS: As an afterthought, I'll share my personal advice on Amsterdam. Make it a day trip.
Today was day one in Vienna, and it is a terrific city. The place itself is beautiful, and it has a rich and long history. Some of the stories of besieged Vienna seem strangely similar to certain scenes in the Lord of the Rings trilogy... but never mind. Vienna has been attacked several times by the Turks throughout its history, making it feel as if Vienna has been both the center and the fringe of European civilization. I can't wait to see and learn more about Vienna in the next few days.
PS: As an afterthought, I'll share my personal advice on Amsterdam. Make it a day trip.
Monday, January 12, 2009
Hooray Vienna
During the free time in the Netherlands this weekend I realized that there is more than meets the eye about Amsterdam. The connotations of Amsterdam are always that of the red light district (prostitutes, marijuana, etc.) but little to my knowledge there was a ton of culture. Besides the small couple blocks of the red light district, the city is flowing in culture. The Anne Frank house was a great exhibit with great quotes extracted straight out of her diary. The power of being in the house where they actually hid was sobering and thought provoking. It always brings up the same questions in my mind, would I be one of the people who hid the Jews to the end or would I turn them in. Of course everyone says they would be the second choice, it would be interesting to truly see how people would act in that situation. At the end of the exhibit there was an interactive poll with similar ethical dilemmas in our time. This was fun to see how people actually thought on specific issues such as gay marriage, religious freedom, and freedom of press.
The other exhibit that I saw in Amsterdam was the Van Gogh collection. I tried extra hard to appreciate the art this time. Reading every piece of information on his life was beneficial to understand how he is painting certain pieces and how they can be interpreted. Personally, my favorite time period of the Van Gogh collection was during 1885 when he just started painting. He takes interest in the same people that thrill me in literature, the peasants. The way he paints the faces with remorse and sorrow is comparable to a lot of the characters described by my favorite short story writer Anton Chekov. This made the entire exhibit more beautiful to me because of his paintings putting a face on the people that I often imagine.
The whole trip was not just one big nerd fest; the final event of our Saturday was hitting up the Heineken Museum and experiencing the magic of beer brewing. It was a grown up theme park, and the theme was delicious beer. The entire processing of choosing the best ingredients possible is noticeable in the crisp, clear bite so familiar to followers of the Heineken. There was an interactive ride that would show you on a screen how it feels to be a beer made in the factory. The thing that took me by surprise was the way the beer is heated and allowed to cool so many times. Free beer at the end of the tour was the cherry on top of a great day.
I am looking forward to get back into the swing of things again by learning more about the relationship between man and the human body. The sights and sounds so far have been insanely great and worth every penny.
The other exhibit that I saw in Amsterdam was the Van Gogh collection. I tried extra hard to appreciate the art this time. Reading every piece of information on his life was beneficial to understand how he is painting certain pieces and how they can be interpreted. Personally, my favorite time period of the Van Gogh collection was during 1885 when he just started painting. He takes interest in the same people that thrill me in literature, the peasants. The way he paints the faces with remorse and sorrow is comparable to a lot of the characters described by my favorite short story writer Anton Chekov. This made the entire exhibit more beautiful to me because of his paintings putting a face on the people that I often imagine.
The whole trip was not just one big nerd fest; the final event of our Saturday was hitting up the Heineken Museum and experiencing the magic of beer brewing. It was a grown up theme park, and the theme was delicious beer. The entire processing of choosing the best ingredients possible is noticeable in the crisp, clear bite so familiar to followers of the Heineken. There was an interactive ride that would show you on a screen how it feels to be a beer made in the factory. The thing that took me by surprise was the way the beer is heated and allowed to cool so many times. Free beer at the end of the tour was the cherry on top of a great day.
I am looking forward to get back into the swing of things again by learning more about the relationship between man and the human body. The sights and sounds so far have been insanely great and worth every penny.
Dear Diary
Just kidding! But I have resorted back to paraphrasing some of my journal entries for my blogging. It's just easier! The first thing that comes to my attention is the insurance and public healthcare system in Germany, and how it is so completely different from the US. Since we've talked about it on several occasions, I think I've gotten the gist of the main differences. Jonathan posed the question today of how the US would be able to change their system, and our attending doctor said that it would take *alot* of money, and social reform. Americans would have to change the way they think about the distribution of healthcare and insurance, and we would also have to consider the drop in salary of doctors that would result. At this point in time, that kind of change in the US seems impossible, but who knows, maybe we will end up closer to Germany's system in the future! Another really interesting thing from our previous lectures is Dr. Witt's lecture on complementary and alternative medicine. Her explanation of the placebo theory was fascinating! I'd never heard of that before. That a patient with higher expectations of therapy will respond much better to the treatment than one who has lower expectations is something that surprises me. I think this is because I have not ever studied alternative or homeopathic type remedies before, so it's a little hard for me to wrap my mind around these fields of medicine. Definitely the BEST part of this trip so far was the operation that I got to see today! It was the first surgery that I've ever watched in the OR, and getting to watch an open heart bypass was amazing. We didn't get to watch the operation all the way through, but the parts we did see were so... awesome. That's not the best word, but I can't think of a better word for that right now. Seeing a heart beating in someone's chest and being operated on was so neat!! Ok, people are in line for the computer, I will write again later! Guten Nacht!
YahhhhhHHHooo!
Today we went to the Heart and Diabetes Center. I enjoyed learning about VADS and getting to see the plastic hearts they put in people. Dr. Milting explained the mechanisms and how the imunosuppresing drugs can possibly cause kidney failure. We also got a tour of the blood transfusion center. I can't be;ive over 10,000 peple donateblood per year. It was really cool to get a personalized tour of the ICU. The doctor let us talk with some of the patients and most were willing to share their operation stories. An older man even lifted his shirt for all of us to see his VAD. He said it didnt bother him at all and although the battery pack was annoying at times, he was just grateful to be alive and kickin! Our walk throught the ICU made me realize how lucky i am to be healthy and of course happy. The MRI was so powerful and crazy how we could bend a hanger. Im still curous about the health side effects though from all that magnetic force. I think the best part for me today was at the end when we saw clips of hearts with malfunctioins on the power point.
Sunday, January 11, 2009
Clinical visits
OK so now I am in Vienna after a long and painful day. I will get to that later though. When I left off in my last blog I believe I was getting to the days spent visiting the clinics in Hannover at MHH and in Göttingen. On the 1st trip to the MHH we where givin a short history of the health insurance in Germany. Afterwards we where givin a tour of the Nephrology department, the labs in the hospital and the dialysis wing. In the dialysis wing we where able to feel the shunt of one of the patients, it vibrated due to the dialysis process that was going on. After we met back up with the vet students we where givin a tour of the Hannover zoo by the head veterinarian. Since we where with him, he gave us access to the 'backstage' areas of some of the exhibits. We visited the hippos (where I accidentally dropped my battery in the water), fed the rhinos some bananas, and watched some chimps freak out over seeing the veterinarian. There was one who I thought was going to throw a piece of cardboard straight at our heads! After visiting the animals we rode on the luge ride set up for the winter, then had some good laughs watching a few from our group skate. That evening we had a nice german dinner with the medical and vet students, at their frat house, who showed us aroung the TIHO and MHH.
The next day we where supposed to get a tour of the research facilities of the MHH. Unfortunately my kidney stone decided that it had enough of walking around and gave me severe pains soon after arriving at the facilities. Steffi was nice enough to get me back to the hotel so I could spend the rest of the day sleeping my pain off. That evening I was feeling a little better and was able to eat something for dinner, but I crashed into bed soon afterwards.
The last day of our second week in Germany was spent in Göttingen. In the morning we where givin a tour of the University clinics and the vet students where able to watch part of a bypass surgery. That afternoon was spent getting a medical history tour of Göttingen starting at the original university and university apotheke. I really enjoyed the walk throught he town, even though it was really cold and my stone was giving me pain, I was able to make it through without to much trouble though. My favorite part of that day was getting to travel to Hanau and visit with my Aunt Ingred.
The second free weekend I spent relaxing at my aunts house and getting to feel better. It was kind of funny because she was sick also, so we where quite a pair this past weekend. But other that her being sick, I really ejoyed my time with her. She gave me a short tour of the city, showing me the refugee camp that her and my grandmother lived after their escape from the DDR. I also saw the place where my grandfather was stationed and where my grandparents where married. Their civil cerimony was carried out at the palace in Hanau (I can't remember the name right now). As I left she told me I would have to come back to visit her in the summer and attend the Brothers Grimm festival held in the palace park. I fully intend to take her up on that offer the summer after my senior year. Overall my second week in Germany went pretty well.
The next day we where supposed to get a tour of the research facilities of the MHH. Unfortunately my kidney stone decided that it had enough of walking around and gave me severe pains soon after arriving at the facilities. Steffi was nice enough to get me back to the hotel so I could spend the rest of the day sleeping my pain off. That evening I was feeling a little better and was able to eat something for dinner, but I crashed into bed soon afterwards.
The last day of our second week in Germany was spent in Göttingen. In the morning we where givin a tour of the University clinics and the vet students where able to watch part of a bypass surgery. That afternoon was spent getting a medical history tour of Göttingen starting at the original university and university apotheke. I really enjoyed the walk throught he town, even though it was really cold and my stone was giving me pain, I was able to make it through without to much trouble though. My favorite part of that day was getting to travel to Hanau and visit with my Aunt Ingred.
The second free weekend I spent relaxing at my aunts house and getting to feel better. It was kind of funny because she was sick also, so we where quite a pair this past weekend. But other that her being sick, I really ejoyed my time with her. She gave me a short tour of the city, showing me the refugee camp that her and my grandmother lived after their escape from the DDR. I also saw the place where my grandfather was stationed and where my grandparents where married. Their civil cerimony was carried out at the palace in Hanau (I can't remember the name right now). As I left she told me I would have to come back to visit her in the summer and attend the Brothers Grimm festival held in the palace park. I fully intend to take her up on that offer the summer after my senior year. Overall my second week in Germany went pretty well.
It's been to long......
I have waited way to long to write this blog. There is alot I have done since the last time I wrote. The short version is we visted Dresden on the 3rd, I got to have 2 days in Berlin to myself, and on the 6th we traveled to Hannover. The 7th, 8th, and 9th we spent visiting clinics and research facilities in Hannover and Göttingen. Ok now for the long version....
In Dresden we watched a movie about the protastant chruch there called the Church of Our Lady. I found it very interesting that the church was left as a rubble pile until after the wall fell. What was amazing to me was the support the town gave to the ressurection of the church to its original state before the war. The inside of the church is beautifully decorated in pastels and gold leaf, I would not mind going to church in that kind of setting. Later that day we visited teh German Hygiene museum, which features many interactive rooms devoted to the human body. We separated into groups of three and where givin the task of describing one room to the rest of the group. I don't know about anyone else, but I was nervous. Public speaking ranks up very high on my list of things I don't like, its right behind reptiles (and anyone who knows me knows thats high on my list). Once we finished at the museum, the Praugians left and Jared, Bian, Will, John and I went back to Berlin with Steffi and Dr. Wasser.
For our first free weekend I visited some of the museums in Berlin. I was very proud of myself for not getting lost on my way around town, I must admit that I am not a big fan of cities, but I really enjoyed my time in Berlin. The first day alone went pretty good until I went to look for a cafe, now this might sound strange but I looked for a good hour and could not find one! Did I mention it was snowing this entire time, so by the time I found one I was covered in water and my bag was soaked. I finally found one and was looking forward to some great hot chocolate, but I was to be disappointed. I think I found the only place in Berlin that had bad hot chocolate. Oh well, my next day proceeded to be much better. I was able to see the bust of Nefertiti, the DDR museum and Checkpoint Charlie. I was also able to find ( with Steffi's directions) a book store that sold some books in english. I was much in need of a new book since I had finished Blood and Guts the day before.
Our second week started on Tuesday, we checked out of the hotel in the morning and had the pleasure of lugging our bags to teh train station where, thankfully, we were able to drop them off in a group area. We visited the Charite museum and were givin a tour of the exhibits. I found the most interesting to be the specimins of diseased organs. It was pretty neat to see the effects of various diseases on the inside of the human body. After the tour Dr. Wasser gave a lecture in what looked to be the old anatomy theater of the Charite. We also had a lecture on complementary medicine givin by Frau Prof. Dr. Witt at the Charite. It seems that our guest lectures are moving from homeopathy to conventional medicine in steps. though I do not see any other guest lectures scheduled for our trip. That evening we travelled by train to Hannover and checked into our hotel. I really like the rooms in this hotel because thay are very big and I get gummi bears on my pillow! On a side note I believe that the keyboards here are messing with my ability to spell correctly. I have had to go back and fix so many words in just this one blog.
Speaking of this blog it seems to have got very long. I think I will finish the second week up later when I get back to Hannover. Now I will go to spend some time with my Aunt Ingred.
In Dresden we watched a movie about the protastant chruch there called the Church of Our Lady. I found it very interesting that the church was left as a rubble pile until after the wall fell. What was amazing to me was the support the town gave to the ressurection of the church to its original state before the war. The inside of the church is beautifully decorated in pastels and gold leaf, I would not mind going to church in that kind of setting. Later that day we visited teh German Hygiene museum, which features many interactive rooms devoted to the human body. We separated into groups of three and where givin the task of describing one room to the rest of the group. I don't know about anyone else, but I was nervous. Public speaking ranks up very high on my list of things I don't like, its right behind reptiles (and anyone who knows me knows thats high on my list). Once we finished at the museum, the Praugians left and Jared, Bian, Will, John and I went back to Berlin with Steffi and Dr. Wasser.
For our first free weekend I visited some of the museums in Berlin. I was very proud of myself for not getting lost on my way around town, I must admit that I am not a big fan of cities, but I really enjoyed my time in Berlin. The first day alone went pretty good until I went to look for a cafe, now this might sound strange but I looked for a good hour and could not find one! Did I mention it was snowing this entire time, so by the time I found one I was covered in water and my bag was soaked. I finally found one and was looking forward to some great hot chocolate, but I was to be disappointed. I think I found the only place in Berlin that had bad hot chocolate. Oh well, my next day proceeded to be much better. I was able to see the bust of Nefertiti, the DDR museum and Checkpoint Charlie. I was also able to find ( with Steffi's directions) a book store that sold some books in english. I was much in need of a new book since I had finished Blood and Guts the day before.
Our second week started on Tuesday, we checked out of the hotel in the morning and had the pleasure of lugging our bags to teh train station where, thankfully, we were able to drop them off in a group area. We visited the Charite museum and were givin a tour of the exhibits. I found the most interesting to be the specimins of diseased organs. It was pretty neat to see the effects of various diseases on the inside of the human body. After the tour Dr. Wasser gave a lecture in what looked to be the old anatomy theater of the Charite. We also had a lecture on complementary medicine givin by Frau Prof. Dr. Witt at the Charite. It seems that our guest lectures are moving from homeopathy to conventional medicine in steps. though I do not see any other guest lectures scheduled for our trip. That evening we travelled by train to Hannover and checked into our hotel. I really like the rooms in this hotel because thay are very big and I get gummi bears on my pillow! On a side note I believe that the keyboards here are messing with my ability to spell correctly. I have had to go back and fix so many words in just this one blog.
Speaking of this blog it seems to have got very long. I think I will finish the second week up later when I get back to Hannover. Now I will go to spend some time with my Aunt Ingred.
Saturday, January 10, 2009
Jus' Jon 8
Hello. I know that it's like 5 in the morning, but what the heck. I just got back from having the time of my life. Ok, this is how it went down. I started the day off with a few of the students from the group. We went to see the Van Goya Museum. (Excuse me for not spelling Go right, I just don't know how to spell it. Really, I really don't. If someone could hook me up with the right way to spell the word, I wouldn't mind). From here, we went and took a little tour of the city, museums, and food places. Who ever said McDonald's was nasty in Europe was so wrong (my opinion only). I had the best Quarter Pounder with Medium Fries there. It was the best meal I had ever had from McDonald's. Even in the U.S. From here, I spent some time with Jared and Catherine playing cards and an intense game of Checkers. I had a great time playing Jared. The guy got game. After this, we went to look for a nice place to hang out, and we found one. The Hostle. It was the place to be, but I wanted to do something extra. So, I left the group and went in search of the city. I stopped by a bar to have a drink which was so cheap. It was an Irish Pub and the bar tender was so nice to me. She talked to me and even told me where it was happenin' in the city if you know what I mean. Even the people in the bar were nice to me. Anyway's, I ended up, through the bar tender, getting a map of the city and the hot spots and this nice, beautiful lady offered, willingly, to take me along with her around the city to see the sites and go to a few nice bars. So, I ended up hanging out with this lady for 5 hours. We ended up bar and club hopping. Let me tell you ladies and gentlemen, I had the best time of my life. First, we went for a few drinks and talked a little bit. We got to know each other and everything. Then, we went to the Red Light District. True, there are those ladies in the window, but she told me that the Red Light District isn't just a "shady" district. She told me that it's where a lot of nice clubs and bars are. She told me that it was a European thing. I believe her because everybody we passed didn't seem to mind the ladies in the window. From here, she treated me to drinks. Can you believe that, a lady for the first time in my life treated me to drinks. I enjoyed every minute of it. For like one of the few times, she didn't notice my birth mark or even ditch me. She showed me around the town and she even told me the best places to go in town. After hitting up a few bars and pubs and seeing a Boston Celtics vs Cleveland Cavaliers game, we went to the club. At this club, it was disco night and boy you better believe that I got down like it was nobodies business. I buggied like it was 1976. I had on my jeans and I was doin' me. I was jamming like Michael Jackson in Thriller. Even the lady danced with me. For the first time, people didn't stare at me in the club like I was a broke neck chicken. They didn't even care who or what was dancing. Everybody seemed to be doing them and having fun. Then, I was to do a charioky (excuse my spelling). Boy did I get popular in that club. The "DJ", the lady I was with, the guy trying to hit on her, and all the other guys around the stage were saying do it. I was to sing Marvin Gaye's, "I Heard It to The Great Vine." I became so popular, the guys were even buying me drinks just for going on stage and singing. That may sound creepy, but I have never had a guy buy me drinks. It was coo though. I wasn't trippin'. So, we ended up dancing for about 2 hours, then right before me and the nice lady were to sing on stage, we left because the club was closing. Who closes at 4am in the morning right before I'm about to go on stage and sing with the nice lady. Well, they did. But that was coo anyway because we ended up going to the San Francisco. This place was the stuff. I got so many looks that I felt like Rihanna on the red carpet. I found out it was because all of those people were from the club where I was going to sing with the nice lady at. It turns out that most of the people in the club thought I brought the most beautiful young lady to the club. Even though the truth is that she bought me to the club. I was honered. Everybody was hitting on her, but she just shook them off. I felt cool. No girl has ever turned other guys down when with me. I usually end up walking home alone. She made sure that I got back safely. In all honesty, I didn't expect the night in Amsterdam to turn out like this, but it did and I enjoyed it a lot. Thanks young lady for not leaving me in the city by myself. Thanks for helping me out and showing me the best time in Amsterdam ever.
Also, I would like to apologize and say sorry to Brian, Jared, Will, and Catherine for not calling and letting yall know where I was. I am very sorry.
J'J8 night was the shiz nizzle my wizzles.
Also, I would like to apologize and say sorry to Brian, Jared, Will, and Catherine for not calling and letting yall know where I was. I am very sorry.
J'J8 night was the shiz nizzle my wizzles.
Nüremberg Ärtzprozess and Hannover Medical school animal research facilities
We had the most interesting lecture in Hannover: The one we all waited for, I think. It was at the veterinary school anatomy amphitheater, and it dealt with a topic that all doctors should hold dear when it comes to expements: The Nüremberg Doctors trial.
It all began with the an offshoot of social Darwinism known as the eugenics movement. Accroding to this model, social 'misfits' were not to be considered a part of society and the church's involvement in helping the poor was not to be tolerated. In the eugenics mindset survival of the fittest, or rather the best race was the only thing. Poor people and sick, olr, or mentally challenged patients had no role in society but to be a burden to the evolution of the better race. The offspin of this movement lead to the T-4 program, previously discussed. During the Nazizeit (Nazi era), the T-4 doctors and scientists collaborated with the Hitler regime to organize the concentration camps and find an efficient way to kill people. This, as we all know culminated in the 'Final solution to the Jewish problem.'
After the war, Nüremberg was chosen as the site for the trials of the major war criminals, Nazi officers that survived the war. This was because Nüremberg was the city of the Nazi convention, it was therefore symbolical to hold the trials there. They were tried by the 4 allied nations, and many sentenced to death or to long - though often not fully served - prison terms. The idea the allies had was to prevent another Nazizeit. The Ärtzeprozess, or Doctor's trial, was only judged by the United States as were the other 10 subsequent trials. It was difficult to conduct because there was, and really still there is not, a clear definition for 'crime against humanity.' Many of the accused were doing their jobs, and by consequence were not guilty by their standards. The tials began on October 25th, 1946 and the trial was kept as fair as possible. Medical experts came in and testified, while some like Dr. Leo Alexander had interrogated survivors in order to establish that SS Doctors had indeed overstepped the boundaries. Some examples of these ways include: testing effects of high altitude, high temperatures, poisons, malaria, typhus, sterilization, and gassing among others. The result of the trials was conviction of many doctors and the establishment of the Nüremberg Code for human experimentation. This Code was a set of 10 rules, among them informed consent and the option to opt out of an experiment at any time. The sad part is that today, a violation of the Hippocratic oath or the Nüremberg Code is not really considered a crime.
The second part of this blog deals with our visit to the Hannover Medical School's animal research facilities. Hannover Med school is the #1 in Germany for receiving grant money and the #3 ranked school in the country. We saw the cages for sheep used in heart valve replacement operations, some pigs used in allogenic transplantation (non-immunocompatible hosts) and lots and lots of mice cages... about 35,000 of them. We saw the transgenic super sterile 'germ-free' mice bubble cages, and we walked into a Level 2 handling facility where everything that goes in is either autoclaved and the people have to wear sterile overclothes and shoe covers. We saw the state of the art ORs used for these animals and I must say they are well equipped.
After our visit we did laundry (finally!!!) and I welcomed my clean clothes... they better be clean after the €8.00 I spent on them!
It all began with the an offshoot of social Darwinism known as the eugenics movement. Accroding to this model, social 'misfits' were not to be considered a part of society and the church's involvement in helping the poor was not to be tolerated. In the eugenics mindset survival of the fittest, or rather the best race was the only thing. Poor people and sick, olr, or mentally challenged patients had no role in society but to be a burden to the evolution of the better race. The offspin of this movement lead to the T-4 program, previously discussed. During the Nazizeit (Nazi era), the T-4 doctors and scientists collaborated with the Hitler regime to organize the concentration camps and find an efficient way to kill people. This, as we all know culminated in the 'Final solution to the Jewish problem.'
After the war, Nüremberg was chosen as the site for the trials of the major war criminals, Nazi officers that survived the war. This was because Nüremberg was the city of the Nazi convention, it was therefore symbolical to hold the trials there. They were tried by the 4 allied nations, and many sentenced to death or to long - though often not fully served - prison terms. The idea the allies had was to prevent another Nazizeit. The Ärtzeprozess, or Doctor's trial, was only judged by the United States as were the other 10 subsequent trials. It was difficult to conduct because there was, and really still there is not, a clear definition for 'crime against humanity.' Many of the accused were doing their jobs, and by consequence were not guilty by their standards. The tials began on October 25th, 1946 and the trial was kept as fair as possible. Medical experts came in and testified, while some like Dr. Leo Alexander had interrogated survivors in order to establish that SS Doctors had indeed overstepped the boundaries. Some examples of these ways include: testing effects of high altitude, high temperatures, poisons, malaria, typhus, sterilization, and gassing among others. The result of the trials was conviction of many doctors and the establishment of the Nüremberg Code for human experimentation. This Code was a set of 10 rules, among them informed consent and the option to opt out of an experiment at any time. The sad part is that today, a violation of the Hippocratic oath or the Nüremberg Code is not really considered a crime.
The second part of this blog deals with our visit to the Hannover Medical School's animal research facilities. Hannover Med school is the #1 in Germany for receiving grant money and the #3 ranked school in the country. We saw the cages for sheep used in heart valve replacement operations, some pigs used in allogenic transplantation (non-immunocompatible hosts) and lots and lots of mice cages... about 35,000 of them. We saw the transgenic super sterile 'germ-free' mice bubble cages, and we walked into a Level 2 handling facility where everything that goes in is either autoclaved and the people have to wear sterile overclothes and shoe covers. We saw the state of the art ORs used for these animals and I must say they are well equipped.
After our visit we did laundry (finally!!!) and I welcomed my clean clothes... they better be clean after the €8.00 I spent on them!
Being a Doctor in Germany, Nephrology models and der Winterzoo!!!
This Wednesday, in Hannover, we had the opportunity to visit the MHH... I forgot what the letters stand for, in essence it was the Medical Center for Hannover. We met Dr. J Kierstein and he gave us an intersting lecture on the Greman Medical System. In my humble opinion, and I may have misunderstood, I think he talked a bit bad about the system. He described that when Otto von Bismark came to power he instituted reforms of the entire healthcare system. He established a pension fund and universal healthcare insurance. This was the good part of the talkbecause we learned that this system covers everyone and the employer and employee split the cost half and half. In addition should you be unenployed the coverage does not end. Sounds pretty good, no?
Now the bad part: Cost. Every German citizen must pay almost 16% of their income into this "money pool." Doctors treat patients for "free" but they only have an allotted amount of money per patient. If they go over, THEY pay! The patient never sees a bill! This, he said, tends to make the patient want to have everything done! and puts the doctor in a hard financial spot.
Dr. Kierstein opines (got that one from Blood and Guts) that private insurance, which only richer Germans can afford is better because the patient gets billed and the insurance pays. This leads to a more conservative patient. Private insurance patients make the bulk of revenue for physicians who tend to be "nicer" to them than their socially insured counterparts. So in essence the system has more flaws than goods, but it is the way it is in Germany and they have great, free medical care.
He then took us on a tour of the dialysis unit where we learned about the new portable UV dialysis machines. We also saw a dialysis fistula on a patient that agreed to let us come in and feel it. He then left us in the hands of a colleague of his whose name I could not get (sorry).
We had a brief lecture on the new developments in nephrology and experiments on animal models to discover causes of diseases. Kidney diseases are focal, I learned something new. We then took a very brief tour of the labs.
The most fun part of our day was the visit to the zoo! The Hannover Zoo is designed as a theme park. Themed as the African jungle and savanna. Of course it was very snowy and icy, so most of the animals were inside. The head veterinarian took us behind the scenes to see the Hippos (Steffi's favorite animals). Hippos are the most dangerous animals in the African savanna. They can reach speeds of 30kmh (~13mph) and they are very territorial, so they will attack (and outrun) any human. We then visited the rhinoceros. Some brave souls got to feed a very docile female a few bananas. I think it was super awesome that we had the chance to do that! He then took us to the ape exhibit. We saw a crazy (and big) chimp that was very noisy and aggressive, but we also got to see an impressive male silverback gorilla. To end the day perfectly we went to "winter wonderland" where we all sled, or tubed, down some toboggans and some of us skated on and ice rink. This day in Hannover will be unforgettable.
Now the bad part: Cost. Every German citizen must pay almost 16% of their income into this "money pool." Doctors treat patients for "free" but they only have an allotted amount of money per patient. If they go over, THEY pay! The patient never sees a bill! This, he said, tends to make the patient want to have everything done! and puts the doctor in a hard financial spot.
Dr. Kierstein opines (got that one from Blood and Guts) that private insurance, which only richer Germans can afford is better because the patient gets billed and the insurance pays. This leads to a more conservative patient. Private insurance patients make the bulk of revenue for physicians who tend to be "nicer" to them than their socially insured counterparts. So in essence the system has more flaws than goods, but it is the way it is in Germany and they have great, free medical care.
He then took us on a tour of the dialysis unit where we learned about the new portable UV dialysis machines. We also saw a dialysis fistula on a patient that agreed to let us come in and feel it. He then left us in the hands of a colleague of his whose name I could not get (sorry).
We had a brief lecture on the new developments in nephrology and experiments on animal models to discover causes of diseases. Kidney diseases are focal, I learned something new. We then took a very brief tour of the labs.
The most fun part of our day was the visit to the zoo! The Hannover Zoo is designed as a theme park. Themed as the African jungle and savanna. Of course it was very snowy and icy, so most of the animals were inside. The head veterinarian took us behind the scenes to see the Hippos (Steffi's favorite animals). Hippos are the most dangerous animals in the African savanna. They can reach speeds of 30kmh (~13mph) and they are very territorial, so they will attack (and outrun) any human. We then visited the rhinoceros. Some brave souls got to feed a very docile female a few bananas. I think it was super awesome that we had the chance to do that! He then took us to the ape exhibit. We saw a crazy (and big) chimp that was very noisy and aggressive, but we also got to see an impressive male silverback gorilla. To end the day perfectly we went to "winter wonderland" where we all sled, or tubed, down some toboggans and some of us skated on and ice rink. This day in Hannover will be unforgettable.
The Second Half of Blood and Guts
Finished Blood and Guts the other day. Chapters four through eight covered therapies, surgeries, hosptitals, and modern medicine.
For ages the solution for most ills were herbal remedies. Some folk medicine led to greater things. Willow bark for fever began the quest for aspirin, and moldy bread for cuts laid the groundwork in the search for antibiotics. Therapy did not benefit from the laboratory immediately. It was not until 1905 that lab work isolated the parasite responsible for syphilis, but the cure produced two years later due to this research showed the promise that science had for medicine.
One of the most important achievements in medicine was the identification (1928) and production (1940) of penicillin. Not only did this make therapy for many bacterial diseases effective, it also made surgery a procedure that was not excessively life threatening. Of course, surgery was performed before then. Surgery lacked popularity and prestige because it was painful and it very often was deadly. This led to a market where surgeons were valued for their expertise and especially their speed. Without anasthetics or antibiotics, surgeons were not capable of operating for much and were not held in very high esteem. Now that surgery is relatively safe and painless, it's interesting to see how different a role surgeons play in the medical world.
The progress of the surgeon (and antibiotics) follows along the same lines as the progress of the hospital. Hospitals were, for a long time, places of care rather than places of cure. The sick and dying poor along with anyone else looked to a hospital for comfort, but not healing. Advances in therapy, in surgery, and in other forms of medical technology gave physicians the power to truly heal, but at a cost that only a hospital could afford. Hospitals became medicine powerhouses, and today they take up a very large portion of health care costs in the world.
One of the most startling paradoxes of modern medicine is that the doctor-patient relationship has all but faded in an age where the doctor has an unprecedented ability to truly heal. In ages past where a doctor could often do nothing, bonds between a doctor and the families he cared for were quite strong. Perhaps physicians at that time felt it was the least they could offer.
This was a very interesting book and I recommend it to anyone who is looking into the field of medicine for a career. Just look for Blood & Guts by Roy Porter.
For ages the solution for most ills were herbal remedies. Some folk medicine led to greater things. Willow bark for fever began the quest for aspirin, and moldy bread for cuts laid the groundwork in the search for antibiotics. Therapy did not benefit from the laboratory immediately. It was not until 1905 that lab work isolated the parasite responsible for syphilis, but the cure produced two years later due to this research showed the promise that science had for medicine.
One of the most important achievements in medicine was the identification (1928) and production (1940) of penicillin. Not only did this make therapy for many bacterial diseases effective, it also made surgery a procedure that was not excessively life threatening. Of course, surgery was performed before then. Surgery lacked popularity and prestige because it was painful and it very often was deadly. This led to a market where surgeons were valued for their expertise and especially their speed. Without anasthetics or antibiotics, surgeons were not capable of operating for much and were not held in very high esteem. Now that surgery is relatively safe and painless, it's interesting to see how different a role surgeons play in the medical world.
The progress of the surgeon (and antibiotics) follows along the same lines as the progress of the hospital. Hospitals were, for a long time, places of care rather than places of cure. The sick and dying poor along with anyone else looked to a hospital for comfort, but not healing. Advances in therapy, in surgery, and in other forms of medical technology gave physicians the power to truly heal, but at a cost that only a hospital could afford. Hospitals became medicine powerhouses, and today they take up a very large portion of health care costs in the world.
One of the most startling paradoxes of modern medicine is that the doctor-patient relationship has all but faded in an age where the doctor has an unprecedented ability to truly heal. In ages past where a doctor could often do nothing, bonds between a doctor and the families he cared for were quite strong. Perhaps physicians at that time felt it was the least they could offer.
This was a very interesting book and I recommend it to anyone who is looking into the field of medicine for a career. Just look for Blood & Guts by Roy Porter.
Prague Late-Nights!
One week left and I can hardly believe how many connections I have made between current issues, the lectures we've had, and passages from "Blood and Guts".
One of my most interesting experiences thus far stemmed from a late night converstation at the hostel in Prague. It was there that I heard about a conversation that had taken place the night before discussing race and Austria's position during the Second World War (a young Austrian boy was involved in the discussion). Apparently someone made the comment along the lines of how the Austrians didn't get blammed for anything and the young Austrian proudly confirmed the comment. It should be told that just before this commnet, the boys were talking about their geneology, one being Italian and German, and the Austrian's response was that he was a "bastard". From these comments alone I got a very right wing, almost Nazi-like thinking.
Because of this conversation I heard about, I do not, by any means, think all Austrians are Nazis or a similar political party, but it does make the fact that some groups like the Nazis actually are people, like you and me, just with very different and twisted ideals, all the more real.
I hope my recreation of this converstation isn't misinterpreted because I am far from a good story teller, ask my friends but please, if you have any questions about more that was said or need clarification, comment or just ask me in person.
It is occurances and parallels like these that make this trip unique and valuable. This happens to be the anniversary year of Charles Dawin's "Theory of Evolution"and being in the land where "survival of the fittest"was abused to horrible and gross misinterpretation it is important to remember and understand the past so we can move on and excell in the future.
xoxo
GG
One of my most interesting experiences thus far stemmed from a late night converstation at the hostel in Prague. It was there that I heard about a conversation that had taken place the night before discussing race and Austria's position during the Second World War (a young Austrian boy was involved in the discussion). Apparently someone made the comment along the lines of how the Austrians didn't get blammed for anything and the young Austrian proudly confirmed the comment. It should be told that just before this commnet, the boys were talking about their geneology, one being Italian and German, and the Austrian's response was that he was a "bastard". From these comments alone I got a very right wing, almost Nazi-like thinking.
Because of this conversation I heard about, I do not, by any means, think all Austrians are Nazis or a similar political party, but it does make the fact that some groups like the Nazis actually are people, like you and me, just with very different and twisted ideals, all the more real.
I hope my recreation of this converstation isn't misinterpreted because I am far from a good story teller, ask my friends but please, if you have any questions about more that was said or need clarification, comment or just ask me in person.
It is occurances and parallels like these that make this trip unique and valuable. This happens to be the anniversary year of Charles Dawin's "Theory of Evolution"and being in the land where "survival of the fittest"was abused to horrible and gross misinterpretation it is important to remember and understand the past so we can move on and excell in the future.
xoxo
GG
Roxanne... You Don't Have to Put on the Red Light!
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
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
Ahh So Much To Write About!
So I believe that I left off last time in Berlin...
I ended last week with a long day of city exploration in Berlin. After our guided tour around the city, Sarah and I ventured off and found a very trendy area and some great shopping boutiques. The final stop of the day took us to Checkpoint Charley and the Berlin Wall, which was pretty amazing. I have grown up hearing about such historic monuments in history class and books and television, but to see them in reality produces and entirely different effect! With World War II being two generations removed from me and the Cold War ending soon after I was born it is hard to comprehend the full gravity of the events caused by these wars. But I am being to see that the aftermath continues to shake Europe to this day, and the marks of the past are especially integrated into Germany today.
On Saturday we took a day trip to Dresden, a small, gorgeous, Baroque city that lays on the Eastern boarder of Germany. It was destroyed during the last weeks of WWII after having survived the entire war will only minor damages. The city has since been restored to its orignial style and is quite as sight to see...especially in sunny weather!!!
I spent my first free weekend in Prague with 9 other people from our group, and the experience could not have been better!!! I was not sure what to expect from Prague, I have heard many great things about how beautiful it is but still knew relatively little about the city or the Czech Republic, and it definitely exceeded my expectations. I was also a little nervous about my first hostel experience, but Sir Toby's was perfect and made the trip really special. We met a lot of fun people from all over the world with crazy adventures and interesting stories. On our first day in Prague we rose fairly early, treated ourselves to a very cheap/very good breakfast at the hostel and then spent the day roaming the streets and checking out the sights. Prague reminded me of an adult Disneyland, with its cobblestone streets, buildings, bridges, clock towers from the middle ages and a castle!!! I danced around the Old Town district to the sounds of a jazz band set up in the middle of the street, wondering in and out of a few shops and then accompanied the rest of the group across the Charles Bridge and up to the castle! We all ended the evening with the amazing opportunity of listening to the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra play all the great classics! It was truly an incredible show! Monday proved to be just as fun as Sarah and I caught a bus to Menik, and enjoyed the landscape and shops of this small, typical Czech town nestled in the wine country of the Czech Republic
When we returned from Prague we spent the week learning a lot about different fields of medicine and medical history. I have been very impressed with the wide spectrum of diverse medical applications and professions this trip has introduced us to, and even more impressed with all of the doctors and other professionals we have met on this trip. I found Dr. Witt's lecture on complementary medicine to be very interesting, and a good link between conventional medicine and what we had previously learned about homeopathy last week. As I stated in my last blog, I was intrigued by homeopathy but found it difficult to fully believe that one solution cures all with no understanding of how it works at the molecular level. But what Dr. Witt lectured on had a much more solid medical foundation and a true understanding of how CAM therapies work on all levels. I also enjoyed the Charite Museum, and found their collection of specimens: brains, huge kidney stones, massive tumors, etc very ineresting.
Our trip to the Hannover Zoo and guide tour by the head veterinarian was so exciting, and I felt rather privileged...how many people get to pet a rhino? And the sled ride in the zoo's winter wonderland is definitely worth mentioning! I had sooo much fun! That same day, we visited The University medical facilities in Hannover and I really enjoyed the lecture the nephrologist gave us about medicine in a socialist system, and I found it rather applicable considering the talk of health care in the United States making steps in that direction with the election of Obama.
As for yesterday...the doctors at Gottingen University were wonderful, but the walking tour was FREEZING!!! After hearing the pre-vet students talk about the open heart surgery they watched yesterday, I cant wait for my chance on Monday!
XOXO
Amanda
I ended last week with a long day of city exploration in Berlin. After our guided tour around the city, Sarah and I ventured off and found a very trendy area and some great shopping boutiques. The final stop of the day took us to Checkpoint Charley and the Berlin Wall, which was pretty amazing. I have grown up hearing about such historic monuments in history class and books and television, but to see them in reality produces and entirely different effect! With World War II being two generations removed from me and the Cold War ending soon after I was born it is hard to comprehend the full gravity of the events caused by these wars. But I am being to see that the aftermath continues to shake Europe to this day, and the marks of the past are especially integrated into Germany today.
On Saturday we took a day trip to Dresden, a small, gorgeous, Baroque city that lays on the Eastern boarder of Germany. It was destroyed during the last weeks of WWII after having survived the entire war will only minor damages. The city has since been restored to its orignial style and is quite as sight to see...especially in sunny weather!!!
I spent my first free weekend in Prague with 9 other people from our group, and the experience could not have been better!!! I was not sure what to expect from Prague, I have heard many great things about how beautiful it is but still knew relatively little about the city or the Czech Republic, and it definitely exceeded my expectations. I was also a little nervous about my first hostel experience, but Sir Toby's was perfect and made the trip really special. We met a lot of fun people from all over the world with crazy adventures and interesting stories. On our first day in Prague we rose fairly early, treated ourselves to a very cheap/very good breakfast at the hostel and then spent the day roaming the streets and checking out the sights. Prague reminded me of an adult Disneyland, with its cobblestone streets, buildings, bridges, clock towers from the middle ages and a castle!!! I danced around the Old Town district to the sounds of a jazz band set up in the middle of the street, wondering in and out of a few shops and then accompanied the rest of the group across the Charles Bridge and up to the castle! We all ended the evening with the amazing opportunity of listening to the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra play all the great classics! It was truly an incredible show! Monday proved to be just as fun as Sarah and I caught a bus to Menik, and enjoyed the landscape and shops of this small, typical Czech town nestled in the wine country of the Czech Republic
When we returned from Prague we spent the week learning a lot about different fields of medicine and medical history. I have been very impressed with the wide spectrum of diverse medical applications and professions this trip has introduced us to, and even more impressed with all of the doctors and other professionals we have met on this trip. I found Dr. Witt's lecture on complementary medicine to be very interesting, and a good link between conventional medicine and what we had previously learned about homeopathy last week. As I stated in my last blog, I was intrigued by homeopathy but found it difficult to fully believe that one solution cures all with no understanding of how it works at the molecular level. But what Dr. Witt lectured on had a much more solid medical foundation and a true understanding of how CAM therapies work on all levels. I also enjoyed the Charite Museum, and found their collection of specimens: brains, huge kidney stones, massive tumors, etc very ineresting.
Our trip to the Hannover Zoo and guide tour by the head veterinarian was so exciting, and I felt rather privileged...how many people get to pet a rhino? And the sled ride in the zoo's winter wonderland is definitely worth mentioning! I had sooo much fun! That same day, we visited The University medical facilities in Hannover and I really enjoyed the lecture the nephrologist gave us about medicine in a socialist system, and I found it rather applicable considering the talk of health care in the United States making steps in that direction with the election of Obama.
As for yesterday...the doctors at Gottingen University were wonderful, but the walking tour was FREEZING!!! After hearing the pre-vet students talk about the open heart surgery they watched yesterday, I cant wait for my chance on Monday!
XOXO
Amanda
Friday, January 09, 2009
Jus' Jon 7
Yesterday, we made it to Amersterdam after 8 hours, 3 train switches, and 1 hour of train delay's. I felt fine on the train, but once I got off of the train, I felt out of place. Everything was in English. That's new for me because so far, everything, like the signs, have been in English and for the past few weeks, I have seen all of the signs in German back in Germany. I really felt weird when the lady at the hostle started talking to us in English. I felt like my space was getting smaller. I felt like I wasn't apart of the group because everyone knew what was going on except me. I really just felt weird. I just found out that there are other people in our hostle room besides us 14. I'm okay with it though. I like our hostle though because it feels like a ghetto home by the look, but it has a warm feeling to it though. I like it. I look forward to today in Amsterdam and hope everything goes well.
Baby Its Cold Oustside...
Well, we've just arrived in Amsterdam tonight, and so much has happened since I've last blogged, so let's catch everyone up to speed..
The free weekend in Prague was fantastic. The hostel was amazing, and everywhere you turned in the city, there was a magnificent building or bridge to see. We saw the Prague Castle, the Charles Bridge, and the Astrological Clock, among many other things.
The lectures that we had afterwards have also been very interesting. Wasser gave us a lecture on Virchow, who is considered a big hitter in the area of pathology, and is the man known for the saying that "Cells come from cells." Wasser also gave us a lecture on the Nuremberg trials (more specifically the doctor's trials), which was VERY interesting, to say the least. It is appalling how many terrible people got off with punishments far too small for the crimes they committed against humanity. The main problem that the pursecutors had with convicting the doctors was proving that what had happened was actually considered a crime by law. Many, if not all of the doctors admitted to doing all of their horrifying experiments, but showed little or no remorse, or understanding of just how terrible their actions had been.
I have also gotten to see parts of two very different surgeries in the last week. While in Hannover, our group was temporarily slpit up into two groups for a day: the pre-vet students and the pre-med students. I went with the vet students (because I am currently in neither category), and while touring the cattle center of the vet school, we got to see a surgery on a cow's abdomen. The people performing the surgery had their entire arm in the side of the cow (no exaggeration), in order to get to a portion of the animal's stomach and to allow the gas that had built up there to be released. It was very interesting, although I am still very sure that I am not interested in becoming a vet, especially a veterinary surgeon.
The other surgery I got to see was of a cornary bypass surgery in Gottingen. It was definitely the coolest thing I have ever seen. It is hard to explain how amazing it is to actually SEE a person's heart beating inside their body. It can even be considered life-changing, in my opinion.
I've also gotten to go sled and go ice-skating at the Hannover Zoo, along with getting to see a hippo and a rhino up close enough to touch. Some of the other students even got to pet and feed the rhino, named Sonny. That was a lot of fun.
I have learned more than I can express in one sitting on this trip already, and I really cannot wait to see what the last half of the trip has to offer.
The free weekend in Prague was fantastic. The hostel was amazing, and everywhere you turned in the city, there was a magnificent building or bridge to see. We saw the Prague Castle, the Charles Bridge, and the Astrological Clock, among many other things.
The lectures that we had afterwards have also been very interesting. Wasser gave us a lecture on Virchow, who is considered a big hitter in the area of pathology, and is the man known for the saying that "Cells come from cells." Wasser also gave us a lecture on the Nuremberg trials (more specifically the doctor's trials), which was VERY interesting, to say the least. It is appalling how many terrible people got off with punishments far too small for the crimes they committed against humanity. The main problem that the pursecutors had with convicting the doctors was proving that what had happened was actually considered a crime by law. Many, if not all of the doctors admitted to doing all of their horrifying experiments, but showed little or no remorse, or understanding of just how terrible their actions had been.
I have also gotten to see parts of two very different surgeries in the last week. While in Hannover, our group was temporarily slpit up into two groups for a day: the pre-vet students and the pre-med students. I went with the vet students (because I am currently in neither category), and while touring the cattle center of the vet school, we got to see a surgery on a cow's abdomen. The people performing the surgery had their entire arm in the side of the cow (no exaggeration), in order to get to a portion of the animal's stomach and to allow the gas that had built up there to be released. It was very interesting, although I am still very sure that I am not interested in becoming a vet, especially a veterinary surgeon.
The other surgery I got to see was of a cornary bypass surgery in Gottingen. It was definitely the coolest thing I have ever seen. It is hard to explain how amazing it is to actually SEE a person's heart beating inside their body. It can even be considered life-changing, in my opinion.
I've also gotten to go sled and go ice-skating at the Hannover Zoo, along with getting to see a hippo and a rhino up close enough to touch. Some of the other students even got to pet and feed the rhino, named Sonny. That was a lot of fun.
I have learned more than I can express in one sitting on this trip already, and I really cannot wait to see what the last half of the trip has to offer.
Long, Long Day
This will be a really short post because I am extremely exhausted. Our last train to Amsterdam was delayed for an hour so it ended up taking a total of about 7 and a half hours to get here! It has been a very long day but I'm glad to finally be in Amsterdam and to see that the hostel isn't nearly as shady as I thought it was going to be (so far anyway!). I'm excited about the Van Gogh Museum and the Anne Frank House. It seems like it will be a fun city!
Today was a really interesting day though. I really enjoyed what the Chairman of the part of the medical clinics that we visited as well as what Dr. Schmitto had to say. Cardiology is one of the things that I'm really interested in. It was cool to be able to ask the Chairman (I wish I could remember his name...) a question about tissue engineering. It made me realize that I really had learned something in the class and that the mock research grant proposal that we wrote for a tissue engineered vascular graft was really something that is being used and researched, even if not at the specific clinic that we visited. I would love to learn more about the current and future research in cardiac tissue engineering since I now have a small background in this subject and I find it all fascinating. I also liked visiting the different areas of the hospital; everything was very similar to the OR that I worked in back home, which I expected it would be. The intracoronary microembolisation research/experiments that Dr. Schmitto's group is working on at the UMG was also very interesting to hear about. The medical history walk was probably the least favorite part of the day for me. I was interested in what the tour guide had to say, but I was miserable because I was absolutely freezing, so I feel like I didn't get nearly as much information out of the tour as I would have liked to. The places were still cool to see though.
A week from today I will be on my way home! Crazy! I think I will have mixed feelings about leaving...it will be nice to be home, but I have absolutely loved being here and I know that I definitely want to come back and travel around Europe more when I get the chance to again!
Today was a really interesting day though. I really enjoyed what the Chairman of the part of the medical clinics that we visited as well as what Dr. Schmitto had to say. Cardiology is one of the things that I'm really interested in. It was cool to be able to ask the Chairman (I wish I could remember his name...) a question about tissue engineering. It made me realize that I really had learned something in the class and that the mock research grant proposal that we wrote for a tissue engineered vascular graft was really something that is being used and researched, even if not at the specific clinic that we visited. I would love to learn more about the current and future research in cardiac tissue engineering since I now have a small background in this subject and I find it all fascinating. I also liked visiting the different areas of the hospital; everything was very similar to the OR that I worked in back home, which I expected it would be. The intracoronary microembolisation research/experiments that Dr. Schmitto's group is working on at the UMG was also very interesting to hear about. The medical history walk was probably the least favorite part of the day for me. I was interested in what the tour guide had to say, but I was miserable because I was absolutely freezing, so I feel like I didn't get nearly as much information out of the tour as I would have liked to. The places were still cool to see though.
A week from today I will be on my way home! Crazy! I think I will have mixed feelings about leaving...it will be nice to be home, but I have absolutely loved being here and I know that I definitely want to come back and travel around Europe more when I get the chance to again!
Redlight district is a go!
This morning we went to the medical center in Hanover and had a powerpoint lecture given to us by the chief of staff of the cardiac unit. It was very interesting, especially the animal research part. I never realized that animal research could be done in the same building where people's lives are being saved in the operating room. The three pre-vet kids were given an opertunity to see a coronary bipass surgery which was seriously life changing! I was in awe of the fact that the patients chest was pried open and a real beating heart was contracting before me. I never considered becoming a surgeon but after this experience, its definatley something that I might consider pursuing. The heart surgery was awesome and left me speechless!
We rode the trains forever it feels like to get to Amsterdam but hey! We're here finally in the famous red light district. Our last train was delayed by an hour so they offered us free drinks on the train which was pretty sweet. We could smell the distinct aroma of pot as we wandered from the train station to the hostel. The Hostel was hoping when we walked in and it looks like it will be a fun weekend making new friends! One of the main things I want to do while we're here is go to the Van Gough museum of art because I'm a huge fan of his and I love all art in general. Ann Frank's house would also be a neat experience. Yay for free continental breakfast!
We rode the trains forever it feels like to get to Amsterdam but hey! We're here finally in the famous red light district. Our last train was delayed by an hour so they offered us free drinks on the train which was pretty sweet. We could smell the distinct aroma of pot as we wandered from the train station to the hostel. The Hostel was hoping when we walked in and it looks like it will be a fun weekend making new friends! One of the main things I want to do while we're here is go to the Van Gough museum of art because I'm a huge fan of his and I love all art in general. Ann Frank's house would also be a neat experience. Yay for free continental breakfast!
Thursday, January 08, 2009
I can never think of a subject title.
Yesterday we received a lecture from Dr. Wasser about the Nuremburg trials, and the 23 doctors that were charged... It was very intriguing, and it made me think from the doctor's point of view, and quite disturbingly enough, the doctors had some valid points. The first one was that yes, they did do terrible things to people, resulting in thousands of deaths, but no, it was not a crime. Why? Because, well, where in the law did it say that it was? Which, truth was, no where did it actually say that what the doctors did was a crime. The prosecution teams biggest challenge was proving that what they actually did was a crime. I just thought that was amazing...
After the lecture we went to the Hannover animal testing facilities. We saw thousands of lab rats (they have around 20,000 total), as well as dogs, cats, pigs, and sheep. We saw the operating rooms that the doctors used also. Very interesting stuff. We also got to 'suit out' a couple times! I enjoyed it. It was fun!
After the lecture we went to the Hannover animal testing facilities. We saw thousands of lab rats (they have around 20,000 total), as well as dogs, cats, pigs, and sheep. We saw the operating rooms that the doctors used also. Very interesting stuff. We also got to 'suit out' a couple times! I enjoyed it. It was fun!
First off, I would like to apologize for the length of my last post, it was entirely too long. This one will hopefully be shorter, because I am not actually writing from my journal (because of that this might not be in chronological order). I can't believe our second free weekend is already here! The time is just flying by, and now I know that it is going to be harder than I thought to go back home. The past few days have been so much fun! I really enjoyed the Hannover Zoo; getting a backstage tour by the head veterinarian was a memorable experience, and I don't even usually like zoos! I could tell that he was very dedicated to the animals and his work, and that definitely showed during the tour. The kinder area of the zoo was also very amusing :). A couple words on Prague: beautiful, amazing. OK, a few more words: I absolutely loved it there, even when we had nothing planned to do. Just walking around the city was great! All the buildings were gorgeous and it had sort of a... vibe? Not quite sure how to put that, but it was fantastic. My favorite part, by far, was the concert that we went to. It was just a small chamber ensemble that played kind of a standard repertoire of classical music, but, since I play the violin and love music, it really made my day. My week. Quite possibly my entire year. I'm so glad that we took the opportunity to attend the concert! (sidenote: still not used to the German keyboards, typing this blog is a slow process) We also found this cute place to shop at
hmm, the lights just went out in the computer room, I guess I'll stop now and finish this at a later date!
hmm, the lights just went out in the computer room, I guess I'll stop now and finish this at a later date!
A Hard Day's Night
The past two days have been nonstop. Yesterday we visited the Hannover medical school and nephrology department in the main city hospital. We listened to a lecture on Germany's current health care system and took a tour of their research facilities. We had another lecture on nephrology research and ate lunch in a nearby cafeteria. In the afternoon we took a trip to the zoo and got to go on a guided tour given by one of the head veterninarians. It was snowing and was about 15 degrees so we didn't know how it was going to go but it was amazing. Because most of the animals were inside because of the weather, we got to go behind the scenes to see them. We saw hippos, rhinos, and gorillas and afterwards went to this winter park they had set up in the corner of the park. They had awesome sledding and ice skating, it was unlike anything I had seen at a zoo before.
Needless to say, we had a blast but it wasn't over yet. We got to eat dinner at a fraternity that houses mostly veterinary and medical students. The guys, and a few girls, were really nice and welcoming. We had a blast. Today was a bit different, we had a lecture on the Nuremberg Doctor Trials which was pretty interesting (would have been more interesting if I wasn't so tired) in the morning and took a tour of an animal testing facility next to the hospital we visited yesterday. It was also really cool to see, it reminded me of my old job at the cardiovascular surgery research lab at Texas Heart Institute. After that we headed back to the hotel and finally got a chance to do some laundry. I had to wash nearly everything I brought, so my packing was evidently pretty good. Tomorow we're off to Goettingen in the morning and then to Amsterdam that night... should be interesting.
Okay, back to the health care system once again. Ever since I started my med school interviews I've been brushing up on our health care system currently and each presidential candidate's position on the issue. So going into this trip I was eager to hear about Germany's system and didn't expect a lecture like this at all. The German system, which has only been in place for about 6 years, is a nice mix of public and private health insurace. Basically, all working citizens are covered by a uniform benefit system that is not optional and exactly the same for anyone. This makes it easier for employers, who don't have to spend time coming up with attractive packages, and employees, who don't have to switch insurance every time they change jobs. The amount of the premium is 15.6% of the employees salary. Insurance companies give money based on a system called Diagnostic Related Groups (DRGs), in which insurance companies give a standard amount based on the cheif complaint.
This sounds a lot like socialized medicine, and it would be if the system stopped at that, but there's one more facet of the system. If a citizen makes over between 60,000 and 70,000 euros a year, they can opt out of the public insurance and go private or be uninsured. Private insurance premiums vary based on salary, and the perecentages go down as the citizen's salary goes up so that wealthier individuals aren't paying a ridiculous amount of money for health insurance.
Here's the catch, doctor's salaries are much lower here than back in the states. Fellows make around 62,000 euros a year (just under 80,000 dollars a year) and a head of a department makes about 120,000 euros a year (about 150,000 dollars a year). That would sound terrible for an American doctor, but that's partly because doctors in America come out of school with, on average, over 100,000 dollars in student loan debt. In Germany, medical education is pretty much free. I think students pay about 500 euros a semester for their education, a ridiculously low number compared to the states. So it balances out more that it sounds when everything is taken into consideration. Quality of care in Germany is good, but not great. Doctors in Germany speak great English because almost all have received some kind of medical training in the states. The hospital was pretty nice and my impression was that patient's received good care in spite of their health care system.
Anyway, that's my two cents. It will be interesting to see what happens in the next few years in America and abroad. I know I'll be paying very close attention. I love and miss everyone back home and hope you're all doing well!
PEACE
Asher
Needless to say, we had a blast but it wasn't over yet. We got to eat dinner at a fraternity that houses mostly veterinary and medical students. The guys, and a few girls, were really nice and welcoming. We had a blast. Today was a bit different, we had a lecture on the Nuremberg Doctor Trials which was pretty interesting (would have been more interesting if I wasn't so tired) in the morning and took a tour of an animal testing facility next to the hospital we visited yesterday. It was also really cool to see, it reminded me of my old job at the cardiovascular surgery research lab at Texas Heart Institute. After that we headed back to the hotel and finally got a chance to do some laundry. I had to wash nearly everything I brought, so my packing was evidently pretty good. Tomorow we're off to Goettingen in the morning and then to Amsterdam that night... should be interesting.
Okay, back to the health care system once again. Ever since I started my med school interviews I've been brushing up on our health care system currently and each presidential candidate's position on the issue. So going into this trip I was eager to hear about Germany's system and didn't expect a lecture like this at all. The German system, which has only been in place for about 6 years, is a nice mix of public and private health insurace. Basically, all working citizens are covered by a uniform benefit system that is not optional and exactly the same for anyone. This makes it easier for employers, who don't have to spend time coming up with attractive packages, and employees, who don't have to switch insurance every time they change jobs. The amount of the premium is 15.6% of the employees salary. Insurance companies give money based on a system called Diagnostic Related Groups (DRGs), in which insurance companies give a standard amount based on the cheif complaint.
This sounds a lot like socialized medicine, and it would be if the system stopped at that, but there's one more facet of the system. If a citizen makes over between 60,000 and 70,000 euros a year, they can opt out of the public insurance and go private or be uninsured. Private insurance premiums vary based on salary, and the perecentages go down as the citizen's salary goes up so that wealthier individuals aren't paying a ridiculous amount of money for health insurance.
Here's the catch, doctor's salaries are much lower here than back in the states. Fellows make around 62,000 euros a year (just under 80,000 dollars a year) and a head of a department makes about 120,000 euros a year (about 150,000 dollars a year). That would sound terrible for an American doctor, but that's partly because doctors in America come out of school with, on average, over 100,000 dollars in student loan debt. In Germany, medical education is pretty much free. I think students pay about 500 euros a semester for their education, a ridiculously low number compared to the states. So it balances out more that it sounds when everything is taken into consideration. Quality of care in Germany is good, but not great. Doctors in Germany speak great English because almost all have received some kind of medical training in the states. The hospital was pretty nice and my impression was that patient's received good care in spite of their health care system.
Anyway, that's my two cents. It will be interesting to see what happens in the next few years in America and abroad. I know I'll be paying very close attention. I love and miss everyone back home and hope you're all doing well!
PEACE
Asher
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