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
Just write in blank
These past couple of days have been pretty tiring. Which is good of course. Yesterday I went with the med students to the hospital, since I’m pretty sure I want to end up working in a hospital pharmacy. Our first lecture on the health care system in Germany was definitely an eye opener. I knew it was socialistic, but I never knew the complete details. Learning that the German doctors pay so much less for that liability insurance than their American counterparts was a shock. It was a really good lecture. It was also really cool to learn about the AB/O incompatible kidney transplants, I had no idea that was even possible.
In the afternoon we went to the Hannover Zoo. Despite the freezing cold, it was so much fun. I can honestly say I’ve never been backstage to anything really and seeing the hippos and rhinos was fun, but by far the best part were the ice slides.
Today we got a tour of the animal research facilities. They definitely have everything running as efficient as possible. The operating rooms were really nice and big. I saw way more rats and mice than I would probably ever want to see again, but it was still neat hearing about all of the research they can do with the small animals like cochlea implants. And the pulmonary and aortic valve transplants in the larger sheep
In the afternoon we went to the Hannover Zoo. Despite the freezing cold, it was so much fun. I can honestly say I’ve never been backstage to anything really and seeing the hippos and rhinos was fun, but by far the best part were the ice slides.
Today we got a tour of the animal research facilities. They definitely have everything running as efficient as possible. The operating rooms were really nice and big. I saw way more rats and mice than I would probably ever want to see again, but it was still neat hearing about all of the research they can do with the small animals like cochlea implants. And the pulmonary and aortic valve transplants in the larger sheep
So much to say!!!
I feel like everytime I blog, which I know hasn't been much at all, there is a ton of stuff that I forget to say because we do so much everyday! It is so weird that we will be home in just over a week. This week has gone by really quickly compared to last week! I'm still having alot of fun though. It was good to have a traditional German dinner for pretty much the first time since I've been here last night at the fraternity house. I am a very picky eater so I was really surprised that I pretty much liked everything (except the ham, which I don't like at home either, and I only ate a little sauerkraut...I really doubt I spelled that correctly...but it was better than I expected it to be). I wish that I had felt better last night though because it would've been cool to meet the students there and hang out for a little while, even though I'm not really into the drinking scene.
Now that I'm finally used to this German keyboard I will have to readjust to the one back home!
One thing that I forgot to mention in the last blog that I thought was interesting is that medical school in Germany was free until recently and even now it is still much much cheaper than medical schools in the United States. I thought that the doctor made a very good point that students care much more about the quality of the education they receive if they have to pay for it though. I do feel like medical school in America could stand to be a little cheaper though. I'm not sure that I understand why tuition costs so much in America, yet it is almost free here in Germany.
The animal testing and research facilities that we visited today were pretty cool, though not my favorite thing that we've done. I never realized that so much went into animal testing and it was very interesting to learn about. I know that it is important for me to know about such things even though it does not directly apply to my future career. It was hard to believe that they had 35,000 rodents there and that they would soon be adding another 35,000 when the new building is complete in the next few years. I think my favorite part about the experience was hearing the new research that is being done, such as the "brain beads" that the two doctors (or professors, I'm not sure what their title was) talked to us about.
Off to Amsterdam tomorrow! It should be a very interesting trip...I'm hoping it's not as bad as what I've heard from some people, but I am pretty sure that we will be fine!
Now that I'm finally used to this German keyboard I will have to readjust to the one back home!
One thing that I forgot to mention in the last blog that I thought was interesting is that medical school in Germany was free until recently and even now it is still much much cheaper than medical schools in the United States. I thought that the doctor made a very good point that students care much more about the quality of the education they receive if they have to pay for it though. I do feel like medical school in America could stand to be a little cheaper though. I'm not sure that I understand why tuition costs so much in America, yet it is almost free here in Germany.
The animal testing and research facilities that we visited today were pretty cool, though not my favorite thing that we've done. I never realized that so much went into animal testing and it was very interesting to learn about. I know that it is important for me to know about such things even though it does not directly apply to my future career. It was hard to believe that they had 35,000 rodents there and that they would soon be adding another 35,000 when the new building is complete in the next few years. I think my favorite part about the experience was hearing the new research that is being done, such as the "brain beads" that the two doctors (or professors, I'm not sure what their title was) talked to us about.
Off to Amsterdam tomorrow! It should be a very interesting trip...I'm hoping it's not as bad as what I've heard from some people, but I am pretty sure that we will be fine!
Team Awesome
Today marks half way through the trip. Time has certainly gone by fast.I thought I would probably get a little homesick by this time since I'm so used to talk to my mom seriously every day, but since we're so busy it hasn't been bad at all. Saturday we went to the Hygiene museum in Dresden. So far it has probably been my favorite experience. At first when I heard hygiene, I thought it was going to be about germs and brushing your teeth. Thankfully, it wasn’t. I really enjoyed going through all the rooms and different body systems, I only wish that we had more time to see everything up close. Then about ten of us went to Prague to experience our first free weekened together. When we got off the train it seemed super sketchy, and all I could about was the movie hostel. But the hostel we stayed at was amazing! i loved it, and they had the best granola I've ever had.We walked a lot around Prague, mostly in the snow, but it was definitely one of the most beautiful cities I've been too. Last night we got back into Berlin and now we are in Hannover. The Charite museum we went to I definitely enjoyed. I especially liked looking at all the specimens of the brain, like the alzheimers and cancer ones.
I've noticed an overlap of or recurring theme of certain topics. The Blood and Guts book mentioned the four liquids in the body, blood, phlegm, and two others which were also mentioned at the Charite museum today. Then we also saw the iron lung machine and the old x-ray machines in both the hygiene and Charite museumes.
tomorrow is the Hannover Zoo, which I'm looking forward to;even if I freeze. Who doesn't love baby animals?
(This was written two days ago, but due to technical difficulties just now posted)
2 weeks later and some clean laundry
I can't believe its been almost two weeks since we arrived in Germany!! I've seen so much and learned more than I ever have on a trip. Yesterday, I went to the vet med school and got to tour around the campus. The prof who led our tour was friendly and showed us some of the school's collection of skeletons and fixed organs. The two German students that showed us around were cool and explained to us that in Germany you only have to go to vet school for about 5 or so years instead of our 8 which includes our undergraduate work. We were fortunate enough to have a vet that was working in the cattle clinic show us around and explain what a "DA" was. A DA is a displaced abomassum, which is the "true stomach" of the cow. We took a break and had coffee with Steffie before watching a surgery of a DA with our German tour guides. It was a fun filled day. Just being in the clinic got me all excited about becoming a vet!
Today we went to the animal research center. I never realized how many rats and mice were used in research. It was neat to get to walk through all of the operating rooms. The coolest thing to me was seeing the rats that lived in a germ free environment. Its amazing what the doctors are doing at this facility! They preform lung transplants and valve replacements. Not to forget the project with cats that involved placing beads with proteins in the brains for biochemical balance.
glad for clean laundry!
Today we went to the animal research center. I never realized how many rats and mice were used in research. It was neat to get to walk through all of the operating rooms. The coolest thing to me was seeing the rats that lived in a germ free environment. Its amazing what the doctors are doing at this facility! They preform lung transplants and valve replacements. Not to forget the project with cats that involved placing beads with proteins in the brains for biochemical balance.
glad for clean laundry!
Jus' Jon 6
Ok. This will be a short blog. Maybe. So far, I have been sampling sweets from Germany. I would like to talk about the M&M's. I have noticed two distinct tastes between the small bag of M&M's and teh big bag of M&M's. The small bag has a nice crunchy native M&M's taste to them. I have to admit that the taste is just a grain of sugar off from the American M&M taste but still good. The big bag tastes "8 shades" (A Brian Gibson quote) off of the American M&M taste. They taste like they were made with European Chocolate. They are way more crunchier than Aerican M&M's. Don't get me wrong though, they are just as good as American M&M's. I figured that the small bg is a mix between European and American chocolate and the large bag is just of European Chocolate. This is just my opinion. If you have comments, let me know. Blog me if you must.
From Virchow to Alternative Medicine
This blog is to describe the interesting lecture series that we have had from Dr. Wasser. He has a very special way of conveying the message about the history of medicine in Europe. Our next lecture, as in lecture 3, came after an interesting visit to the Charité Pathology Institute (Pathologisches Institut) founded by none other than Rudolph Virchow, father of modern cell pathology.
Our day began with the tour of the museum. The facility wsa divided into three floors, each one with different themes. So our first stop was the Anatomical theater and museum. These came to be in order to do dissections and expose the damaged tissues that made up the human body. Curiously, Virchow opened the museum part for the public ONLY on Sundays from 11AM to 1PM with the idea that it was to be "a temple for science", or in other words, sort of compete with regular church. Virchow was among the first people to begin collecting human skulls, including syphilitic, trepponated and normal, in order to have a means of comparison. Of his collection of almost 200 skulls only a few remain at the Institute. We observed wax models of disease, the "pictures of their time," and realized that perhaps being a patient was not fun during the early times. The second floor included the beginnnings of the laboratory. New electrophysiologic machines such as the chimograph (kymograph in German) were being used to test the electrical activity of muscles and opening the door to understanding the complexity of our own bodies. Instruments like the first ophthalmoscope, the first laryngoscope, the first otoscope found their way into the museum collection. In adition an X-ray machine, invented by Karl Röntgen, was also in the museum along with pictures of doctors taking an X-ray without protection. Our guide later explained that many were dying rapidly... Probably due to X-ray radiation. The expo not only showed the instruments, but also how they were used, which shed light into the beginnings of instrumentation and modern medical diagnosis-based practice. Then we went into the Specimen room. This room contained specimens organized by body system and further organized into normal anatomy, patho-anatomy and a specific disease, e.g.: cancer, or coronary artery disease. The specimens all come from real people and are a vast collection of the complexity and variety of issues medicine has to deal with. Nevertheless, it was super interesting and it served as a stimulus to continue learning. The last floor contained the "evolution of the hospital" from birthing chairs up to modern ICU hospital beds. It had a display of an iron lung used for Polio (Kinderlähmung).
Our lecture took place in an old classroom where Virchow himself lectured! We basically reviewed Virchow's life and his three pillars for modern medicine:
1.) Clinical observations
2.) Animal experimentation to test etiology of diease
3.) Pathoanatomy (Anatomical Pathology) for identification of disease.
He was the one that coined the term "omnis cellula e cellula," "each cell is derived from another" Later, he published a book on Cell Pathology, revised the sewage system for Berlin and was appointed by King Friedrich Wilhelm IV to the head of the University of Berlin Medical School. His political activism earned him Bismark's contempt, so he left Berlin. It is surprising he had any time to sleep!!!
We had a guest lecture by Dr. Claudia Witt. This lecture focused on Alternative medicine. Components of alternative medicine include naturopathy, homeopathy, acupuncture and traditional Chinese medicine, among others. It was an interesting lecture and it expanded on each topic.
Naturopathy has several branches that use the elements of nature for healing:
- Phytomedicine uses plants as remedies e.g.: St. John's Wart for mild depression, Eccinacea for a beginning cold, etc.
- Hydrotherapy uses hot and cold water to relax the body and strengthen it
- Excercise works against depression and keeps us healthy overall
- Dietetics means watching what we eat and drink and what we should eat when we are unhealthy.
- Lifestyle advice is how to live, the so called "Mind body medicine." It involves relaxation, changing lifestyle and stress management along with sleeping style changes.
Homeopathy we have heard about, Hahnemann's idea of inducing a disease to cure it using plants and other natural extracts. The dilution principle, as Dr. Witt stated is not very accepted amongst the scientific community. That was the only real difference from our previous talks.
Acupuncture, most commonly needle accupuncture has its Chinese and Japanese branches. The former uses longer needles that penetrate deeper into the skin and the latter, the opposite. Both seem to be making a comeback in Europe and the US.
Personnel that are trained in alternative medicine have special titles in Europe and are respected. They are known as Heilpraktiker in German. Overall the lecture was interesting, I will write about subsequent lectures and visits soon!!!
Our day began with the tour of the museum. The facility wsa divided into three floors, each one with different themes. So our first stop was the Anatomical theater and museum. These came to be in order to do dissections and expose the damaged tissues that made up the human body. Curiously, Virchow opened the museum part for the public ONLY on Sundays from 11AM to 1PM with the idea that it was to be "a temple for science", or in other words, sort of compete with regular church. Virchow was among the first people to begin collecting human skulls, including syphilitic, trepponated and normal, in order to have a means of comparison. Of his collection of almost 200 skulls only a few remain at the Institute. We observed wax models of disease, the "pictures of their time," and realized that perhaps being a patient was not fun during the early times. The second floor included the beginnnings of the laboratory. New electrophysiologic machines such as the chimograph (kymograph in German) were being used to test the electrical activity of muscles and opening the door to understanding the complexity of our own bodies. Instruments like the first ophthalmoscope, the first laryngoscope, the first otoscope found their way into the museum collection. In adition an X-ray machine, invented by Karl Röntgen, was also in the museum along with pictures of doctors taking an X-ray without protection. Our guide later explained that many were dying rapidly... Probably due to X-ray radiation. The expo not only showed the instruments, but also how they were used, which shed light into the beginnings of instrumentation and modern medical diagnosis-based practice. Then we went into the Specimen room. This room contained specimens organized by body system and further organized into normal anatomy, patho-anatomy and a specific disease, e.g.: cancer, or coronary artery disease. The specimens all come from real people and are a vast collection of the complexity and variety of issues medicine has to deal with. Nevertheless, it was super interesting and it served as a stimulus to continue learning. The last floor contained the "evolution of the hospital" from birthing chairs up to modern ICU hospital beds. It had a display of an iron lung used for Polio (Kinderlähmung).
Our lecture took place in an old classroom where Virchow himself lectured! We basically reviewed Virchow's life and his three pillars for modern medicine:
1.) Clinical observations
2.) Animal experimentation to test etiology of diease
3.) Pathoanatomy (Anatomical Pathology) for identification of disease.
He was the one that coined the term "omnis cellula e cellula," "each cell is derived from another" Later, he published a book on Cell Pathology, revised the sewage system for Berlin and was appointed by King Friedrich Wilhelm IV to the head of the University of Berlin Medical School. His political activism earned him Bismark's contempt, so he left Berlin. It is surprising he had any time to sleep!!!
We had a guest lecture by Dr. Claudia Witt. This lecture focused on Alternative medicine. Components of alternative medicine include naturopathy, homeopathy, acupuncture and traditional Chinese medicine, among others. It was an interesting lecture and it expanded on each topic.
Naturopathy has several branches that use the elements of nature for healing:
- Phytomedicine uses plants as remedies e.g.: St. John's Wart for mild depression, Eccinacea for a beginning cold, etc.
- Hydrotherapy uses hot and cold water to relax the body and strengthen it
- Excercise works against depression and keeps us healthy overall
- Dietetics means watching what we eat and drink and what we should eat when we are unhealthy.
- Lifestyle advice is how to live, the so called "Mind body medicine." It involves relaxation, changing lifestyle and stress management along with sleeping style changes.
Homeopathy we have heard about, Hahnemann's idea of inducing a disease to cure it using plants and other natural extracts. The dilution principle, as Dr. Witt stated is not very accepted amongst the scientific community. That was the only real difference from our previous talks.
Acupuncture, most commonly needle accupuncture has its Chinese and Japanese branches. The former uses longer needles that penetrate deeper into the skin and the latter, the opposite. Both seem to be making a comeback in Europe and the US.
Personnel that are trained in alternative medicine have special titles in Europe and are respected. They are known as Heilpraktiker in German. Overall the lecture was interesting, I will write about subsequent lectures and visits soon!!!
Czech us out!!! Adventures in Prague
Praha, city of Bohemian crystal and beautiful architecture.
We arrived in Prague (Praha) at night on Saturday and we had no trouble finding the hostel. Sir Toby's, the hostel, was very cozy and relatively new. We all shared a big bunk bed room and I think we enjoyed having fluffy pillows to sleep on!!! In the morning we were welcomed by a fairly good amount of snow and a delicious Kc 500 breakfast (around $5).
So our "day trip" to the heart of Prague began with a tram that took us to Wenceslas Square, the main street in central Prague. We decided to walk away from the gorgeous building that houses the National Museum and head in the direction where the major shopping area was. By following almost a straight path we bumped into the first famous Prague landmark: The astrological clock. This clock, about 3-4m tall tells not only time, but also the position of the moon in relation to the sun and the astrological sign we are currently in. Continuing on we ran into the Rudolphine concert house and off in the distance we could see our main objective: the Prague Castle and its imponent St. John's Cathedral (I believe that is the name, but I apologize if it is not). This Cathedral is now a kind of museum.
The trek uphill, yes it was a trek indeed, was very cool since atop the hill we coud see all of Prague. The cathedral has a high Gothic style and it is very majestic. After walking aroung it we came to the main palace gates where we saw the changing of the guard at 1PM. It was not as exciting as we thought, but it was very rhythmical. We then crossed the Charles bridge into the mainland and waited in the shopping district until the afternoon. I went to a DaVinci exposition and saw many of his inventions as models. I think it was worth the admission price of Kc 280 for students (~$11).
We had the rare opportunity to pay Kc 500 (~$25) to go see the Prague philharmonic string ensemble play at the Rudophinum Hall. It was amazing to hear Mozart's "Eine Kleine Nacht Musik (A Little Night Music)," Schubert's "Ave Maria," Offenbach's "Can Can," and Strauss' "The Blue Danube Waltz," among others. The ensemble performed flawlessly and the show they presented was very entertaining and enjoyable.
The next day the snow fell nonstop, which made us take refuge in Cafe Heaven until it was time to go back to Berlin. I did buy a special gift for my special someone!
So in conclusion, Praha, the city of crystal, granate, and amber welcomed us and allowed us to spend a wonderful time. The experience we had at the Rudolphinum is unmatched and I think we did a very good job of Czech-ing Prague out!!!
We arrived in Prague (Praha) at night on Saturday and we had no trouble finding the hostel. Sir Toby's, the hostel, was very cozy and relatively new. We all shared a big bunk bed room and I think we enjoyed having fluffy pillows to sleep on!!! In the morning we were welcomed by a fairly good amount of snow and a delicious Kc 500 breakfast (around $5).
So our "day trip" to the heart of Prague began with a tram that took us to Wenceslas Square, the main street in central Prague. We decided to walk away from the gorgeous building that houses the National Museum and head in the direction where the major shopping area was. By following almost a straight path we bumped into the first famous Prague landmark: The astrological clock. This clock, about 3-4m tall tells not only time, but also the position of the moon in relation to the sun and the astrological sign we are currently in. Continuing on we ran into the Rudolphine concert house and off in the distance we could see our main objective: the Prague Castle and its imponent St. John's Cathedral (I believe that is the name, but I apologize if it is not). This Cathedral is now a kind of museum.
The trek uphill, yes it was a trek indeed, was very cool since atop the hill we coud see all of Prague. The cathedral has a high Gothic style and it is very majestic. After walking aroung it we came to the main palace gates where we saw the changing of the guard at 1PM. It was not as exciting as we thought, but it was very rhythmical. We then crossed the Charles bridge into the mainland and waited in the shopping district until the afternoon. I went to a DaVinci exposition and saw many of his inventions as models. I think it was worth the admission price of Kc 280 for students (~$11).
We had the rare opportunity to pay Kc 500 (~$25) to go see the Prague philharmonic string ensemble play at the Rudophinum Hall. It was amazing to hear Mozart's "Eine Kleine Nacht Musik (A Little Night Music)," Schubert's "Ave Maria," Offenbach's "Can Can," and Strauss' "The Blue Danube Waltz," among others. The ensemble performed flawlessly and the show they presented was very entertaining and enjoyable.
The next day the snow fell nonstop, which made us take refuge in Cafe Heaven until it was time to go back to Berlin. I did buy a special gift for my special someone!
So in conclusion, Praha, the city of crystal, granate, and amber welcomed us and allowed us to spend a wonderful time. The experience we had at the Rudolphinum is unmatched and I think we did a very good job of Czech-ing Prague out!!!
Wednesday, January 07, 2009
Continuing on!
I have been continuing to learn the most interesting things and living the most extraordinary experiences in this study abroad program... On January 3rd, while in Dresden, we visited the Deutches Hygiene Museum, where there was a room dedicated to the body, the mind, sexuality, and so on. It was very interesting, especially motion room! There was a balancing (on a beam) game where it was pretty much impossible to walk across the whole thing, but it was fun to watch people try. At the museum I also gave a short presentation about the 'Invisible Man.' At the museum however, the man was a woman.
A couple days later, coming back from Prague (whoop!) to Berlin, we had a guided tour at the Charite Museum by Tom Werner. The most interesting part by far was the specimen room, containing live samples of bones, brains, lungs, kidneys, digitals, and deformed babies. The last part was quite disturbing, seeing 'cyclops babies,' babies born with their brain outside their head, babies with severe deformities, and otherwise. Intriguing yet disgusting at the same time! Later in the day we recieved two lectures... The first being from Dr. Wasser about Rudolf Virchow, a doctor, antropologist and politician who is considered to be the father of pathology, and later in the day from Prof. Dr. Claudia M. Witt about complimentary medicine. Complimentary medicine consists of three main parts; naturopathy, homeopathy (which we learned about earlier in the semester), and acupuncture. What baffled me was that sham acupuncture was vastly more effective than standard treatment, at least when it comes to certain diseases or injuries in the body. From now on I will consider getting acupunture if I ever get migranes for sure!
The next day, in Hannover, we were split up into vet students and med students, and I went with the medical students to the Hannover Hospital Department of Nephrology. We received a lecture about the medical care in Germany, which I thought was very interesting... Everyone in Germany is required to have medical insurance (whether or not you have a job) and medical students in Germany pay slim to none to go to school, which is very different from America, where we have many uninsured and medical students leave with a more or less $200,000 debt. Amyways, we had a guided tour of the department, and we got to visit a few patients to learn about the machines they were on and the medicines they were perscribed. We then received another lecture about kidney diseases which was fun and interesting to learn.
After that, we went to the Hannover Zoo! We got to see hippos, rhinos, and gorillas close up which was so amazing. Makes me want to consider being a vet instead! The gorrillas were pretty cranky, and kept yelling and running around, which for us was actually a pretty good show. As for the rhinos, I got to feed one of the a banana! It was so cool. And there was a rhino in the cage next to the rhino that was getting fed bananas and it was getting pretty cranky as well! When we saw the hippos, it was so awesome because they thought that we were going to feed them, so they came really close to us and opened their mouths! They are so huge; both their bodies and their mouths. It was amazing to see.
I am so glad I decided to go to Germany! Never will I experience this anywhere else!
A couple days later, coming back from Prague (whoop!) to Berlin, we had a guided tour at the Charite Museum by Tom Werner. The most interesting part by far was the specimen room, containing live samples of bones, brains, lungs, kidneys, digitals, and deformed babies. The last part was quite disturbing, seeing 'cyclops babies,' babies born with their brain outside their head, babies with severe deformities, and otherwise. Intriguing yet disgusting at the same time! Later in the day we recieved two lectures... The first being from Dr. Wasser about Rudolf Virchow, a doctor, antropologist and politician who is considered to be the father of pathology, and later in the day from Prof. Dr. Claudia M. Witt about complimentary medicine. Complimentary medicine consists of three main parts; naturopathy, homeopathy (which we learned about earlier in the semester), and acupuncture. What baffled me was that sham acupuncture was vastly more effective than standard treatment, at least when it comes to certain diseases or injuries in the body. From now on I will consider getting acupunture if I ever get migranes for sure!
The next day, in Hannover, we were split up into vet students and med students, and I went with the medical students to the Hannover Hospital Department of Nephrology. We received a lecture about the medical care in Germany, which I thought was very interesting... Everyone in Germany is required to have medical insurance (whether or not you have a job) and medical students in Germany pay slim to none to go to school, which is very different from America, where we have many uninsured and medical students leave with a more or less $200,000 debt. Amyways, we had a guided tour of the department, and we got to visit a few patients to learn about the machines they were on and the medicines they were perscribed. We then received another lecture about kidney diseases which was fun and interesting to learn.
After that, we went to the Hannover Zoo! We got to see hippos, rhinos, and gorillas close up which was so amazing. Makes me want to consider being a vet instead! The gorrillas were pretty cranky, and kept yelling and running around, which for us was actually a pretty good show. As for the rhinos, I got to feed one of the a banana! It was so cool. And there was a rhino in the cage next to the rhino that was getting fed bananas and it was getting pretty cranky as well! When we saw the hippos, it was so awesome because they thought that we were going to feed them, so they came really close to us and opened their mouths! They are so huge; both their bodies and their mouths. It was amazing to see.
I am so glad I decided to go to Germany! Never will I experience this anywhere else!
Halfway Over...
I can't believe that our trip is halfway over! It seems like we have been here awhile since we have done so many things, but at the same time it has gone by really fast. I have absolutely loved the trip though. It's hard for me to pick my favorite thing that we've seen or done because there have been so many, but if I did have to choose I would probably say the Deutsches Hygiene Museum in Dresden. I thought the entire museum was incredibly fascinating. I really like how Steffi and Dr. Wasser organized our trip for this museum too. I feel like I got much more out of the museum by each of us being assigned to a specific room and giving a tour of the rooms rather than us just exploring everything on our own in the amount of time that we had. I really wish we had more time to spend in the museum though. I thought that the wax models of the faces with various diseases, the display in the room that I explained, were really graphic but really cool. I thought it was really interesting that they were made from actual people so they depicted individualized symptoms. I would love to come back to this museum someday and spend time looking at each of the exhibits. It would not be a problem at all for me to spend a full day there.
I really have enjoyed the Blood and Guts novel that we were assigned to read. I have not finished all of the book yet, but the things that I have heard in some of the lectures are more familiar to me because I had read the book. All of the lectures that we have heard so far on this trip have been really interesting to me. I found that the lecture on complementary medicine was easier for me to listen to than the lecture on homeopathy and I think I learned more from this lecture also. The concepts in this lecture weren't as foreign to me as the ideas in the lecture that we heard in Bonn by the homeopath. The Charite Museum that we visited in Berlin was also very interesting. I really enjoyed looking at all of the organ specimens that they had displayed, especially the hearts and the fetuses, even though these were really difficult to look at since they were all very deformed and it was very sad, they were still very interesting to me. I just wish that the captions under the specimens were in English so that I would've known more about what exactly I was looking at.
I had never really understood exactly what a socialized health care system looked like until Dr. J. Keilstein explained Germany's healthcare today when we visited MHH. I like the system much more than I thought I would based on the American idea of "socialism" that I have always heard. I feel like their system actually is much more effective than the one America has, despite the fact that doctors make much less money here. I have very mixed feelings about the health insurance issues beacuse I know firsthand what it is like to not have health insurance. My stepdad desperately needs knee surgery and my mom has a herniated disc and also needs surgery so they are both living in constant pain and have been for awhile. However, they cannot affort to get the procedures done because they are unable to afford the healthcare that their employers offer. I'm not sure that they would be able to afford insurance under a socialized healthcare sytem either since such a large percentage (15.6%) of people's incomes are taken out, but there are many other things to take into account that we wouldn't have to pay for if we had a socialized medical system. Also, if it were mandatory to have health insurance for a flat rate, my parents and the other 47 million uninsured Americans would be able to get the high-cost procedures done that they would otherwise be unable to afford. I realize that my salary as a physician would be much less under this kind of healthcare plan, but that is not the reason that I want to be a doctor. I'm not sure what the solution to the healthcare problem in the US would be, and I realize there is not a perfect solution to accomodate everyone, but it is interesting to hear other countries' policies and it will be very interesting to see how Obama's planned policies will change healthcare back home.
I am very excited about the next week and a half. I really look forward to visiting the heart clinic next week and then going to Vienna soon after that. I know that I will definitely be ready to be back in Texas weather by the end of the trip because I do not tolerate cold weather very well. I used to think it was really really cold at home when it was right at 32 degrees Fahrenheit, but I now know that I was very wrong about that! I am also looking forward to American food. I have enjoyed alot of the food I have had here, but some of it just makes me not feel good so I never know what to order. Yay for laundry tomorrow! It will be amazing to have clean clothes! Guten nacht!
I really have enjoyed the Blood and Guts novel that we were assigned to read. I have not finished all of the book yet, but the things that I have heard in some of the lectures are more familiar to me because I had read the book. All of the lectures that we have heard so far on this trip have been really interesting to me. I found that the lecture on complementary medicine was easier for me to listen to than the lecture on homeopathy and I think I learned more from this lecture also. The concepts in this lecture weren't as foreign to me as the ideas in the lecture that we heard in Bonn by the homeopath. The Charite Museum that we visited in Berlin was also very interesting. I really enjoyed looking at all of the organ specimens that they had displayed, especially the hearts and the fetuses, even though these were really difficult to look at since they were all very deformed and it was very sad, they were still very interesting to me. I just wish that the captions under the specimens were in English so that I would've known more about what exactly I was looking at.
I had never really understood exactly what a socialized health care system looked like until Dr. J. Keilstein explained Germany's healthcare today when we visited MHH. I like the system much more than I thought I would based on the American idea of "socialism" that I have always heard. I feel like their system actually is much more effective than the one America has, despite the fact that doctors make much less money here. I have very mixed feelings about the health insurance issues beacuse I know firsthand what it is like to not have health insurance. My stepdad desperately needs knee surgery and my mom has a herniated disc and also needs surgery so they are both living in constant pain and have been for awhile. However, they cannot affort to get the procedures done because they are unable to afford the healthcare that their employers offer. I'm not sure that they would be able to afford insurance under a socialized healthcare sytem either since such a large percentage (15.6%) of people's incomes are taken out, but there are many other things to take into account that we wouldn't have to pay for if we had a socialized medical system. Also, if it were mandatory to have health insurance for a flat rate, my parents and the other 47 million uninsured Americans would be able to get the high-cost procedures done that they would otherwise be unable to afford. I realize that my salary as a physician would be much less under this kind of healthcare plan, but that is not the reason that I want to be a doctor. I'm not sure what the solution to the healthcare problem in the US would be, and I realize there is not a perfect solution to accomodate everyone, but it is interesting to hear other countries' policies and it will be very interesting to see how Obama's planned policies will change healthcare back home.
I am very excited about the next week and a half. I really look forward to visiting the heart clinic next week and then going to Vienna soon after that. I know that I will definitely be ready to be back in Texas weather by the end of the trip because I do not tolerate cold weather very well. I used to think it was really really cold at home when it was right at 32 degrees Fahrenheit, but I now know that I was very wrong about that! I am also looking forward to American food. I have enjoyed alot of the food I have had here, but some of it just makes me not feel good so I never know what to order. Yay for laundry tomorrow! It will be amazing to have clean clothes! Guten nacht!
Lectures in Berlin at the Charite and in Hannover
The public hospital in Berlin is the Charite. They have an exhibit on the history of modern medicine. The exhibit had a lot of interesting specimens from individuals who suffered various diseases. One of the great contributors to the development of anatomy, Virchow, was a professor at the Charite. He performed about 800 dissections a year and was among the earliest physicians to champion the dissection of victims of disease as a key to finding the cure.
While we were at the Charite we also heard from the current head of Complimentary Medicine, Dr. Witt. I was mostly interested in her explanation of how insurance companies determine if certain forms of complimentary medicine should be covered. The data that they examine to make this decision is not necessarily designed to remove the placebo effect. They focus on the difference in recovery between patients who receive, for example, acupuncture and patients who don't. If the improved level of recovery justifies the cost of the procedure, the insurance companies are often inclined to support it.
The following day in Hannover was spent talking to Dr. Kriestein, a nephrologist. It was especially interesting hearing him talk about the health care system in Germany. Though many Americans assume that all our problems will disappear as soon as we have universal health insurance, there are still in truth many challenges a health system has to face, some of which are indirectly caused by state sponsored health care. In Germany, for example, doctors had no concerns about the cost of a procedure and would blow away large amounts of money on patients with very trivial problems. German health care has recently gone through some reforms, as this has threatened to slowly consume the entire country's wealth. While patients still rarely see bills in Germany, doctors making a better effort now at being economical in their practice. One reform I found interesting is the addition of a small copayment for drugs in Germany. Dr. Kriestein was a proponent of this, because he found that a very large difference between Americans and Germans was that Americans actually knew about the drugs they were taking, what they did, and would generally take them as instructed. Germans, however, seemed to devalue their medicine, having little knowledge of them, how they worked, and were irregular in taking them. In his opinion, the copayment has alleviated this problem as well as some of the issues health care has had in balancing its check book.
The next day was also in Hannover, and we spent the morning in lecture with Dr. Wasser talking about the Doctor Trials at Nuremburg. He explained that after the chief war criminals were tried, there were 12 additional trials held only by Americans in order to try various other Nazis for war crimes. The doctor trials prosecuted 22 men and one woman, mostly doctors, for crimes against humanity, using as evidence records of their experiments and testimonies from survivors of the experiments. The defense claimed that, yes, you can prove that we did these things, but you can not demonstrate that these are crimes against humanity. Scientists have experimented on animals to the benefit of humanity, and we were doing just the same.
The prosecution then set out to prove that among physicians and scientists there was an understood standard for how humans could and could not be treated in experiments. Interestingly, some of the prosecution's expert witnesses were outspoken proponents of animal experimentation. The case laid down in common law what is now sometimes known as the Nuremburg Code, a guideline for the humane treatment of subjects in an experiment. The most well known of these points is the necessity of informed consent.
While we were at the Charite we also heard from the current head of Complimentary Medicine, Dr. Witt. I was mostly interested in her explanation of how insurance companies determine if certain forms of complimentary medicine should be covered. The data that they examine to make this decision is not necessarily designed to remove the placebo effect. They focus on the difference in recovery between patients who receive, for example, acupuncture and patients who don't. If the improved level of recovery justifies the cost of the procedure, the insurance companies are often inclined to support it.
The following day in Hannover was spent talking to Dr. Kriestein, a nephrologist. It was especially interesting hearing him talk about the health care system in Germany. Though many Americans assume that all our problems will disappear as soon as we have universal health insurance, there are still in truth many challenges a health system has to face, some of which are indirectly caused by state sponsored health care. In Germany, for example, doctors had no concerns about the cost of a procedure and would blow away large amounts of money on patients with very trivial problems. German health care has recently gone through some reforms, as this has threatened to slowly consume the entire country's wealth. While patients still rarely see bills in Germany, doctors making a better effort now at being economical in their practice. One reform I found interesting is the addition of a small copayment for drugs in Germany. Dr. Kriestein was a proponent of this, because he found that a very large difference between Americans and Germans was that Americans actually knew about the drugs they were taking, what they did, and would generally take them as instructed. Germans, however, seemed to devalue their medicine, having little knowledge of them, how they worked, and were irregular in taking them. In his opinion, the copayment has alleviated this problem as well as some of the issues health care has had in balancing its check book.
The next day was also in Hannover, and we spent the morning in lecture with Dr. Wasser talking about the Doctor Trials at Nuremburg. He explained that after the chief war criminals were tried, there were 12 additional trials held only by Americans in order to try various other Nazis for war crimes. The doctor trials prosecuted 22 men and one woman, mostly doctors, for crimes against humanity, using as evidence records of their experiments and testimonies from survivors of the experiments. The defense claimed that, yes, you can prove that we did these things, but you can not demonstrate that these are crimes against humanity. Scientists have experimented on animals to the benefit of humanity, and we were doing just the same.
The prosecution then set out to prove that among physicians and scientists there was an understood standard for how humans could and could not be treated in experiments. Interestingly, some of the prosecution's expert witnesses were outspoken proponents of animal experimentation. The case laid down in common law what is now sometimes known as the Nuremburg Code, a guideline for the humane treatment of subjects in an experiment. The most well known of these points is the necessity of informed consent.
badge off, laid off
Today went sledding, fed a rhino, and went ice skating. All of these things were fun but still my favorite part of the day was learning more about dialysis. The doctor started the lecture by telling us about general German health insurance. They are utilizing the DRG system which is personally my favorite system. I think it leaves just enough incentive for the doctor while still giving excellent health care for the individual. The concept that you should strive to come under budget is greatly more efficient than their old system of letting anyone stay for an extended amount of time. There was one point of interest that really took me for a loop though. For private health care users the doctors are frivolously using money because there is no third party watch dog. I am not completely sure that I grasp the concept even after asking a question during the lecture. Other than that the health care plan seems like a great plan that lends itself to both the rich and the poor.
The dialysis machine information was defiantly my favorite academic portion of the trip thus far. I have had neither biochemistry nor anatomy but I still found much interest in this. The concept of using science to perform the biological function of cleaning the blood using the same basic tools is incredible. Getting to go inside the room and having a cool patient who let us touch the stent between the vein and the artery was certainly a treat. The little things in medicine such as a routine dialysis machine just blows my mind. They were routine with a procedure that is so innovative in my opinion.
The way that the German researchers are searching for advances in kidney medicine is stunning. The amount of information that the kidney researcher could just spout was incredible. He was so passionate about the kidney and learning about ways to manipulate its deficiencies. At the end of his speech he mentioned that they are always looking for students from America to get degrees. Knowing that I wouldn’t have to do it in German I would really like to do that.
Overall this day has been the weirdest day because the first half was so academic to the max and the second half was a mixture of biology and ice sports. It really is going well here and I am more than dreading getting back to a monotonous life of not world traveling. Another nerd nugget, we are all plant parasites
The dialysis machine information was defiantly my favorite academic portion of the trip thus far. I have had neither biochemistry nor anatomy but I still found much interest in this. The concept of using science to perform the biological function of cleaning the blood using the same basic tools is incredible. Getting to go inside the room and having a cool patient who let us touch the stent between the vein and the artery was certainly a treat. The little things in medicine such as a routine dialysis machine just blows my mind. They were routine with a procedure that is so innovative in my opinion.
The way that the German researchers are searching for advances in kidney medicine is stunning. The amount of information that the kidney researcher could just spout was incredible. He was so passionate about the kidney and learning about ways to manipulate its deficiencies. At the end of his speech he mentioned that they are always looking for students from America to get degrees. Knowing that I wouldn’t have to do it in German I would really like to do that.
Overall this day has been the weirdest day because the first half was so academic to the max and the second half was a mixture of biology and ice sports. It really is going well here and I am more than dreading getting back to a monotonous life of not world traveling. Another nerd nugget, we are all plant parasites
Tuesday, January 06, 2009
Jus' Jon 5
On January 1, 2009, after about 12 hours of sleep from Sunday, I awoke to a beautiful sunshinny blue skz. I felt like it was going to be a good beautiful day. It turned out to be an exciting day. Me and the guys went to Zoo Berlin to see manz animals. We were here for at least 3 hours. In this time period, we seen many unique animals like the India Rhino, Anacondas, Ducks, a roaring Lion, and more. For me, my favorite animal to see was Knut the adorable Polar Bear. I have known for some time that Knut was popular world wide. I first herd of the bear on World News. In fact, our professor gave us some info on Knut. He said that the Polar Bear is not a baby anymore, but a 200 kg Polar Bear. He said that his trainer died at, I think he said, 40 of a heart attack about a year ago. Getting back to the zoo, I got to see Knut in person. The Polar Bera was impressive as it perched on the rocks of its domain. It was so picturesque. After the zoo, we got a little to eat at the local Dunken Donut and off to the church for a tour we went. When we got to the church, the inside was just breathe taking. The art, the gold, the architecture, and the biblical stories on teh walls of the ceilings was just stunning. The Protestant Church even has a crypt with Fredrick the Great's casket there. AFter this, we went to the Checkpoint Charlie Museum. The museum is definentallz bigger on teh inside than the outside. We seen artwork, stories of people escaping from East Berlin to West Berlin during the Cold War times and teh times of the Berlin Wall. The museum even had an exibitof old cars from back in the day. They were interesting cars. From here, we took about 15 minutes to go to an American Sports Bar called Play-Off. We went here for thier special of all zou can eat ribs just for 5 Euros. 5 Euros for an all zou can eat is good because this is something zou hardlz ever see in teh states. I've never seen such a deal like this in the states ever. We all ate about 3 plates of ribs. I ate 64 ribs. This was the first time that I had had ribs. Therz were good. After this, we were all leaning because we had ate so much food, but we enjoyed it so much. After this, we all came back to our rooms to chill. I managed to get a souvenir water bottle that cost 2,63 Euros. This was more than the beer at the sports bar, which was onlz 2,49 Euros.
So far, my time in Berlin has been well spent and I have liked it all. I have enjoyed everz minute of it, and I look forward to more great times in Europe
So far, my time in Berlin has been well spent and I have liked it all. I have enjoyed everz minute of it, and I look forward to more great times in Europe
Like a Rolling Stone...
...not really, but I've felt like that lately. The day after my last post the group took a day trip to Dresden. A really nice-sized city with a lot to see, about a two hour train ride from Berlin. I was was probably my favorite spot up to that point. Then came Prague... after our day in Dresden, 10 of us took another 2-hour train ride over to Prague while the other 5 students, along with Dr. Wasser and Stefi, went back to Berlin. Our group spent two nights in Prague at this great hostel called Sir Toby's. We met a ton of people staying at the hostel and I got to call home for the first time in a while.
But we could all definitely tell we were in a different country. Prague itself was full of more English speakers than Berlin and seemed to attract more tourists. It's also a bit darker and more ominous than Berlin and the rest of Germany, with a more Transylvania feel to it, if that makes any sense. For these reasons and the fact that we had a great hostel experience, Prague has been my favorite city so far. It's a very walkable city with most of its worthy sites within a mile of each other.
After our first night at Sir Toby's, we spent the next day seeing as much of the city as we possibly could. First, we went to the Old Town Square for some shopping and picture taking. We made our way across the river and hiked up about 5 thousand stairs to the Prague Castle. From there we could literally see the whole city, it was beautiful. We got a bit to eat and slowly headed down this road to Charles Bridge, the famous bridge that I think was in the first scene of Mission Impossible... Anyway, the bridge is amazing and after we crossed it we met a guy on the street advertising a concert at the Prague Philharmonic, which was located about a block away. So we all went over to check it out and got a cheap student price for a concert with a small chamber ensemble with 8 players - 4 violins, a viola, fiddle, cello, and standup bass - who played some of the best music I'd heard in a long time. The concert lasted about an hour, and included recognizable pieces like Blue Danube and Ave Maria.
We spent our last night in Prague in the hostel pub with a few Aussies that we met: Tom, Aimee, and Mike. We played this game Pass the Ace that a few of us knew and we had a great time. We did some more shopping yesterday before we got back to Berlin. On our way to the bahnhof we saw this girl walking her dog and potbelly pig... that's right... her pig, on a leash. Lauren took a picture of it and the lady looked at us like "what are you doing...". So that was the weird experience of that city. Anyway, we got back safe last night, and today we spent our time in the Charite Medical Center in Berlin. First we took a tour of their pathology museum, then had a lecture on Rudolf Virchow, the founder of the pathology institute and museum. The museum had a lot of interesting specimens and was pretty cool altogether given how tired I was. This morning I woke up at 6:30 to go for a run, only to find that it was about 5 degrees F outside. Needless to say I didn't last too long, but still got in a good run around Charlottenburg.
Anyway, we had lunch at a cafe in the med center, and walked to another area for a guest lecture by Dr. Claude Witt, a doctor of complimentary and alternative medicine. It was a very fair, professional lecture, and built on what we learned in our first guest lecture on homeopathy. It actually turns out that homeopathy isn't as effective as it seemed, but is still worthy of study for sure. After that we hopped on the train to Hannover, took the subway to our hotel, and here we are. We got dinner at a local Tex-Mex place, which actually had great chili. We all had a good time now that we are all back together, and are looking forward to our time in Hannover, Goettingen, and eventually Amsterdam and Vienna. We've a very busy couple of days ahead, with hopefully enough time for some much needed laundry...
I love and miss everyone at home and hope everyone's doing well!
PEACE
Asher
P.S. It's supposed to be 3 degrees F here tomorrow... I can't wait...
But we could all definitely tell we were in a different country. Prague itself was full of more English speakers than Berlin and seemed to attract more tourists. It's also a bit darker and more ominous than Berlin and the rest of Germany, with a more Transylvania feel to it, if that makes any sense. For these reasons and the fact that we had a great hostel experience, Prague has been my favorite city so far. It's a very walkable city with most of its worthy sites within a mile of each other.
After our first night at Sir Toby's, we spent the next day seeing as much of the city as we possibly could. First, we went to the Old Town Square for some shopping and picture taking. We made our way across the river and hiked up about 5 thousand stairs to the Prague Castle. From there we could literally see the whole city, it was beautiful. We got a bit to eat and slowly headed down this road to Charles Bridge, the famous bridge that I think was in the first scene of Mission Impossible... Anyway, the bridge is amazing and after we crossed it we met a guy on the street advertising a concert at the Prague Philharmonic, which was located about a block away. So we all went over to check it out and got a cheap student price for a concert with a small chamber ensemble with 8 players - 4 violins, a viola, fiddle, cello, and standup bass - who played some of the best music I'd heard in a long time. The concert lasted about an hour, and included recognizable pieces like Blue Danube and Ave Maria.
We spent our last night in Prague in the hostel pub with a few Aussies that we met: Tom, Aimee, and Mike. We played this game Pass the Ace that a few of us knew and we had a great time. We did some more shopping yesterday before we got back to Berlin. On our way to the bahnhof we saw this girl walking her dog and potbelly pig... that's right... her pig, on a leash. Lauren took a picture of it and the lady looked at us like "what are you doing...". So that was the weird experience of that city. Anyway, we got back safe last night, and today we spent our time in the Charite Medical Center in Berlin. First we took a tour of their pathology museum, then had a lecture on Rudolf Virchow, the founder of the pathology institute and museum. The museum had a lot of interesting specimens and was pretty cool altogether given how tired I was. This morning I woke up at 6:30 to go for a run, only to find that it was about 5 degrees F outside. Needless to say I didn't last too long, but still got in a good run around Charlottenburg.
Anyway, we had lunch at a cafe in the med center, and walked to another area for a guest lecture by Dr. Claude Witt, a doctor of complimentary and alternative medicine. It was a very fair, professional lecture, and built on what we learned in our first guest lecture on homeopathy. It actually turns out that homeopathy isn't as effective as it seemed, but is still worthy of study for sure. After that we hopped on the train to Hannover, took the subway to our hotel, and here we are. We got dinner at a local Tex-Mex place, which actually had great chili. We all had a good time now that we are all back together, and are looking forward to our time in Hannover, Goettingen, and eventually Amsterdam and Vienna. We've a very busy couple of days ahead, with hopefully enough time for some much needed laundry...
I love and miss everyone at home and hope everyone's doing well!
PEACE
Asher
P.S. It's supposed to be 3 degrees F here tomorrow... I can't wait...
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