Spain Health Care

To  sum up this weekend, we were basically beach bums living in a tent. Friday morning we got on a train bound for the coast. Specifically to a city called Tarragona. Once we got to Tarragona, we bought some groceries and then got on another bus that took us up the coast a ways to a place called La Mora where we had reserved a tent on the beach. The best way to imagine this tent is like a Harry Potter tent, that looks small from the outside but on inside has an entire bed and a kitchen. It was located right on the beach with turquoise water. The first day, it was raining, so we stayed close and checked out the nearby beach and walked out in the water a little. This is the view from our tent after it had stopped raining.  The next morning, we set out to explore the coastline, we hiked up the coast exploring all the beaches and coves we came across. The weather was incredible, and we spent lots of time soaking in the sun and snorkeling in the coves looking for fish and sea cr

This week I spent 19.5 hours of observation in the pharmacy of the hospital. When I found out that I was assigned to the pharmacy, I was initially reluctant, assuming that it would be dull. However, it turned out to be a great experience where I learned a lot and worked with some really cool people. The doctors and residents were very welcoming (most other departments were more closed towards us) and they had a thorough schedule to allow us to see all aspects of pharmacy use in the hospital and its export of medicines to other clinics in the area. Some of the notable things that I learned/ observed/ experiences in this department were: 1) How to make certain combinations of medications and nutrition into IV bags 2) How to prepare cancer drugs and treatments 2) How to transport medicines to outlying clinics 3) How to distribute medicine to current patients in the same hospital 4) How clinical trials are performed 5) How to use computer software to test dosages and scheduling of m

Summer and I decided to stay in Zaragoza for the weekend instead of traveling anywhere. Our main objective was to spend some time at the River Aquarium and explore Summer's old mission areas. We also did some bouldering at a local climbing gym and ate Colombian food! Starting out of Friday morning, we went to Bulderland. It was very nice to stretch out our muscles and spend some time climbing together. We then set out to find a place to eat lunch. We found a Colombian restaurant. I knew it was Colombian because a saw a sign advertising a specific fruit juice that I used to drink all the time in Colombia. Its called lulo and is pretty much the best thing ever. We ate sancocho and it was very delicious. Definitely a throwback to my mission.  After lunch we went back to our apartment and enjoyed a relaxing evening together. I worked on some homework and then we watched a movie. The next day we went to the River Aquarium of Zaragoza, the largest of its kind in Europe. I

A day in the Life First we wake up around 6:30 am and get dressed and ready for the day. At 7:00 am we go down for breakfast. A typical breakfast here consists of a bocadillo which is basically just a ham and cheese sandwich on crunchy bread with some pineapple juice and fruit. At 7:20 am Summer goes back up to the room to work on her classes, and I head to the hospital. It takes about 30 minutes to get there. I first catch the metro to a certain plaza and then catch a bus a few blocks away that will drop me at the front door of the hospital. I go up to the 2nd floor to the Traumatology department. The first hour is usually a meeting with all the doctors and residents in the department where we would go over new patients and go over previous cases and surgeries. Then around 9:00 am everyone would split and go to their different places. I would go down with one of the residents to the operating room where we would stay until around 2:00 depending on the surgerie

On Friday morning Summer and I got on a train bound for Bilbao in the northern region of Spain. It took around 4 hours and then we checked into our hotel. We then walked around a park close to our hotel, where we ended up on top of a hill with a great view of the city. It was very green everywhere. Saturday morning we got on a bus and went to the coast. We hiked along the coast and out to an island called San Juan de Gatzelugatxe. The island is connected to the coast by a man-made path. The island was very pretty and had natural arches, cliff faces, and a little church on top. It had an incredible view of the ocean and back towards the mainland. It was 360 degrees of amazing views. We then hiked back and spent a couple hours on the beach and exploring along the coast. We ate some lunch on the sand and enjoyed some sun.  We then had to catch a bus back to Bilbao, and decided to try a local dish that one of the doctors in the hospital told me that we needed t

Our first rotation in the Hospital Clínico Universitario Lozano Blesa started Monday morning at 9:00.  There are 12 of us in the international healthcare internship program. We were each assigned to a different department in the hospital. I was assigned to the digestive department. I observed doctors and residents for approximately 20 hours this week, averaging a schedule of 9:00 - 14:00. I started out each morning with Enrique and Pablo. They are both in the last week of their residency, culminating an 10 year education path. (6 years of school, no undergrad) and a 4 year residency. We started off each morning with a meeting in which we went over the new patients and ongoing updates of current patients. We passed by to visit each one, usually around 15 patients. There were patients with a wide variety of digestive issues ranging from excessive diarrhea to internal bleeding to cancer. One morning we had a patient that was completely out of control attacking and screaming at everyone