AIB Vienna

The first thing we did in Vienna was a tour of the city with an emphasis on things of medical significance. Our tour guide was "Dr. Schnabel," a plague doctor, and we got to pretend we were in Vienna during the time of plague. Then we took a tour of the catacombs. It was really interesting to get to see actual graves, mummies, and bones from so long ago. We also got to learn a little about anatomy through the bodies and bones we were looking at. On

Wednesday we had a tour of the Josephinum, which is the medical history museum. This museum contained wax bodies with accurate anatomy that medical students used to learn about the body before dissections were used. The wax figures mainly showed how a body should look as opposed to pathology. I actually thought the exhibit for pregnancies was the most interesting.

On Thursday morning we were lectured by Prof. März about the Austrian medical school system. It was interesting to learn how the system differed from the U.S. and to discuss the pros and cons of both systems. Next we had a tour of the Narrenturm, which is a pathological-anatomical museum in a former insane asylum. This was extremely interesting, especially because many of the diseases shown were ones we had previously learned about in physiology class. That evening we went to a concert at St. Anne's Church. It was a string quartet playing well-known classical songs. The concert and the venue were both beautiful. I recognized most of the songs and also loved the few that I was not familiar with. I think I especially liked it because I play violin and the opening song was one that I had learned long ago.

 On Friday we went to the Sigmund Freud house and learned about where he lived and worked and about his life. Then we had a lecture on Freud and his work by Dr. Wasser in the Freud house. This might have been my favorite thing we did. I find psychology fascinating and getting to learn about it in Sigmund Freud’s own how was a great experience. Next we had a guided tour of the natural history museum. The museum was gorgeous and very interesting. I also enjoyed hearing Dr. Wasser sing “I like big butts and I cannot lie,” of course!