Uniklinik, FC Koln, und Examen

Did you know they actually expect you to do school on these study abroads??

Joking aside, I have been enjoying my classes alot. History of Medicine is very interesting. Learning how disease was treated and how doctors approached different issues often leaves us thinking, "What in the world were they doing?" They have also been busy, as our first round of tests was this week. They went well (German and Physiology), and I am feeling good about how the semester is going. We also have progressed in the Enmodes project. After presenting our problems to the Enmodes engineers, we received the three tasks that they want us to work on for the remainder of the semester and were divided into teams. Mine is a good balance of BIMS and BMEN majors, and we have Jessica, the communications major, so I feel like it is a very strong team, and I am excited to see what we come up with.

Last week we had the opportunity to go shadow at the Bonn medical school/surgery center. I was placed in the outpatient ORs and got to see a variety of operations from ENT to plastic surgery to orthopedics. It was a great educational experience, and I enjoyed the variety of surgeries I got to observe. I spent alot of the time talking to the anesthesiologists and learned alot about what they do during the operations. Once the surgeries were completed, Ana, Sebastian, and I had an adventure trying to find Sebastian's clothes. He had used a different changing room than Ana and I, and after leaving the outpatient OR, he could not remember how to get to that room. Over the next hour, the three of us wandered nearly every floor of the hospital in search of his things. Fortunately, we finally found them and were able to find the exit much easier.

I did not travel this weekend, instead deciding to stay in Bonn to prepare for my tests this week. While Sunday was spent mostly studying, I did go to Cologne on Saturday to watch an FC Koln soccer match. FC Koln is currently in the second division of the Bundesliga, the German soccer league, but are fighting for a promotion spot to the first division this season. The atmosphere at the game was fantastic - the stadium seats about sixty thousand people and was packed - and Koln was able to overcome an early deficit to win the game 3-1. From chanting along with the fans for the star scorer Anthony Modeste to enjoying the Wurst and Bier served at the concessions, it was a fantastic experience, and I definitely want to go to some more games while I am here.