Submitted by Brooke Oxenhandler on the 2024 Winter HLTH program in Rome …
Exploring Hospital Hallways and City Walkways in Rome
My second week shadowing in Rome has been filled with incredible experiences inside of the teaching hospital and out. After finishing up my week shadowing in the Oncology department, my group spent Saturday on an excursion to the small town of Orvieto. We woke up early to take the train and accessed the main part of town via Gondola lift! We took a pottery class, ate lunch in a charming local restaurant, and admired the beauty of both the town and the mountains surrounding it from their stone viewpoint platforms. The next day we went back into the center of Rome to visit a few important landmarks we hadn’t seen yet and went shopping. The Spanish stairs were even cooler than I expected them to be, and the view from the top was amazing!
Week 2 of my hospital shadowing consisted of both Dermatology and ENT departments. While the 3 days I spent shadowing a dermatologist were mostly watching routine screenings and appointments, I truly did enjoy it. Seeing the differences in the way appointments are conducted in Italy versus at home was enough to keep my attention, even when the patients were not expressing their concerns in English. When I moved to ENT for day 4, I finally got to view my first surgical procedure in Italy. The first operation was the removal of a tumor from the left side of the patient’s neck, which was much faster than I had anticipated. The second procedure was much more involved, which included the removal of a squamous cell tumor from the soft palate, and the replacement of the tissue there with a flap from the patient’s right forearm. Two teams were working on the different places simultaneously, and it was fascinating to see everything come together. They also used the DaVinci machine for the procedure, which was incredible to see in person! The next day my group went on rounds with the inpatient staff of the ENT department, and we were able to see these same patients just hours after being in the OR! It was amazing to see how quickly some of them could recover from such invasive surgeries; it is truly so inspiring for anyone working towards a career in medicine. Although I am upset that I am about to begin my last week in Italy, I know it will be full of more great opportunities and memories to come. (Submitted on January 24, 2024)
Living as the Romans Do
This past weekend, my entire study abroad group traveled to Florence, Italy and we all had an amazing time! We traveled by train on Friday after we shadowed for the day, and got there just in time to have the most amazing pizza right near our Airbnb. We went shopping and stopped in an authentic Italian leather shop, and saw the stunning jewelry lining the famous Pointe Vecchio bridge. Everything was so walkable and the people were all so nice! We did some extra sightseeing and even had an American-style breakfast before heading to Rome on Sunday.
After we got back, we started our last week of shadowing in the hospital, where I was placed in the plastic surgery department. The doctors in plastics were very accommodating and spoke lots of English; one of the residents gave us crash course lessons on anything we could possibly ask him about: types of cancers they operate on and their treatments, different ways to suture during surgery, you name it! I witnessed some super interesting surgeries that I had never even heard of in the United States. We saw some skin graft procedures and some rare tumor removal strategies that I hadn’t heard of before this experience!
Since we were traveling over the weekend and missed our planned excursion, our city manager booked us a pasta making class instead. We had lots of fun learning from the best on how to make certain shapes of noodles and how to cut pork cheek correctly for a perfect dish of Tagliatelle all’Amatriciana. We also made a tasty ricotta-based dessert which added the perfect cherry on top of a fantastic meal!
While I am devastated our time in Italy is coming to a close, I am extremely grateful for the time I had to experience so many amazing opportunities and for the friends I made along the way. Italy will now forever have a special place in my heart. (Submitted on January 29, 2024)
