Stories of our students ****************************************************************************************** * Suman Sultana Sadique - student ****************************************************************************************** My name is Suman and I am a 6th year General Medicine student at the Charles University, F Medicine in Hradec Králové. I have always taken a keen interest in pursuing my career in t Ireland and I was able to get one step closer to my dreams by completing my pre-state prac at the Galway University Hospital! I was assigned to the team of Professor Chris Collins, a general surgeon who specialized i gastrointestinal surgery and bariatric procedures. The team comprised of Professor Collins a registrar in general surgery, Dr Lyndon Low, the Senior House Officer and Drs Niamh and interns. Under this team, I learned and observed a lot with regards to the daily lives of Republic of Ireland. I was quite surprised to learn how different the systems are when com Czech Republic. Every day of the week was spent differently and I was eager to learn more. in the operating theatre, day surgical wards, outpatient departments and regular wards. My 7.30 in the morning where the team would have their daily rounds on the patients. I then s of day assisting the doctors in various tasks, such as filling out charts, taking bloods f tests, performing cannulations, etc. Professor Collins is an extremely talented surgeon wh by every patient he meets for his hard work, dedication and compassion for them. Besides t his surgeries and clinical knowledge, he taught me proper bedside manner, etiquette and ho patients. Apart from my time in general surgery, I spent one week in cardiothoracic surgery under Mr one week in orthopedic surgery under Mr Shannon. Mr Soo is an excellent cardiothoracic sur passion for teaching. He was the first surgeon to introduce Endoscopic Vein Harvesting pro a public hospital in Ireland. Under his team I was allowed to observe a Coronary Artery By (CABG) procedure where each member of the team from the surgeons and anesthesiologists to perfusionists and scrub nurses allowed me to observe and explained every detail along the Shannon is an orthopedic surgeon who allowed me to observe various orthopedic procedures s and external fixations, epiphysiodesis and so on. He also taught me how to investigate rad orthopedic patients. Galway is a small, lively town. In a lot of ways, it reminded me of Hradec Králové. With a 80,000, the city boasted a vibrant city center that looked like it came out of a movie, wi buildings and cobblestone streets. The people of Ireland are well known for their hospital being a foreigner, I felt as though I was finally at home. The city lies along the coast a weather allowed it, I walked the Salthill Promenade that ran along the Atlantic Ocean. In would head out into the city and I even had the chance to explore other cities such as Lim the capital—Dublin. I organized trips to the beautiful landscapes that Ireland had to offe famous Cliffs of Moher and Howth, where I spent time to unwind and immerse myself in the l To conclude, I would like to say that I am truly grateful to the University Hospital in Hr and the Galway University Hospital the opportunity to complete my practice in Ireland. Wit co-operation of the department of surgery at FNHK, it would not have been possible for me experience. I have learned so much from my time there and I hope to utilize it to the best in the future. ****************************************************************************************** * Aprajita Bhorkar - student ****************************************************************************************** As a final medical student with an interest in pursuing neurology, I was extremely excited opportunity to do a clinical elective in the same field, at the University of Alabama in B The University of Alabama Birmingham hospital is a tertiary hospital, academic health scie and the third-largest hospital in the Southern United States. It is a highly reputed insti specializes in improving patient outcomes through research and clinical care based on curr practices in healthcare. In my role as a medical student and intern, I spent 4 weeks on the inpatient neurology ser alongside the other residents and attendings in the Neurology department, we would do roun patients daily and discuss their clinical cases, progress, and management plans. I encount range of neurological conditions including but not limited to seizures, strokes, periphera myelopathies, brain tumors, and pathologies, which didn’t always accompany their classic t presentations. It was exciting to learn and present cases to my team as well as perform ph use the EMR system to type notes and monitor the patient’s diagnostic, imaging, and labora average there would be around 10 – 20 patients a day on the service, of which I would pres daily and follow up with them for the rest of their stay at the hospital. The residents we kind, they would teach and guide me whenever they could. I also attended daily resident le by the neurology attendings at UAB and was allowed to assist with bedside procedures whene Attached is a photo of a lumbar puncture I assisted with! Working alongside the UAB residents to gain hands-on experience and practical training dur Birmingham has allowed me to improve and strengthen my performance as a student passionate I am grateful for the support of my home institution Charles University LFHK, my professor foreign relations department for the opportunity to have been a part of the UAB IVMS progr an invaluable experience to enrich my knowledge, not only currently as a medical student, future as a practicing doctor.