The Sjukhuset
This is how I start my patient encounters at the Karolinska Sjukhuset (literally, sick house or hospital).
I have taken exactly one 3-hour Swedish course (mind you I missed the first three classes so this was like getting thrown into the deep end blindfolded and in a straight jacket and was just as bad as passing into a more advanced level of beginners Spanish when I first arrived in Peru).
However, since my great grandfather, Joseph Youngquist's, immigrated from Sweden and my blue eyes and blonde hair make me look the part, Swedish, I figured I might as well try to learn how to count to 10 and say a few phrases.
I am doing a 4-week general surgery rotation which involves seeing patients in the endocrine, breast and general surgery clinics and scrubbing into cases in the operating room. There are no residents on our team - just four medical students (Christos from Greece, Swapan from India, and Ann Vogt and I from Minnesota). We are all living in the dorms (the newlyweds go back to college living and Seth says he did not sign up for this - dorm photo below!), but it's nice because we are only 10 minutes by bus to the hospital.
We arrive around 7:45 A.M. and change into our mandatory white scrubs (every hospital worker must wear these to avoid bringing in germs from outside and at the end of the day you put them in the hospital laundry and get a new pair). Then, we head to the wards to see some patients and then have fika, or "coffee and cake" break. There are coffee machines everywhere and it seems that everyone is looking for an excuse to have fika (it's the equivalent of Australians or the British taking morning and afternoon tea). After wards, we either head to the operating room or clinic and are finished in the early afternoon. Not a bad last rotation to finish up before graduation after nine years of rigorous college/graduate education!
(Ann and I in our white scrubs)
Infection control
Last week, we were unable to work for the first few days because we did not have our MRSA results yet and they have very strict infection control policies (unlike the USA where it is estimated that 1 in 3 patients who enters a hospital acquires an infection - make sure you remind your doctor to wash their hands!) We are not allowed to wear rings, bracelets, earrings, necklaces, nail polish, etc. The signs on the doors show photos of petri dishes with colonies of bacteria growing from these things AFTER someone had "thoroughly" washed their hands. I also learned that alcohol-based hand sanitizer is much better than traditional soap and water.
Stockholm Citybikes
Public transportation is amazing here! We can get just about everywhere by the metro, bus, local train, or good old fashioned bicycle. Seth and I bought 3-day passes for the Citybikes program this weekend and we got our money's worth as we have spent the past two days biking non-stop!
(We rode our bikes to the top of Mosebacketorg and out overlooking Slussen and Gamla Stan)
(Ann, Seth and Katie on Skeppsholmen with a view of the Gamla Stan on our bike outing)
This is a city made up of 14 islands and we biked on or around at least half of them this weekend. We biked from Sodermalm (where Mikael Blomkvist in "The Girl with the Dragon Tatoo" lives) through the old town, Gamla Stan, (where we watched the changing of the guards are the Royal Palace), and then over to Ostermalm (design district) and to the smaller islands of Skeppsholmen, Kastelholmen, and Djurgarden (where we visited the amazing Vasamuseet), and today we biked from Kungsholmen up to Lidingo Island (to see Millesgarden) - I can't think of a better way to explore a city!
(The changing of the guard at the Royal Palace Kungliga Slottet - quite a spectacle with a full band and everything!)
(Seth posing at Karl Milles' sculpture garden at his residence on Lidingo Island)
(Our single dorm room with a private bathroom - thank goodness it is only for one month!! We had to buy an air mattress and some blankets and sheets at the original 1960s IKEA)
(Gamla Stan - the old town - narrow alleyways and cobblestone streets with lots of restaurants, historic buildings and shops)
(Seth along the riddafjarden (canal) soaking up some sun after walking around all day)
This is how I start my patient encounters at the Karolinska Sjukhuset (literally, sick house or hospital).
"Hej hej, jag heter Katie. Jag talar inte svenska."
(Hello, my name is Katie. I do not speak Swedish.)
I have taken exactly one 3-hour Swedish course (mind you I missed the first three classes so this was like getting thrown into the deep end blindfolded and in a straight jacket and was just as bad as passing into a more advanced level of beginners Spanish when I first arrived in Peru).
"Hur ar det?"
(How are you?)
However, since my great grandfather, Joseph Youngquist's, immigrated from Sweden and my blue eyes and blonde hair make me look the part, Swedish, I figured I might as well try to learn how to count to 10 and say a few phrases.
"Hur sager man "even though I look it, I am only 12.5% Swedish" pa svenska?"
(How do you say "even though I look it, I am only 12.5% Swedish" in Swedish?)
I am doing a 4-week general surgery rotation which involves seeing patients in the endocrine, breast and general surgery clinics and scrubbing into cases in the operating room. There are no residents on our team - just four medical students (Christos from Greece, Swapan from India, and Ann Vogt and I from Minnesota). We are all living in the dorms (the newlyweds go back to college living and Seth says he did not sign up for this - dorm photo below!), but it's nice because we are only 10 minutes by bus to the hospital.
"God morgon!" "Good morning"
We arrive around 7:45 A.M. and change into our mandatory white scrubs (every hospital worker must wear these to avoid bringing in germs from outside and at the end of the day you put them in the hospital laundry and get a new pair). Then, we head to the wards to see some patients and then have fika, or "coffee and cake" break. There are coffee machines everywhere and it seems that everyone is looking for an excuse to have fika (it's the equivalent of Australians or the British taking morning and afternoon tea). After wards, we either head to the operating room or clinic and are finished in the early afternoon. Not a bad last rotation to finish up before graduation after nine years of rigorous college/graduate education!
"Jag ska ta en kurs i svenska och kirurgi"
(I am taking a course in Swedish and surgery.)
(Ann and I in our white scrubs)
Infection control
Last week, we were unable to work for the first few days because we did not have our MRSA results yet and they have very strict infection control policies (unlike the USA where it is estimated that 1 in 3 patients who enters a hospital acquires an infection - make sure you remind your doctor to wash their hands!) We are not allowed to wear rings, bracelets, earrings, necklaces, nail polish, etc. The signs on the doors show photos of petri dishes with colonies of bacteria growing from these things AFTER someone had "thoroughly" washed their hands. I also learned that alcohol-based hand sanitizer is much better than traditional soap and water.
Stockholm Citybikes
Public transportation is amazing here! We can get just about everywhere by the metro, bus, local train, or good old fashioned bicycle. Seth and I bought 3-day passes for the Citybikes program this weekend and we got our money's worth as we have spent the past two days biking non-stop!
(We rode our bikes to the top of Mosebacketorg and out overlooking Slussen and Gamla Stan)
(Ann, Seth and Katie on Skeppsholmen with a view of the Gamla Stan on our bike outing)
This is a city made up of 14 islands and we biked on or around at least half of them this weekend. We biked from Sodermalm (where Mikael Blomkvist in "The Girl with the Dragon Tatoo" lives) through the old town, Gamla Stan, (where we watched the changing of the guards are the Royal Palace), and then over to Ostermalm (design district) and to the smaller islands of Skeppsholmen, Kastelholmen, and Djurgarden (where we visited the amazing Vasamuseet), and today we biked from Kungsholmen up to Lidingo Island (to see Millesgarden) - I can't think of a better way to explore a city!
(The changing of the guard at the Royal Palace Kungliga Slottet - quite a spectacle with a full band and everything!)
(Seth posing at Karl Milles' sculpture garden at his residence on Lidingo Island)
(Our single dorm room with a private bathroom - thank goodness it is only for one month!! We had to buy an air mattress and some blankets and sheets at the original 1960s IKEA)
(Gamla Stan - the old town - narrow alleyways and cobblestone streets with lots of restaurants, historic buildings and shops)
(Seth along the riddafjarden (canal) soaking up some sun after walking around all day)
Weather
The weather is getting nicer - daily highs in the 50s and sunny with lows in the 30s at night. It reminds me of Minnesota spring and all the trees are budding and the flowers are starting to bloom. It is a great time to be here because Easter is a HUGE holiday - not as a religious holiday, but as a secular one full of traditions of painting eggs and getting together with family and friends. It is seen as a chance for all the urban Swedes to escape to their summer cottages for the first time after a long, dark winter. Everyone takes a 4-day weekend (at least) and goes to the beautiful Baltic coast or archipelago or into the countryside. We have been invited to Seth's Macalester friend, Kris Ekelund's cottage, and can't wait to tell you all about it!
Glad Pask! Happy Easter!
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