Hola from Holland- Week 4

This week is a bit shorter because we come back from our weekend on Tuesday instead of Monday. Either way, this was a week that was funner and more intriguing than what I thought it

would be. I was hoping my host would be nice and very helpful. She ended up being just that. My host Baukje Andela, was really  great. She made sure that I was comfortable and taught be a lot about Holland.

We had some interesting lectures while visiting the faculty. I enjoyed comparing how the curriculum  of Holland and Europe is very different compared to the US. In Europe they have 6 years of straight study of veterinary medicine while we get 4 years of vet med education after 4 years of undergraduate studies. Even if US vet students don't get started earlier studying vet medicine, we are a bit more well-rounded because we are forced to study other subjects like political science and technical writing. We also get more time to figure out if we really want to do veterinary medicine. European vet students are just coming out of high school and don't have time to explore other subjects. However, education is covered in Europe. So even with the competitive nature of veterinary medicine, they have one less guilt of being more into debt. I cannot wait until universal education is accepted in the states. We had lots of discussions with the other hosts about all the differences. Both curriculum are good and bad in their own ways. Maybe in the future the two can be combined to make a nearly perfect curriculum.

My favorite lecture was the lecture about the Lab animal research section of the facility. The professor talked about a lot of small mammal handling in which I had learned in my lab animal club wet labs. It was very exciting to hear some of the similarities and differences. I really enjoy all of the tools and cages they had out to show what they did in their research. I kind of wish that I could of showed my rat handling skills but I do understand them wanting to prevent issues like the rats possibly biting someone, even if they were pretty friendly.

We had tours of two of the facility’s hospitals, the Horse and companion animal hospitals. The horse one was rather interesting but the companion one caught my interest a bit more. I really like the aesthetic of the waiting room. They even had some poles that could be used to tie dogs to. We got to look into the exam rooms and the main treatment area that is also used for vet students and veterinarians to talk about the student’s cases. There was even a area on the first floor (second floor for the US) that had computers and a study area for the vet students in the companion hospital. That would be great to have whenever someone needs to research something. We got to see a few other rooms but the one that impressed me the most was the intensive care unit. It had clean cages that were off the ground. There was vets in the room to watch the patients and there were even cameras so that the owners can see their pets while they are in the IC unit. I understood though when they explained that they would cover the camera and leave notes when they were drawing blood or doing other procedures so that the clients would not freak out. I really liked the exotic ward. It was separated from the dog and cat areas and even had its own waiting room. I was kind of said we did not get to see much of the exotic ward but I was glad we got to see a bit of it at least.

One thing that I did not realize would make this week so great was hanging out with our hosts every evening. We did not hang with all the host every night because some of them had papers or rotations to do. Yet, the ones who did have time took us out to have fun in Utrecht.

After saying goodbye to our hosts, on the last day of our study abroad program we stayed in Amsterdam. We had a walking tour with this great tour guide. She knew a lot about Amsterdam and told us about some of the secret stuff that not many people get to know about. I loved it the best that we got to try some Holland cheese. That was delicious. She also told us about the symbol of the 3 Xs that does not represent the red light district. That symbol was meant to help sailors to know that they have been to or are in Amsterdam. That was really interesting to find out. I made sure to buy a shirt for my fiance.

Now is the end of the trip. I really enjoyed myself through this whole trip. I learned so much. However, I am really glad to go to Italy to visit my godfather soon. I am starting to miss the US. I can't wait to go back home.