"Now It's Your Turn To Stitch"

This story is about the first time I stitched a real patient.

It was my 7th day in the general surgery department at my summer practice. I scrubbed for a routine thyroidectomy procedure, which I explained in my last post that it is a procedure made to remove the thyroid gland from its anatomical position in the neck. 

The patient was a young women, well, in medicine 46 is still young. 

She grew up in a small town in Eastern Europe, and as a child she was exposed to the radioactive remnants of the Chernobyl disaster in 1986. This exposure during childhood result in a disease of the gland that evolved to cancer. She underwent an ultrasound examination of her thyroid by an endocrinologist (like every women should have after a certain age, in certain countries), when she was informed of her situation and sent to us for a thyroid gland removal.

My Very First Time At An Open Heart Surgery

That day, that special day, happened at the end of 3rd year during summer practice.

I was part of a general surgery team for a month. That day we had three short operations. 

All of them were in the field of surgical endocrinology, which means the surgery of the hormone secreting glands in our body. 

Two of the operations were thyroidectomy, which means removal of the thyroid gland located in your neck. You can try to palpate it, but you probably can’t, well, if you could feel it maybe it’s a good time to go to the doctor. 

Should I Study Italian In advance?

Hello dear friends,

I have been asked this question several times and to be honest, I didn't learn Italian before I came to Italy. Was it a good idea? well, In my opinion Its a great benefit to be able to speak and understand from day one, however, if you don't have the time to study Italian before, you can do it when you are in Italy.

In most of the cities you will find courses for foreign students, from basics to more advanced ones.
In my university we have Italian classes in our university's syllabus.
From the academic aspect, you don't really need Italian until the 3rd year of medicine when you step in the hospital for the first time. Until then, Italian is for the everyday use.

If I need to sum it up, I would say make an effort to study Italian, at least the basics before.
But if you don't find the time don't worry! you will be able to catch up.

Good luck!

First Year Medicine Books | Review and Recommendations Part 1

Hey everybody,

First of all, congratulation! you are now officially medical students =)

In the first year of medical school you will study some basic science and basic med-school subjects as; Chemistry, Biology, Genetics, Histology, Embryology, Anatomy, Biochemistry etc..

As you know, lectures are important as well as taking notes, however, when you get home when your academic year is over, your book is your best friend. In Part 1 I'll give you the most recommended books for chemistry, biology, physiology and anatomy with my own personal notes.

The city of Pavia | Overview

Hello everybody,
In this post I'll try to show you a bit of the city of Pavia because it is important that you know the
city you apply to study medicine here in Italy.

Pavia is a small city located in the south-western part of province called - Lombardy.
Its population is ~70,000 people include the ~22,000 students (Italian and foreigners).
Pavia is very close to Milan (about 30 minutes in train) and to the coast of Genoa (about 1 hour in train).