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A new Italian heart Last June I took part a clinical exchange in Campobasso, Italy in the Department of Cardiology. It was a long way to achieve this goal: exams, meetings, documents, presentations, letters, tickets and visa. When I arrived there with my friend we couldn’t believe in our own eyes. I was in Italy, in the country with such rich history, culture, architecture, music, and friendly people. It was a great opportunity to practice my English and Italian as well as to work in a European hospital. I was excited to improve my medical skills and knowledge. The Department of Cardiology of Antonio Cardarelli’s Hospital consisted of six beds with monitoring of vital parameters by EKG and visual monitoring for intensive care unit patients; thirteen beds for post intensive therapy patients with EKG monitoring as well. There was also Department of Coronary Angiography in the basement. The head of the department is a professor at University of Rome, who went to Campobasso to develop the coronary angiography program. Our tutor, Dr. Guan Ludovico Magri, is the head of the Cardiology Society in Florence. Our working days lasted for five – six hours. They could start in four ways: outpatients, doctor’s round, emergency or coronary angiography. Together with Dr. Magri, we provided outpatient care through learning how to take a clinical history of cardiology patients, performing EKGs, which was my first real clinical experience, observing EchoCG. In the Emergency Department we got acquainted with a protocol in case of an acute myocardial infarction. It’s quite surprising how angiography was performed almost in all cases we found. Doctors were aspirating clots via balloon dilatation.
www.ifmsa.org
Maria Chibireva
NMO: TaMSA-Tatarstan Kazan State Medical University, Tatarstan - Russia arina.sozinova@kazansmu. com
There are three of four planned angiographies performed by the best doctors of province Molise (Campobasso is the capital) on Tuesdays and Thursdays. All doctors and specialists had to guide patient visits, discuss the most complicated cases, their diagnoses and decide the respective treatment. The doctor/patient relationship was truly amazing, and it reflected some cultural differences between Italy and Russia. Both doctors and patients were always friendly, gentle, smiling and making jokes. Unfortunately, it is an exception rather than a rule in our country. We had so much fun with Italian students during international dinners, visits to gelaterias and other amazing places. They helped us with everything we needed. Afterwards we traveled a lot: Siena, Pisa, Florence, Rome and Venice. Italy is a beautiful country! I’m very grateful to everyone that helped me on this journey. It was an unforgettable experience: I improved my language skills, I learned a lot not only about Cardiology but also about the Italian health care system, their culture and history. Now I have new friends from all over the world. A new world that is also mine!