Journal 1
Left KC. Flew through Newark to Lisbon and then on a prop plane into Bilbao. Was really excited to get the
chance to visit the Basque Country. Have been to Spain twice before. Studied 6wk in Barcelona Spanish during
undergraduate and also traveled for a week with family. Have been to Andalucía and all over Cataluña but never
to Basque Country. Wanted to go. Partly to experience Basque culture. Interesting. Cataluña is kind of similar in
having different language and culture but still Romance language. Had tried to visit San Sebastián while studying
in Barcelona, but it was July and San Sebastián is even more expensive than Barcelona. Trains in northern Spain
aren't great and flights/hotels very expensive.
My first week here I met with UNAV students who spent last summer in KC and another student who will be
going to KC this summer.
Very interesting to hear about differences between med school in US vs Spain.
Friday I met up with an American girl who grew up in KC and did undergrad at UMKC. Then she decided to go
to med school at UNAV. Through her I met a UNAV med student from Honduras and several students from
Heidelberg University in Germany doing a year of med school at UNAV through the Erasmus exchange student
program.
Students have told me about differences between training in US vs Spain. Most obvious difference is their
training is 6 years total instead of 4 years of undergrad and then 4 years of med school. They said that in
general med students in Spain have much less responsibility. The students who went to KU last summer were
surprised by how much they were able to do. They said that radiology is probably one of the better rotations at
UNAV because residents take more time to teach and involve students. Student schedules in Spain are much
easier. Clinical rotations last from 9-2 and then students have classes from 4-7. No one arrives at the hospital at
5-6am like we have to on many rotations. Med school is also much cheaper in Spain. UNAV is private so it is
more expensive than public med school, but it is still only a few thousand euro per year. However, salaries for
Spanish residents and attendings are much lower. Residents make around 1000 euro / month.
After 6 years, the students take almost a year off to study for a big test called the MIR. The MIR results then
help to determine what specialty and hospital the students will got to for residency. Unlike the US system, there
is no match. The highest scoring student on the MIR gets first choice of hospital and specialty and then students
just go down the list by their MIR score and are able to pick anything left available at their position.
Weather has been very rainy so far. Have been told that a lot of rain in Pamplona is normal at this time of year,
but that the rest of Spain and Portugal are getting a lot more rain than normal currently. There have also been
some really windy days. Several La Liga games were called off because of wind damage to the stadiums.
Journal 2
So far radiology at the University of Navarra had been great. Students on rotation do a week of abdominal
imaging, with CT for several days and US for several days. Students normally don't spend time on MRI, but I was
able to work for one day of my abdominal and week with a fourth year resident doing MRI. Abdominal imaging
at CUN is interesting with a lot of oncology including rare cases referred from all over Spain.
The second week I was on MSK imaging. Unlike abdomen, modalities are mixed throughout the day on MSK.
Instead of having separate days for CT, MR, etc., the MSK residents and attendings begin the day with plain
films. Then they read MRIs. Then they go to US, normally for several hours before lunch at 2. Ultrasound includes
procedures like plasma injections. Occasionally the MSK team will also do CT guided procedures. These were
more often biopsies, but I also got to see a really cool nerve ablation for sweating.
Third week was probably most challenging. Split between neuro, IR, and breast. Neuro can be difficult because
the anatomy is difficult. On IR, it can be hard as an observer to tell what is happening. And breast can be
difficult because findings are often subtle, especially to students. One thing that really helped on neuro is as that
a neurosurgery resident was rotating with radiology. She wants to do fellowship in th US and spoke better
English than many of the radiology residents. This was helpful. Got to see a really cool intraoperative MRI for
excision of a brain tumor. Was told that CUN is only place in Spain doing intraoperative MRI. Also got to see
cool IR procedure for aortic aneurysm.
Currently in my last week in Spain where I am doing chest.
Have had some cool weekends. First weekend in Pamplona, I went to San Sebastián.
During my second weekend, I went to Madrid. My first time in Madrid. Only went Saturday night because Friday
night trains were sold out. Went to a Real Madrid match. Fan of Arsenal in London but as neutral really cool
experience to go to one of worlds most famous stadiums and get to see Ronaldo and Bale.
Final weekend went back to Barcelona. Where I spent 6 weeks during undergrad studying Spanish so I know city
well. Went to a few sights that I hadn't had chance to see when I was there before. Had never been to Barcelona
history museum. Really cool ruins from Roman Barcelona buried underneath Barri Gotic and medieval cathedral.
Take and elevator down into ruins and walk on metal platforms. Like you're in Roman city.
Weather has been better also with less rain.