Bavarian students visit Saskatoon - part 2

My eight-week rotation at the Department of Pediatrics at the Royal University Hospital has been the best experience of my medical studies. The warm welcome, the excellent organization, the outstanding teaching quality and the open-minded people made this time special for me. That is why I would like to share my impressions and recommend everyone apply for a rotation at RUH in Saskatoon.

First of all, I was very impressed how organized and well-structured the whole internship was. Prior to our stay, Gayla in the UGME office helped us at each step of the admission procedure. On our first day we got an introduction tour around the campus. They set up a great rotation plan in the pediatric department and organized all necessary documents and system authorizations that we needed on the ward.  

We were heartily welcomed into the pediatric ward and very quickly integrated into the team. Every day started at 7:30 am with a handover from the residents of the night shift. After the handover, every student was assigned to approximately three patients. From 8:00 am to 9:15 am we had time to examine the patients. I loved the time with the children in the morning the most. Watching the children recover and the little ones growing and developing every day left a deep impression on me.

At 9:15 the whole team of physicians, nurses, speech language pathologists, dieticians, pharmacists and social workers gathered together and current issues were briefly discussed. Then the rounds with the consultant started. Every student presented his patients to the team and a plan for the day was discussed, thereby every team member was involved in the decision-making. This great interprofessional collaboration was an inspiring experience for me.

After rounds we had time to fulfil our duties such as writing progress notes, discharge notes or admitting new patients. However, no single day passed without teaching lessons from the residents or consultants. On Wednesdays we had lectures of the most important topics in pediatrics, on Tuesdays there were teaching sessions for the residents, which we joined, and the rest of the week we just sat together with a cup of coffee and chatted about topics we wished to talk about. There was a great enthusiasm for teaching I have never experienced so far. Every day ended with a handover, where we presented our patients to the residents for the upcoming night.

These two months in Saskatoon encouraged me to become a pediatrician and I am very thankful to have been given this great opportunity to visit Saskatoon and meet inspiring people.