stockholm syndrome

as i welcomed march, i bid adieu to the warmer weather heading copenhagen's way to say hello to the icy and chilly sweden and estonia for my weeklong tour with my medical practice and policy class.

some of the objectives for this trip included: showcasing examples of clinical practice and health care systems in different sectors and countries; broadening our view of the challenges that health care providers face; showcasing examples of research with clinical relevance; and exploring and learning more about stockholm and tallinn through exposure to the culture, history, and socioeconomic climate of the region.

we arrived in stockholm on sunday night, checked into our hotel that was located right next to the ericsson globe, the national indoor arena of sweden and currently the largest hemispherical building in the world, and had a super delicious vegetarian buffet dinner at a restaurant overlooking the city.

the next morning we woke up bright and early and made our way to gamla stan, the old town, and had the rest of the morning and early afternoon to explore the city. in about two hours' worth of time we had already learned how to navigate our way around much of the city, figured out the transportation system, and already spotted some go-to cafes for the next few days.

the stockholm royal palace, the official residence of the
swedish monarch (king karl gustav xvi and queen silvia)

our first medical stop was to the maternity and delivery ward in södersjukhuset, one of the largest hospitals in stockholm. the biggest delivery ward in sweden is also situated here, where every year over 7500 babies are born. maternity care is an integrated part of the healthcare system and is free of charge. the ward has a very peaceful, home-like atmosphere with all the added benefits of hospital equipment, where both the mother and partner can feel independent in the process, an aspect the midwives heavily emphasized. 

that night, after a dinner of traditional swedish meatballs (horse meat hopefully not included), mashed potatoes and creme brulee, a few of us went to the stampen jazz and blues club, a cozy historical jazz pub. it was the perfect way to spend a monday night in stockholm.

storkyrkan (the great church),
gamla stan's oldest church

the house of nobility

on tuesday, we visited the capio artro clinic, the location of the stockholm sports trauma research center. there, we spoke with dr. magnus forssblad, an orthopedic surgeon and the head doctor for the swedish national soccer team and watched a live-feed of surgery being performed on a 12-year old girl's torn acl. we also learned of the sports research being done at the clinic and received a tour of their physical training facilities, where we probably passed some well-known swedish skiers. however, due to my lack of swedish ski knowledge, i am unable to name drop here.

one of many candy shops

from there we went back to gamla stan and took a winter boat tour around stockholm. the air was pretty biting, but we were kept warm for a short while with the help of some traditional (and very hyped up) pea soup. surprisingly, it wasn't quite as green as i thought it would be and was pretty tasty.

that night, sofia (a fellow grinnellian who was on the trip with me) and i went to her swedish friend's  apartment for dinner, where we had swedish meatballs and mashed potatoes round 2: homemade style. dare i say, they were better than the restaurant version. it was a great time and some nice hygge away from denmark ;)

on our final day in stockholm we visited the swedish red cross clinic and learned a lot about sweden's support to both documented and undocumented migrants. some of my classmates had visited a red cross clinic in copenhagen, so it was interesting to note the differences between the assistance given to this group of people in various scandinavian countries. for example, in denmark it is illegal for a danish doctor to help an undocumented migrant, with a punishment of up to two years in jail, while in sweden it is legal and up to the individual doctor to decide how and if they wish to treat these patients.

the nobel museum, located in the
former stock exchange building

"vintage" penicillin

with our free afternoon some of us visited to the nobel museum, which is devoted to circulate information on the nobel prize and the nobel laureates from 1901 to present. it was a really fun museum, with tons of interactive exhibits, video clips, and tons of fun facts to do with anything and everything nobel.

the nordic museum

a view of the nordic museum from the water 

we made our last museum stop in stockholm at the vasa museum, a maritime museum that displays an almost fully intact 17th century warship that sank 15 minutes into her maiden voyage. oops. ironically (?) from there, we boarded an overnight cruise to take us to tallinn, estonia. thankfully, our ship successfully left the dock and was still above water at 9:00 am the next morning as we sailed into estonian waters.