VP of Parliament & Off to Dresden

 This morning we had breakfast and left our Berlin hotel bright and early with suitcases in tow!  After stowing our bags in lockers at the train station, we headed over to the German Parliament Building.  

German Parliament Building

We were greeted by the Vice President of Parliament (quite a big deal!), Ulla Schmidt, of the Social Democratic Party.  She spoke about leadership, her role as Vice President, and the future of interdisciplinary healthcare.  It was a short, but very worthwhile visit!

Our group with Ulla Schmidt, VP of the German Parliament

After a 2-hour train ride from Berlin to Dresden, we unpacked at our A&O hostel & grabbed some lunch. 

A few blocks from our hostel, we met to take a tour of the Museum of Hygeine.  Sounds pretty weird...but was actually very interesting!  

At the Hygiene Museum in Dresden

We explored the exhibits about "the transparent man", living & dying, sexuality, and dance.

 The Transparent Man (

http://www.dhmd.de/index.php?id=787)

From the Hygeine Museum, we hopped on some bikes to make our way to another destination.  We didn't know that our bikes would be a spinoff of our Minneapolis pedal pubs...

Our 7-person bike

 (Michelle's photo)

Biking through Dresden

 

Gorgeous views along the Elbe River

(Traci's photo)

Our bike tour led us to the Saxony-Anhalt Chamber of Pharmacists.  We chatted with some of the pharmacy chamber pharmacists and other pharmacy students.  A German pharmacist from the nearby Dresden University Hospital presented about clinical pharmacy. 

Afterward, the entire group discussed pharmacy school in the USA and compared compounding practices.

After enjoying BBQ for dinner (Sarah's photo)

Visit to ABDA

The first half of the day was relaxing for most of us.  Some of the group checked out a Jewish museum.  

My morning was pretty uneventful, until my 40-turned-70-minute run, when I was lost in the Tiergarten.  Never have I been so happy to see a sleeping homeless man.   

Berlin's Tiergarten ("Animal Garden")

The afternoon consisted of our visit to ABDA (Bundesvereinigung Deutscher Apothekerverbände).  We first had a tour of the building. 

Library/treasury with huge vaulted doors

 

ABDA's building

We listened to a presentation and discussed the tasks & structure of ABDA, the organization's education of pharmacists, quality assurance, & other projects they are working on.  ABDA's Federal Union of German Associations of Pharmacists represents the professional and economic interests of all German pharmacists.  

Some main differences I picked up on between ABDA & the United States' APhA (American Pharmacists Association) is that there is not as much advocacy for change within the profession and its future.  ABDA creates structure and organization within German pharmacy in accordance with many rules and laws set for pharmacy as a profession.  It seemed to be similar to a board of pharmacy.

APhA creates numerous opportunities for student pharmacists, while ABDA currently does not have roles for students within its organization. 

Our group at ABDA

Ministry of Health

Since we visited more of (previously) West Berlin yesterday, we checked out East Berlin today.

Humboldt University of Berlin

 

Memorial to Nazi book burning ceremonies that occurred in the square (Bebelplatz)

St. Hedwigs Kathedrale

 

Neue Wache building with sculpture of Mother with her Dead Son, a WWII war memorial

Berlin Cathedral

Crossing Museum Island

Jewish synagogue

We made our way to the Ministry of Health (Bundesministerium fur Gesundheit) as special guests to meet the Vice Secretary of Health, Annette Widman-Mauz.  We met with Ministry of Health staff (pharmaceutical professions expert, Head of protocol, etc) in the Executive Boardroom. 

Before our discussion in the boardroom

After being received by the Vice Secretary of Health, Dr. Julia Striezel gave us a presentation regarding facts & laws about pharmacies in Germany, and current issues in pharmacy.  

It was very interesting, and sparked a lot of questions among our group.  

Some of the current issues in German pharmacy include: emergency pharmacy services especially in rural areas, mail-order and online pharmacies, the pharmacist concept/ future of the profession, and dispensing of medications post hospital discharge.

At the Ministry of Health (Vice Secretary of Health, Annette Widman-Mauz on right)

In the evening, we stopped by the Bundestag (German Parliament) to visit with Peter Bayer, a member of the German Parliament.  He spoke on topics such as TTIP (Transatlantic Trade & Investment Partnership), health insurance, and fracking for oil in Germany. 

Inside the Bundestag

With German Parliament member, Peter Bayer

Once the APPE work was done, went to dinner and explored a little more of Berlin. 

Sounds like a good idea

Sarah & I at dinner

Exploring after dinner

          

     

 Stolperstein (Stumbling Stones) commemorating Jews after the Holocaust

"Ich bin ein Berliner"

This morning our preceptor, Nick, gave us a tour of Berlin!  We checked out the Parliament buildings, Brandenberg Gate, Holocaust Monument, and Berlin Wall.  There was certainly a lot to see:

Nick explaining our surroundings

Reichstag Building

Sinti & Roma Memorial

Long line in the road is where the Berlin Wall used to be

 Brandenburg Gate

 

Pariser Platz

 

Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe

 

Walking through the Memorial

 Ampelmann (unique street signals from former East Berlin)

 

Remnants of the Berlin Wall (original graffiti was only on West side, East side was blocked by fences & guns so people wouldn't escape)

 

Remnants of the Berlin Wall in its original place

In the afternoon, we visited the University of Berlin (Freie Universität Berlin), where we heard a presentation about clinical pharmacy in Germany.  The University of Berlin is particularly involved in microdialysis development and pharmacometrics (PharMetrX). 

Nick introducing our group before the presentation

We heard a bit about the pharmaceutical care network Europe (PCNE), and a presentation about pharmaceutical care in Germany.  A clinical pharmacy PhD student is currently researching implementation of a medication plan into pharmacies and health record systems.  The medication plan uses a scannable barcode to allow for continuous updates, and better patient care between the patient's providers & health care settings.  At the University of Berlin, a medication management center will be put together very soon for continuous research and development of pharmacuetical care services, and awareness of this area of pharmacy. 

With some Berlin pharmacy PhD students & professors

After hearing more about pharmacy at University of Berlin, we took a tour & learned more about some of their research.

6th semester pharmacy students working on cholesterol & lipid level testing

Diagram explaining microdialysis

The University of Berlin is doing research using microdialysis, which is a sampling technique used for continually measuring a concentration (of a drug, for example) in the extracellular fluid of tissue.

Microdialysis machine

Corey w/ the HPLC machine (high-performance liquid chromatography)

Electrode machine that measures bacterial CFUs (colony-forming units) in ~10 seconds, versus the standard which takes ~20 hours

Pharmacokinetic modeling

 Research done by one of the PhD students-  linezolid & meropenem antagonism is seen when treating MSSA

Later that night we went to dinner, for some Spanish tapas & sangria :)

Pig feet

Heidi's huge dinner- a single "mushroom head"