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"

Week 2- Berlin

We are starting to get the hang of this train thing.  This morning was a train ride from Wuppertal to Berlin, where we will be for the next 5 nights. 

Once settled in our hotel, we headed out to explore Berlin & spent a few hours wandering the Tiergarten (Animal Garden). 

Strolling the Tiergarten

                 

Berlin Victory Column in the center of the Tiergarten

Train track view from our hotel room (Berlin has some impressive graffiti)