Uppsala, Sweden
Today, Andy told us about the differences in Swedish pharmacy education, and we shared our curriculum with him. The Swedish pharmacy students have a 3-year option to become a prescriptionist, or a 5-year option to become a pharmacist. Prescriptionists are mainly seen in community pharmacies, and pharmacists tend to do research or go into industry where they make drugs. Andy is a social pharmacist (as is Sofia). Students begin the pharmacy curriculum directly from high school, or after taking a year or two off to work and decide what to do with their lives. Therefore, a lot of their curriculum overlaps with our undergraduate prerequisites. The prescriptionists' curriculum deals mostly with the sciences and how to talk to with patients. The pharmacists' curriculum centers more on science, with very little focus on patient-centered activities. They do not even talk to patients until their final semester in which they work in a community pharmacy. When Andy finished this part of his coursework, he wrote a strong evaluation regarding the lack of pharmacist-like activities. He was more like free labor or a technician for a semester. Thus, the director of the program asked him to take over the internship planning after reading his evaluation. From there he became a teacher, then in charge of the internship portion of the curriculum. He now does research on the importance of reflective learning and patient counseling activities.We also got a tour of the BMC which is a very modern-looking building, although Andy and Erica didn't think so in comparison to other Swedish buildings. Lecture halls and laboratory faciltiies are similar to those we have back in Memphis.
For lunch, Josh and I returned to Bla (pronounced Blua). Sadly, they had a different choice of meals, but I've photographed them. I got the same Greek salad, and Josh had a tuna pasta. We also got small salads before our meals were brought out. There was red wine mixed in with the oil dressing today, and it was pretty strong!
After our morning with Andy learning about Swedish pharmacy education, we decided to complete our sightseeing in Uppsala. We visited the Linnaeum which is in the center of the Botanical Gardens. There were many trees and even cactus housed in the same building. The botanical gardens are huge, and we were able to walk through them. Sadly, nothing was actually growing as spring has only just begun in Uppsala. There is a tropical garden in a greenhouse as well with many trees and tropical plants.
After enjoying the Linnaeum, we walked up the hill to the Uppsala Castle.
It is visible from all over the city, and a beautiful view of the city is visible from the top of the hill. The castle was originally a fortress built to defend the city in the 16th century, but was destroyed by a fire in 1702. Parts of the castle were demolished, and the north wing of the castle was never rebuilt.
Bastions remain in honor of the castle's original purpose.
For dinner, Josh and I decided to visit one of the student nations. Nations are similar to fraternities, but students join them based on their Swedish homelands. There are 14 nations in all. We were told that the Norrlands Nation's Pub--Orvars Krog--is the biggest and the best one. They serve about 2,000 liters of beer per week just on tap. This is the most beer sold in Uppsala. The Nation overlooks the river.
I had the Robbo burger which this Nation is most famous for--it was very simple, cheese and a garlic dressing. Fries were included.
I tried two kinds of Czech beer from Prague--Starospramen. There was a lighter version and a darker version. I like the light one; Josh likes the dark one.
And this is just a pretty picture from a little bridge over the river that I like from today =)
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