Hello! 5th years, especially, this is for you. If you are planning your final year and thinking of what hospitals to go to, I am sharing my experience at Szent Imre Oktatókórház in the 11th district in Budapest. I’ll be giving all the details.
So I started my rotational year with Internal Medicine at Szent Imre Oktatókórház. I had requested to complete all 8 weeks in the Nephrology department and I was granted that. My practice started on the 3rd of July till the 25th of August.
ARRIVAL
I arrived on the first day at Human Resources in the F building (first floor) by 9am. The staff were nice. One spoke english and could give me all the information I needed to know. I wrote my name and details on a bunch of sheets basically confirming my arrival. I was given a document to fill and told where to go (and where I could submit the document). I completed the medical check-up on the ground floor of the K building (room 0018, I believe) at the Occupational Health office and went then upstairs to the 5th floor of the K building for the briefings.
It was hot and stuffy and we were so many in the room. The entire thing was in Hungarian. There were not enough seats and so many of us stood for over an hour while the briefings took place. A few sheets were passed round again for us to fill. I basically just followed the rest of the crowd since I didn’t understand much of what was going on. When the briefings were over, I asked what I needed to do next and I was given a signed document to return to the HR office and told I could go to the department to introduce myself and then go home for the day. At HR, I got a yellow lanyard with a card showing my name, status and department on it and told I would need to return it on my last day.
The Nephrology department was on the 1st floor of the K building. I found one of the doctors there and she told me to be there at 8am to begin the day and at the Referálo ( I have heard this word so many times and still don’t know what it means, but it’s basically the meeting room where morning meetings and other meetings among staff are held) at 9am.
DAY 1
I arrived as instructed and met other students (all Hungarian students completing their 3rd year Internal Med practice). We were allowed access to the doctor’s room where we changed and stowed our stuff in the lockers. We waited around in front of the department until 9am and then joined the meeting (completely in Hungarian) and afterwards we were each assigned to a doctor who was going to be our supervisor. We were basically supposed to shadow them.
I got a female resident doctor who spoke perfect English. She described everything that happens in the Nephrology department, the kinds of patients they get and what she gets to do. I was able to tell her about the reports we needed for Internal Medicine and she said she would do her best to help me get the case reports ready. She was very kind and helpful throughout my stay there.
EVERYDAY SCHEDULE
I arrived everyday between 7:40 and 7:45. There’s a Spar across the road and a Lipoti next to the courtyard entrance so sometimes I could grab something quick there to eat. If not, I would go straight up and wait.
By 8am, I was walking around from ward to ward with my supervisor. We did the first patient checkup. A basic physical with BP readings to just basically assess how each patient was doing and which patients were more urgent than others. I carried around the BP machine and made notes in the first 2 weeks and by week 3, she could trust me to carry out the preliminary exams on my own.
I was in the Referáló by 9am and meetings went on for about 30 minutes on average; could be more or less. Afterwards, it was a day full of patient care, phone consultations with specialists and tons of paperwork. When there was an interesting procedure to be performed by ones of the specialists, we were told ahead of time and we got to see it.
There were ward rounds by 1pm or 2pm (it was usually announced in the morning meeting) and the senior consultant leading the rounds asked for us students to prepare to present a patient’s case and he would ask questions about it. It was a bit nerve-wracking the first time but my supervising resident helped and since I was actually doing the work with her, I knew most of the details about the patient. After the rounds, we could leave. Some days were shorter and some were longer but this was the average day’s activites.
VISITING OTHER DEPARTMENTS
By week 4, I asked my supervisor if I could check out the Gastroenterology and Cardiology departments for a week each. In the description of the Internal Medicine rotation, the proposal for the final exam was 3 topics to discuss, including cardiology and gastroenterology, so I wanted to cover these bases. When applying, remember I had asked for all 8 weeks in Nephrology so this would have to be an unofficial thing. She checked with the other doctors and said it should be fine but I would need to go to the clinic departments I was interested in and ask for the heads and get their approval. I did this and was approved. In both departments, I was also assigned to a supervisor who gave me tasks and was responsible for me. There wasn’t much difference in the everyday schedule at the other departments.
THINGS I GOT TO DO/SEE
Multiple physical exams, ABG measurements (astrup), catheter insertion, cannula insertion, renal biopsy, blood transfusion, hemodialysis, peritoneal dialysis, ascites puncture, amongst others.
In the Gastroenterology and Cardiology departments, I was able to see other procedures and perform more tasks: ECG analysis, endoscopies, echocardiographies, ERCP, biopsy sampling, lavage procedures, etc. Unfortunately I also got to fill in my first real death certificate in the Cardiology department.
OVERALL EXPERIENCE
It was really great- one of the best practices I’ve had in Hungary. I got a lot of hand-on experience. My supervising resident was amazing and she helped me a lot with getting the case studies I needed for the completion of the practice. 8/10, would recommend.
THINGS TO NOTE
- If you are completing your practice here in the summertime, you will be with other students completing all kinds of practices: both summer practice and rotational year practices. This explains why the briefing room was so full when I came the first day. There was a stark difference from when I completed my surgery rotation there in January and we were no more than 20 in the briefing room.
- If you need to run an errand or complete something (basically leave early/skip a day for whatever reason), most of the doctors are nice about it. You just need to inform them so that they can account for your whereabouts.
- On your last day, try to visit HR early to hand in your lanyard because they close earlier on Fridays (I think by noon). I am unsure what the penalty is for not turning it in but I didn’t want to risk it.
- Take the following with you: active student status, chest X-ray results, proof of HBV vaccination, stethoscope and scrubs/white clothes.
INTERESTED?
If you are interested in completing any practices there, you will need to send an email to student[at]szentimrekorhaz[dot]hu. You need to fill this form and attach it to your email. Replies come quite fast, within the day or latest by the next day. Once your practice is approved, send the certificate of acceptance for all the rotations you plan to complete there with your details (A. section) filled. The form contains all the information you need to know to complete the registration, so be sure to prepare them ahead of your practice. Good luck!
Author’s note: All pictures inserted in this blog post are from Google as I did not know I would be managing this blog months later but I plan to get better and clearer pictures and add them to the post before the rotational year begins so students know where to go. Be sure to revisit this blog post prior to your visit.