In Search of Oompa Loompa's!

Today we went to meet Eva at the Rigshospitalet (The Royal Danish Hospital), where she works as an oncology pharmacist. We had to take a bus there and then of course, we didn't know exactly where to meet her so we stood at a corner knowing she would come looking for us. Once we met up with Eva, we went inside and she showed us a presentation on the hospital and its pharmacy.  Eva made sure we had some great danishes and strong coffee or tea.

One of the interesting facts we learned about her hospital pharmacy is that they are much more production oriented than we are in the United States. In her facility, they make tablets, creams, infusions, nutritional products, eye drops, suppositories, and other products. We discussed the differences between clinical pharmacy in the United States and in Denmark. It was interesting to hear that in Denmark the pharmacists mainly look for drug interactions and double check dosing calculations; they don't routinely do things like assess the appropriateness of therapy or adjust dosing for renal dysfunction. Also, pharmacists do not usually contact the physician unless there is a major problem. Eva also said that Denmark is debating where their clinical pharmacy will go, but that it will probably be different from practice in the United States.

After our meeting with Eva, we caught the bus back to the hotel and then walked to the train station to head to Malmo, Sweden. The roundtrip train ticket was around $25 dollars per person. The train was interesting as it went through an under-water tunnel for part of the way, then over a bridge the rest of the way over the sea. Once we got to Malmo all of the blondes in our group felt at home as Sweden was full of blonde haired people, which is completely opposite of Italy and Greece where everyone had dark hair.

In Malmo we went in a local pharmacy called the Apoteket LeJonet, which is over 100 years old and is the oldest pharmacy in Sweden according to one of the staff members. We were able to take pictures of the building but not the products. All pharmacies in Sweden are owned by the government so they don't allow pictures of their products to be taken because they don't want other countries to see what they have for sale and their prices. However, this summer Sweden is changing their policies and will allow pharmacists to own their own pharmacies. We continued to walk around the city looking at shops and going to a chocolate factory for a tour. Unfortunately when we found the shop (factory) they did not offer tours and did not have Oompa Loompa's, so we just smelled the wonderful aroma of chocolate instead.

In the evening we headed back to Denmark for a relaxing evening. We found a local bar offering drinks for 10 kroners (about $2) along with great live music. We stayed there for a while listening to the music and having a few drinks. Eventually, several students decided to conduct their assigned interviews with people about the healthcare system.  I think a couple girls even interviewed the musician during one of his breaks.  We haven't heard the reports of what they found out yet, but I'm hoping for some good information because they were talking to their new friends for quite awhile.

Total miles walked: 12.3

John

P.S. Just a note that we may have less internet access in the coming days as we travel to Paris tomorrow.  Thanks for following along!