ESP internship stories – Alice in Italy

Alice spent her last summer in Bologna, Italy at her physiotherapy internship. She has had some amazing internship experiences so we asked her to share her story in our 2nd episode of “Internship Stories”.

HOW DID YOU FIND OUT ABOUT THIS CLINIC?

 This clinic is in my hometown Bologna and it is really famous in Italy. It is one one of the best hospitals in my country. Fortunately, the hospital was in the database of the university, so when I had to upload my preferences I could easily put Rizzoli as the first one.

WHY DID YOU WANT TO SHARE THE EXPERIENCE THERE?

 I want to share my experience because I could learn a lot from it and I would like to be helpful for the next generations. I had the opportunity to work in a good hospital,  learning new things and enriching my skills and I would like to give advice to other students.

I had the opportunity to work in a good hospital,  learning new things and enriching my skills.

Alice Vivarelli

from Italy

WHAT IS THE MOST PRECIOUS MEMORY OF THIS INTERNSHIP?

I have a lot of precious memories but I remember one patient in particular. She is an 8 years old girl and no one could touch her except me. We established a good relationship and I will never forget the moment when she thanked me at the end of the treatment.

 

IN WHAT WAY DID YOUR ESP BACKGROUND ALLOW YOU TO ACTUALLY CONTRIBUTE OR BRING SOMETHING TO THE CLINIC?

During my first year at ESP we focused on orthopedic patients. During the internship, I could share the techniques and the knowledge that I learned from my university with the physiotherapists at the hospital. I already had a background in anatomy and pathologies so I could follow and understand the meetings between surgeons and physiotherapists.

Location wise the hospital is in one of the best places in Bologna.

APART FROM THE CLINICAL AND PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE, WHAT HAVE YOU ENJOYED THERE?

I liked the fact that all the physiotherapists were happy to teach me and to share with me their experience. They were always available to show me new or interesting cases. After the ten weeks, I had a really good relationship with most of them. Moreover, the hospital located in one of the best places in Bologna.

DO YOU HAVE ANY FATHERLY OR MOTHERLY ADVICE FOR THIS CURRENT GENERATION OF ESP STUDENTS?

Be aware that if you want to go in Italy you have to know the language because most of the patients and physiotherapists speak Italian and if you want to have a good experience you should be able to understand everything. Moreover, I think that this hospital is really good as a first internship because it focuses on orthopedic patients and it’s good to put in practice what you learned during the first year.

DO YOU HAVE ANY OTHER (FUN) FACTS TO SHARE?

I remember that especially at the beginning I could not take the patient history in Italian, or at least it was really weird for me to speak in Italian. During the first patient history, my Clinical Instructor was behind me, because I told him that I was able to take it alone. When I had to ask a question about the anatomy part, I had to turn to my CI to ask the Italian name of each muscle and each part of the body.

You should really know the name of each muscle in the Italian language. 

DID YOU HAVE ANY CULTURAL DIFFERENCES THAT AFFECTED YOUR INTERNSHIP?

I am Italian so I did not feel any difference because I have the same background and culture but I saw differences between the Dutch and the Italian way of approaching patients.

WHAT WAS THE STRANGEST OR AWKWARD MOMENT DURING YOUR TIME THERE?

I was in the ICU for 4 weeks during the internship and I remember that the first day I was a bit scared and anxious about it. When I went in I saw the cleaning time of a patient that was sedated and it was awkward to see all the procedures to clean the bronchi and the trachea. It was so strange that I almost passed out my first day.

I would describe this experience with one word: intense. It was professionally, mentally and clinically intense but I would recommend it 100%.

Alice Vivarelli

from Italy

 #espamsterdam

INTERNSHIP FACTS

 
NAME OF THE CLINIC Instituto ortopedico Rizzoli
CI Fabrizio Giacomella
TIMEFRAME from June until August 2017
PATIENT CATEGORIES orthopedic and traumatology patients
OTHER HEALTH PROFESSIONS surgeons, doctors, nurses and psychologists
For more info, you can always contact Alice via her Facebook page or via her email in the button below.

Contact Alice!

We would like to thank Alice for her amazing internship story,  if you have a story to share from your internship please contact us by email or use the button below.

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