Wagner-Jauregg Orientation Day

On Monday, we arrived in Linz after traveling all day from Italy. We are staying with a fellow PMU nursing student, Melanie, who was kind enough to open up her home to us. Our first day at the Wagner-Jauregg clinic was a success. We arrived around 0730 to meet with an instructor who would give us a tour, find our scrubs, keys, ID card, and show us which units we would be on each day.

Our first class was Medizinische Grundlagen (Medical Basics). The topic of the day was depression since this is a psychiatric focused program. The professor was incredibly laid back and had the class in English. He acted for a majority of the class. He was acting as a suicidal patient and the students, in English, had to use therapeutic communication in order to get him to open up, talk about his thoughts of suicide and not leave the room. He left the room two times. So, the third time when he tried to leave, a student decided to grab his hand and pull him away from the door. Of course after everyone laughed, we discussed how this was not allowed. We discussed options on how to keep a patient with you such has positioning your chair between the patient and the door. We enjoyed how the professor made the students utilize what they have learned during the class time. He then went on to lecture more about depression and we learned about a syndrome identified by Erwin Ringe called Praesuitidale Syndrome.

We also participated in their English class. The students brought cakes and coffee as a welcoming party for us. It was a lot of fun and everyone was incredibly nice. The first part of their English class was just getting to know one another. Then we all played a game of Werewolves (a murder-mystery type game). The ending of class was an English lecture on competence in nursing. We then headed off to a nearby restaurant with some new friends from class to continue getting to know each other. Looking forward to now getting to spend some time in the hospital!