Over half of the program but we definitely still had some very interesting things to do and see!
The main focus of today was on causes of heart diseases, namely congenital heart diseases. Professor dr. Oostra from the University of Amsterdam department of Embryology and Anatomy gave an illustrative lecture on Cardiac Embryology and the segmental sequential analysis. This is a step-by-step method of describing and diagnosing congenital heart diseases. Afterwards, we headed to the Anatomy Lab to put this into practice. We saw a diverse range of malformations in congenital heart remains, such as the Tetralogy of Fallot, Siamese conjoint hearts, and many more. It was a unique experience, considering these hearts have been collected over many years and now that many children are operated on, there aren’t many new preparations donated to science.
After lunch Professor Maas, cardiologist of the Radboudumc specialised in gynaecardiology and founder of ‘Hart voor Vrouwen’, elaborated on the gender differences in heart diseases. We learned a lot about the differences in causes and presentation of acute coronary syndrome in women, so it was very useful for the clinical setting.
Last but not least, dr. Meeson had just arrived from Schiphol airport after her journey from the Newcastle University department of Regenerative Medicine. She told us more about her research in Stem Cells and Cardiac Regeneration. Surely an innovative field within the Cardiology!
We thanked her for coming all the way to the Netherlands with some Dutch souvenirs (stroopwafels and drop).
In the evening we had an optional program. Some met up at the Waal beach (Waalstrand) to watch the sunset while roasting marshmallows on the bonfire. Others went to the Eminem concert or had some drinks in town! Hopefully, everybody will be fresh and crisp for the final presentations!
