RAMS International Summer School 2018: Innovation in Cardiology
9-13 July 2018
Day 1
The kick off! Yesterday evening students arrived in the beautiful Nijmegen and after we got together we went for a small tour of the campus. We ended the evening at the Waalkade, where we went for a beer on the Kaaij during sunset.
We started early today with an introduction by Prof. van Royen and the chair of RAMS! After that, some of our sponsors got the chance to speak: Amgen, Sanofi Genzyme and Bayer. This was followed by an interesting lecture on anatomy and physiology by Dr. van Dijk, followed by a skills lab by Dr. van Wetten, where students all got the chance to dissect a heart on their own.
We then had a delicious lunch in the sun after which students got a lecture by Lucien Engelen on the Radboud Reshape Center, where innovations in healthcare were highlighted. Students were all very enthusiastic and participated in the discussion afterwards.
Finally, students were introduced to their PhD students in order to elaborate on a cardiology related subject. The afternoon was spent working on this group assignment, which will result in a presentation this Friday afternoon. A long, interesting first day, after which everyone was rewarded with some pizza. We headed to a pizza house to create our own pizza’s, where some of the international students showed their hidden pizza-making talents.
The day ended with the RAMS pubquiz hosted by Pieter Monté, where the international’s team beat the committee’s team!
Day 2
Today’s goal was to find out who’s at risk and how can we diagnose heart disease?
The day started with a lecture about cardiovascular risk factors and prevention from the perspective of general practitioner Drs. ter Berg, and also Dr. Smeijers from Amgen indicating PCSK-9 inhibitor drugs (evolocumab) could prevent heart attacks and stroke by dramatically lowering LDL cholesterol levels. We also followed interesting lectures from Dr. Nijveldt on Cardiac MR imaging and Dr. van Dijk about Echocardiography, two main diagnostic tools to diagnose heart disease.
The practical session was saved for the end of the day. After an introduction of innovations in echocardiography from Philips’ application specialist in cardiac ultrasound, dr. van der Voort, we got the chance to practice in groups of 6 with an echocardiography of Philips. Students were very active and eager to figure out how to get the best images from the heart.
At night, most students went out for a dinner at the Waagh and watched the match between Belgium and France at café Samson. While most of us supported Belgium, we saw what happened to the happiness of our Belgium students.
Day 3
Halfway there! What’s a Summer School on cardiology without at least a day of interventional cardiology? That’s why this whole day was about the TAVI procedure. We started with an interesting lecture by MD Gehlman and MD van der Wulp on one of the Radboud specialties: The TAVI procedure. Especially the (theoretical) advantages of using the subclavian artery compared to traditional femoral arteries were completely new to the students. This lecture was followed by a video of a TAVI-procedure to prepare the participants for the afternoon program.
After a short presentation of one of our sponsors, Bayer, on anticoagulants (NOACs) and atrial fibrillation, students were able to acquire some hands-on experience by performing a TAVI-procedure on a system called “The Beating Heart” by Abbott.
The last few hours of the afternoon, the students worked on their group assignment. We’re really looking forward to seeing their final presentation on Friday! We ended the day with a delicious meal at the Gelagkamer.
Day 4
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!
Day 5
The final day of the Summer School has arrived. On friday the students have taken on the role of teaching and presented their final results of the group assignments. There were five groups that have each taken the spotlights and explained the topic. Each presentation ended with a 5 minute pitch about the innovations in that perticular field of Cardiology that are being researched. Some of them even let their imagination on the loose and invented innovations yet to come!
After the pitches of the group assignments the participants officially completed the Summer School. The certificates were handed over one by one, while the participants could take their spotlight in front of the crowd while receiving their certificate.
And last but not least the day was concluded with some networking drinks at Café de Aesculaaf and a complementary barbecue at café Piecken.
