The first day in Bilbao was amazing! It started off with a great breakfast followed by going on the metro for the first time. We then visited the Basurto Hospital for international nursing day. We listened to multiple presentations from nurses, biomedical engineers, and other professionals about the Spanish healthcare system and its many strengths. Some of these strengths include free healthcare for all citizens and a primary care focus. Following the presentations, we talked amongst the professionals that were giving the presentations. It was very interesting to hear what they had to say whether it was about their research in the biomedical engineering field or whether they preferred LeBron or Michael Jordan (they preferred LeBron).

Next up on the trip we were headed to the Biobizkaia Health Research Institute. Here we were giving an opportunity to look at how they 3-D printed prosthetics for patients. They also used the printers to create models of humans parts or organs so surgeons could practice surgery on the fake parts instead of a real human. The printers were very advanced (as pictured) and were able to preform very exact prints of the body parts. One example they showed us was a silicone esophagus that was used for surgeons to practice on. That was very interesting to see as it is something I never would’ve thought a 3-D printer would be used for. Finally, we finished our day going over the upcoming itinerary at the Bilbao School of Engineering.