Today was our fourth day in Bilbao! In the morning we had two amazing lectures from professors at the University of the Basque Country. Our first presentation was from Inigo Ruiz, a professor from the school of nursing. He shared with us the nursing education in Spain and how it differed from the United States. One clear difference is how clinicals are structured. In Spain, nursing students have a number of months in the hospital depending on the year. Whereas in the United States, we have clinical starting our second year and run the entire school year along with our classes. He also shared with us the research he has done and the real world impacts it made. He shared with us how he researched the reuse of medical devices and found that in the United States there is a doctor reusing pacemakers from deceased individuals, sterilizing them, and reimplanting them into patients. He wondered if he could do the same thing in Spain. Since there are strict laws on reusing medical devices, he could reimplant the pacemakers in Spain, but he was able to give them to a doctor in India to implant them into his patients. We then heard from a mechanical engineering professor, Mikel. He discussed the interdisciplinary process of developing a medical device. We went into depth on the development of prosthetic limbs and how engineers work with not only the doctors, but also the patients to develop a useful and effective prosthetic. 

After lunch, we took the metro to a cooking class! Along with my peers, we made tortilla and gilda pintxos as well as a delicious dessert. Since it was rainy and cloudy, we decided not to take the funicular up the mountain to see the views. Instead, Professor Saioa took us on a little tour of downtown Bilbao. She showed us some cool shops and cafes. We did some shopping in old town then headed back to the hotel for some much needed rest