Last month in Buffalo

Hi everyone!

This time it is unfortunately the last time I share my experiences with you: It is about my last month, still at Roswell Park; I could see a lot of different departments in Medicine. Every Monday and Friday I was at Head & Neck in the mornings, in the afternoon at GI. The other days I was either at the Myeloma, GI or Neuro Oncology clinic. Depending on how many patients come each day I usually stayed for roughly eight hours in the hospital. At Roswell Park you have the opportunity to see very interesting and rare cases, so especially as a medical student it is worth it rounding in different departments.

Apart from the opportunity to see a lot of different departments, this month I could travel a bit in the State New York and because of Labor Day – a national holiday in the US – I even went to Montreal, Quebec. First a little bit about Montreal: C’est si bon! This French-speaking city is considered the cultural capital of Canada and is a cosmopolitan celebration of Québécois style. Walking around the cobblestone streets and grand buildings of Vieux-Montréal gives you a taste of European flavor. I visited the Basilique Notre-Dame, a confection of stained glass, and I loved the Plateau Mont-Royal district with its quaint boutiques and cafés. The national dish in Quebec is poutine, which is French fries topped with squeaky cheese curds and brown gravy and was created in the Centre-du-Québec area in the late 1950s. Montreal chefs would make poutine to feed their staffs but had not dared to put it on their menus. That is why for many years, it was perceived negatively and mocked, and even used by some to stigmatize Quebec society. And nowadays, poutine is celebrated as a symbol of Québécois cultural pride.

In the State New York I went to Lake Ontario, Rochester and of course Niagara Falls. Rochester is a city on the southern shore of Lake Ontario in western New York and about 120 km east of Buffalo. This city was one of the United States first boomtowns due to the Genesee River Valley. Until 2010, the Rochester metropolitan area was the second-largest regional economy in New York State, after the New York City metropolitan area. Lining the streets of Park Avenue are cafes, shops, pubs, and restaurants. But what I liked most was the beach at Lake Ontario and the colorful trees nearby.

Niagara Falls is absolutely a must to see, especially from the Canadian side because from there you will have a beautiful view on the falls. At nights there is even a light show! On the Canadian side, Queen Victoria Park features gardens, platforms offering views of both the American and Horseshoe Falls, and underground walkways leading into observation rooms. The observation deck of the nearby Skylon Tower offers the highest view of the falls, and in the opposite direction gives views as far as Toronto! From the U.S. side, you absolutely need to go to Goat Island, from where there are the Three Sisters Islands and a walking path that enables views of the the Niagara River, the gorge, and all of the falls.

Last but not least I would like to thank you for reading my blog and for your interest in my experiences in the U.S.A.

Réka Lumbach