Wednesday, May 25th ~ Zagreb, Croatia: Andrija Stampar School of Public Health, Medvedgrad Fortress

Katherine

This morning the whole group went to the Andrija Štampar School of Public Health, which is a part of the University of Zagreb. We took a group photo on the steps of the school, which is included in this post. It is named after Andrija Štampar, who is thought of as the Father of Social Medicine. He believed highly in community health and that the community should agree on what they can tolerate for their health. Andrija Štampar's beliefs and work have shaped and directly built the health care in Croatia. 

At the institute we were fortunate to have two lectures from Dr. Vera Musil, MD and Dr. Ante Cvitković, MD. Dr. Vera Musil spoke to us about the health care system in Croatia. She gave us a detailed breakdown about how the health care system is organized and financed. One thing that I found interesting is that insurance is mandatory for every citizen. No matter if you are employed or unemployed you must have insurance. There are checks in place where insurance is provided for everyone, no matter their status. Health care is equally provided for all. She taught us a lot and I left feeling like I had a greater understanding of their health care system.

Dr. Ante Cvitković then gave us a brief lecture about public health issues that have directly affected a county called Brodsko Posavska (Slovanski Brod). The three case studies that he presented to us were a case on clean water, a case on clean air, and finally a case on a rare kidney disease called Endemic Nephropathy. The most unique case that he discussed was the case about Endemic Nephropathy. This disease is found all over the world in sporatic amounts and is very rare. What makes this case interesting is Endemic Nephropathy is highly concentrated in the county region. At this time researchers know that it is not genetically based but cannot determine what is causing this to happen.

After our time at the Andrija Štampar School of Public Health, we had lunch at a restaurant called Maksimir. We had another five course meal, including a cold course with salted meats, cheese and olives, salad, soup, a main course of various meats and vegetables, and a cherry pastry. We all enjoyed the meal and a break before heading out again.

When lunch ended, everyone piled back onto the bus and headed for the "Grazing Station." At the Grazing Station we learned that they do research on various grasses and determining which grass provides the best nutrients to produce the healthiest animal. We spent time walking the grounds and petting the cattle and looking at the various grasses, which are pictured above. The land sits up on a hill and has some of the prettiest views, one of which is pictured above.

Lastly we stopped briefly at a mid-13^th century fortress called Medvedgrad. It sat in the middle of the hills and over looked the entire city of Zagreb. The castle had two lookout towers and a moat to protect the residents from the devastating invasions of the Tartars. There was also an octagonal church on the grounds, which was a unique architectural addition. A lovely photo from Medvedgrad is included.

So far, the weather we have had during our trip has been amazing. It has been perfect for traveling around the country and exploring all of these sites. I hope that it stays this way. It is great to wake up every day knowing you are going to learn something new and see something you have never seen before. Again, I cannot wait to see all there is to come!