The Blaine County Journal News-Opinion - We've Got The County Covered

Rob Klingaman a 2013 Chinook High School graduate recently returned from a four week Medical Internship in Italy and this fall will be an Ambassador at MSU Bozeman for the Atlantis Project.

Currently Rob is a majoring in Organismal Biology with a focus in cell biology and neuroscience preparing to be to be a surgeon. He will start med school next fall. As of now Klingaman would like to do orthopedic surgery.

The medical field wasn't always Robs first choice, after graduating high school as the class Valedictorian he joined the United States Navel Academy with hopes of becoming a Helicopter Pilot but after a year and a half a shoulder injury cut that short.

"I chose it because the first time I went to see a doctor about my shoulder I saw probably 5 different people from the physical therapist to the initial nurse to the first doctor I saw to the Surgeon, and then the second time I went in it was just one person the whole time. The first time was awful, and the second time was phenomenal and amazing. I loved it. Then I realized I want to be a doctor so that I can fix people like me, who have bad shoulders (or back, or hips, or knees) that can't do what they want to do," said Klingaman.

Klingaman was looking for a summer internship and had been studying Biology at MSU-Billings. Originally he decided to go to Australia Scuba Diving off the coast of Sidney but then decided to look for medical internships and that's when he found the Atlantis Project.

The Atlantis Project is headquartered in Arlington, Virginia and is a collaboration group for Pre-Med students wanting to go outside of the country and see what medical students and medical facilities are like. This fall he will travel around the state as the regional contact for the group.

"You apply for, you get accepted, they offer financial aid, and then they give you multiple options and multiple countries and places to go. Then they send you with a group of other students to intern," added Klingaman. The internships are from four to eight weeks in length.

Klingaman chose to intern at the San Raffaele Hospital in Milan, Italy but before beginning his internship and after completing it he had other places to visit, "I actually did a little bit of traveling before and after, so the project was from June 6th to July 1st. I spent the first week in Frankfurt Germany, and then I did my Internship, and then spent a week traveling to the Czech Republic.

San Raffaele Hospital is a Medical School, and a Hospital all wrapped into one. "

"Something cool that they do since they are a research hospital is that they are 5 years, they do five years Medical School instead of four. The first two years are spent just on doing bookwork and figuring out what you'd like to research and what you'd like to go into. Then, the next couple of years you get to decide what you want to research and then actually implement that in the hospital," stated Klingaman

The Hospital is extremely busy seeing more than 7.5 Million patients annually. "The med school is amazing because a lot of the surgeons they have are also professors at the university. So, for instance, the number one people in gastrointestinal surgery, cardiovascular surgery, some of the top people in neurosurgery, are all located at that university and they're the ones that write the manuals and are producing the new research that we are using today," added Klingaman." I would say, it's not as strict as here in the U.S. it's more relaxed in what the students can and can't do. There's so much being done in the way of research and if the doctors and the government agencies approve what the students are doing then its implemented directly into the hospital within a year.

What's a typical week

as an intern?

"We would go in everyday, except for Wednesday (Which we had off), and start at about 8:00 a.m. and go till about 3 or 4:00 p.m. Each week you'd rotate, so based on the preferences you put down, they'd try and put you in with those doctors," explained Klingaman.

The experience was all you could ask for, "I got to see things nonsurgical like cardiology and pediatrics, which I wasn't super interested in but you know it's still great to see and awesome to follow those doctors and see how they do it over there," added Klingaman "I also got to see surgical things such as cardiovascular surgery and emergency surgery, and neurosurgery. So, you kind of get a little bit of all over the place, and each week you change."

Wednesdays were spent out of the hospital, "We did group excursions, so they would take us out to local areas, we'd go see some sights for a couple hours and then we'd go eat or whatnot. We got to travel north a couple hours to Lake Maggiore and then on weekends again you were totally free to do what you wanted to do," said Klingaman.

Rob took full advantage of his weekend and seen as much of Italy as he could, "I was able to travel to Rome, Cinqueterra, there are five little cities along the coast, to Venice, Porta Viarta (Italy), so lots of traveling."

While performing his internship they stayed near the hospital, "We had privately funded apartments off campus about forty minutes, you know walk, and then metro, and then bus to the hospital but it was always funny because we would go in and tell the doctors that we were staying in this place called Lambrate, its based on the metro stop year around and they would always laugh because they told us that was the ghetto of Milan," laughed Klingaman. "I went with 38 girls and 12 guys so we always had to travel in pairs, so it was a little sketchy, but we didn't have any problems."

What was your favorite

Intern Moment?

"My favorite would be, we were in vascular surgery and this guy was getting his entire Aorta replaced. I walked in and the patient was on the table, fully sedated, they were getting ready for the surgery, and it took them about two hours to prep for the surgery before they did any cutting open or anything. I was standing in the corner this whole time and no one else spoke any English except for the doctor I was following, and I didn't speak any Italian," stated Klingaman.

"When they started, they put this sheet over the guy, so you can't see anything except just this little square of what you're working on. They brought this scalpel out I've never seen, (I've never been in any really major surgeries), but it was like this little electric scalpel probe, and it singed things, so when they were cutting, there was no blood," Klingaman went on to explain, "They get it all set up and then they said 'Alright you can come here and stand on this stool', right behind the Doctor over the top onto the surgery and I could see this guys beating heart and his lungs inflating and deflating. The doctors are in there just holding it up and right there you could see the whole Aorta. It was phenomenal, nothing like it I'd ever seen before. They let me stand there for the whole surgery, so I get to see from when they clamped the aorta and cut, to when they put in a new replacement made out of synthetic rubber."

For Fun, what was the best part?

"Rome. Seeing Rome, I recommend that to anyone. If you get a chance please go! You could spend a week there easy and not see it all. They've got the Vatican, Trevi Fountain, then there are all the Cathedrals around, the Colosseum and the Leaning Tower of Pisa is not to far away."

Getting around Italy is pretty simple, "The train system and metro systems there are phenomenal. The cost of a train from Milan to Rome round trip is $80 (U.S. dollars), and you can get a seven day trail pass so you can just write the date from each day that you travel on this little pass and you pay $280 for seven days and you can ride it where ever you want to go'" explained Klingaman.

Klingaman's experience was fantastic and something he recommends for anyone interested in pursuing a career in the medical field, "I would definitely recommend it, and not just for the internship, but for going out in the world and seeing what the rest of the world is like. I did India last year, that wasn't an internship but similar.," stated Klingaman.

What's the comparison between the two,"It's totally different. Seeing how India healthcare works and then how Italian healthcare works. Their (Italy)healthcare is ranked number two in the world whereas ours is ranked number fourteen. So, you kind of want to see how they are at number two and you can compare and take things you like from one place and things you don't. Just to help you be a more well rounded doctor," said Klingaman.

Klingaman will fill out his applications for Med school this fall with the first being submitted on September 1. He is still undecided on where he will go, "If you go outside the US, the ones in the Caribbean are still four year, but the ones in London and Ireland and Italy, those are all five year, and that's because they don't have undergrad school. We go four years high school, four years undergrad, and four years medical school. They go straight into medical school out of high school," explained Klingaman.

What would you say to a student

if you heard they were interested in the medical field?

Rob Klingaman in front of the San Rafael Hospital where he interned at for four weeks in Italy. Above right: Klingaman and a few of his fellow interns pose for a picture together on their final day.

"I would say if you're interested in something, go for it. It's easier said than done, but if you think you want to be a doctor, go into a doctor's office or talk to your premed advisor at your school, and get them to get you into some job shadowing at the local hospital, or if you are thinking you want to do anything health related get your EMT license, be an EMT, just to get that initial step into the medical field because it's nothing like what you'd expect it to be like. For instance, I have never been in a surgery other than this past time, (nothing major, I've been in minor) and just seeing it, I didn't help out, didn't touch anything, I just watched, but now I know for sure that's what I want to do. So, I would say if you're curious about something, get in and see it, get in and do it, don't wait. Do it now," concluded Klingaman.

This fall he will serve as Montana's Ambassador for the Atlantis Project. The Atlantis Project is headquartered in Arlington, Virginia and is a collaboration group for Pre-Med students wanting to go outside of the country and see what medical students and medical facilities are like. This fall Klingaman will travel around the state as the regional contact for the group. He has said he is willing to talk to anyone who reaches out to him that is interested in pursuing the medical field.