Q&A about the Bachelor’s Programme in Biomedicine: Second Year Edition

31 March, 2024

Hey guys,

Now that I am about halfway through my second year at KI, I thought I’d answer some other popular questions I’ve received from you.

1. How is winter in Stockholm?

Very cold, but super beautiful! An exquisite delicacy for my optic nerves! So, don’t forget to stay warm and add as many layers as possible beneath your jacket ?

The realm of the eternal winter; Credits: Vlad Popescu

The snow digesting the entire landscape; Credits: Vlad Popescu

The nature is literally freezing; Credits: Vlad Popescu

2. How many courses have you had in Flemingsberg so far? How can you get to Flemingsberg?

I only had 3 courses in total: Genetics, Genomics, and Functional Genomics; Tissue Biology and Pathology.

There are many options, but I recommend taking the train as it’s quite fast, and a trip from T-Centralen to Flemingsberg will take less than 20 minutes.

Flemingsberg train station; Credits: Vlad Popescu

3. Did you enjoy Tissue Biology?

A lot! Not only did I have the opportunity to explore all the tissues in the human body and study the function of each of their structures, but I also learned a lot about stem cells and their involvement in the latest tissue engineering approaches.

The lab project was also exciting as we had to design an experimental plan on how to perform immunohistochemical staining of different liver tissues….which involved a lot of calculations!

Attending the lab project calculation seminar; Credits: Vlad Popescu

Microscopy practice; Credits: Vlad Popescu

4. Are there any longer vacation periods during the academic year?

Of course, we have 2-3 weeks of consecutive vacation during Christmas and Easter. In the schedule, these holidays appear as “Individual Study” periods and, as the name suggests, you are supposed to spend some time studying for the upcoming exams. My advice would be to book your flights well in advance as the prices during the holiday season can get more expensive than you can imagine!

Also, take into account that if you fail an exam, there is a high probability that the re-examination will be around Christmas…

Flying back to Romania for Easter so that my family can satisfy all my culinary cravings; Credits: Vlad Popescu

Luxor being territorial over me after he found out that I was going back to Sweden at the end of the Easter break; Credits: Stela Popescu (my mom)

5. How is KI Campus Solna?

Absolutely gorgeous!

The only strange encounter was with a mischievous squirrel that attacked me while chasing an acorn!

The naughty squirrel I befriended on campus on my way to the physiology labs! Credits: Vlad Popescu

Aula Medica building on KI campus Solna; Credits: Vlad Popescu

6. What was your favorite lab experiment that you performed during your second year at KI?

The bacteriology lab and the virology lab within the course “Immunology and Microbiology” are my absolute favorites! Isolating and cultivating bacteria that grow on my body was hilarious and terrifying at the same time, whereas dealing with viruses was super impressive!

Studying the morphology of infected cells after 24 hours incubation with a certain virus; Credits: Vlad Popescu

Analyzing the cytopathic effect can be difficult at first, but then you get used to it very quickly; Credits: Vlad Popescu

Macroscopic analysis of bacterial colonies; Credits: Vlad Popescu

If you have more questions, do not hesitate to contact me by email!

I'm Vlad, your Romanian blogger who comes from the very homeland of Dracula, Transylvania. While completing my first degree in International Business, I based my undergraduate thesis on the inconsistency of biological analogies in Economics. I began to study the genomes of ants and thus gravitate towards Biomedicine and KI. I chose Karolinska because of its academic and research excellence and because one day I wish to be able to make a difference in the field of Cancer Genetics. Visiting the remarkable collection of preserved medieval manuscripts from the Kungliga Biblioteket is on my bucket list.

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