Oulu

Why come to Oulu Oulu, the lively centre of northern Finland, is located on the shore of the Gulf of Bothnia and about 150 kilometers from the Arctic Circle. Despite of its northern location, summers are warm and the pedestrian street Rotuaari in the centre of the city is full of summer events and inhabitants of the city, as well as people from other places. On the other hand, November through March , Oulu offers a beautiful, white winter. Oulu is also known for its friendly and open people. Nature is always close at hand of Oulu and at summer, nigthless nights are worth experiencing. Oulu briefly

  • Location: Northern Finland, the shore of Gulf of Bothnia
  • Population: 128962 (1.1.2006)
  • Area: : 449.2 sq.km
  • Main attractions: Hupisaaret Park and Pikisaari island, Nallikari beach and the sea shore, Tietomaa science center, city art museum, Turkansaari museum, the city theatre, the Bobby at the market place, Potnapekka (the most original ride of Finland), Cathedral of Oulu, an extensive network of well maintained cycling tracks..
  • Specialities: World´s biggest pizza, Finland´s cheapest pizza :)

University of Oulu Oulu has Finland's second largest university and many public and private research institutes. The region is well known for its rapidly growing high technology industry which sells its products throughout the world. The city is thus also an international growth centre. The university of Oulu is an international research university, whose central mission is to promote culture and well-being especially in northern Finland. The university provides a high-quality learning environment in which both specialists and generalists are given a thorough grounding for demanding tasks on the national and international level.

  • Founded: 1958
  • Students: 15 818
  • Faculties: 6 (45 training programmes).

Clerkship & research group information Period: Mostly June-August, a limited amount of places in February-May and September-November. Clinics: The most popular and most populated of our clinics have traditionally been surgery, neurology, internal medicine, anaesthesiology, paediatrics, obstetrics and gynaecology, radiology and ophthalmology. Surely other clinics are available for clerkships as well, it is only a matter of local officers diplomacy skills. Clinics that might be easiest for a foreign student are probably surgery, radiology and such, since the language won't be a problem. Research groups: Division of Cardiology /Internal Medicine: Risk factors and prediction of sudden arrhythmic death

  • Aim of the project: The aim of the research is to study the risk factors and predictos of sudden arrhythmic death in the patients with and without a previous myocardial infarction.
  • Required skills: Knowledge on clinical cardiology, e.g. ECG interpretation, as well as the use of computer software programs.
  • Technques: We are using different approaches in our studies: 1) Various analysis techniques from Holter recordings, e.g. heart rate variability analysis, high-resolution ECG techniques (signal averaged ECG, T-wave alternans, T-wave morphology), laboratory techniques (genetic polymorphism analysis from blood samples, PCR techniques), and others..
  • Role of students: Students can participate in various phases of analysis of data, e.g. analysis of certain heart rate variability indices from Holter recordings, manual measurements of ECG signals, and also in laboratory work of genetic studies.
  • Theoretical teaching: Preliminary readings are easily available from our previous publications and medical theses. Research seminars of the research group are held on a regular basis (approx. once/month).
  • Potential outcome of the students: The outcome depends on the time spent in the protocol as well as the scientific quality of the work, but it is possible to be a co-author of a research publication, abstract or a poster, or a report to the own university on the completed work.
  • Working hours: Working hours of the medical students are between 36-42 hours/week in our projects
  • Legal limitations: No specific limitation. No practical patient work is included in the projects.

Gynaecology/Obstetrics Reproductive endocrinology and infertility

  • The aim of the projects is regulation of ovarian function. This involves studies on polycystic ovary syndrome, ovarian genetic disorders and apoptosis (programmed death) of ovarian follicles. Infertility projects deal with factors influencing the outcome in vitro fertilization (IVF) program. The methods include: ultrasound, laparoscopic procedures, ovarian stimulation, hormone analyses, cell culture, immunohistochemistry and DNA techniques.
  • Purpose of the project: The whole view in the reproductive endocrinology and infertility

Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology In vitro methods in drug development

  • The aim of the Project is to develop in vitro methods to predict metabolism and interactions of drugs in use and under development.
  • The special skills required are just some basic knowledge in pharmacology and some (elementary) experience in biomedical research laboratory.
  • Techniques to be used are basic biochemical techniques: incubation of tissue preparations with pharmaceuticals under study and measuring the formation of metabolites and/or inhibition of model reactions by fluorometric spectroscopy or high pressure liquid chromatography.
  • The role of the student in the Project is to perform a certain set of experiments, analyse the results and together with the tutor, interpret them and incorporate into a report or paper.
  • Theoretical teaching consists of regular discussion with tutors and participation in weekly seminars and journal clubs of the research group.
  • The outcome of the student's participation on the RE Project is expected to be a joint authorship in the report or a scientific paper.
  • Daily working hours at the Department are usually about 8 hours between 8 am and 4 pm.
  • Legal limitations in student's involvement in the Project are avoided by selecting a proper set of experiments with compounds that will not entail any proprietary rights or trade secrets. Otherwise, work is very ordinary laboratory work.

  Lodging: Lodging will be arranged in apartments rented from students spending their summer holidays elsewhere or in the students' dormitorys. The apartments are usually situated quite close to the city centre and the hospital. There are cooking facilities and possibility to do the laundry. You might have to share the kitchen and the bathroom with a couple of other students. Board: The lunch is served at the University Hospital's staff restaurant and the second meal of the day is probably provided as cash. In this case, when arriving, the exchange students are handed 2,50 euros times the number of days of your clerkship. So for each day, you have 2,50 euros to spend on your dinner. In the other case, dinner will be served at the hospital. Social programme: We have all sorts of activities organised for the exchange students. For example in past years we have made a weekend trips to a summer cabin, had barbeque parties at the beach and saw the hectic night life of Oulu. Also on one weekend of the clerkship all the exchange students gather into one of the five cities with medical faculties and are entertained there by the local committee. These get-togethers have been very wanted and popular. Climate: The climate in Oulu can range from 15 degrees and rain to 25 degrees and sunshine 24h a day. What can we say. Be prepared for both. Also you should be aware that at the latitudes of Northern Finland, the sun only goes down for a very short time in July and not at all in June. This means that also during night it is very bright. You might want to take some eye protector with you, if you can only sleep in the dark :) Transport: You can get to Oulu by train or plane.  The trip by train takes about 6 hours and costs  60 EUR.  By aeroplane it takes about one hour to come to Oulu, but it is a little more expensive. For cheaper tickets you can visit www.blue1.com. In Oulu, travelling is easy. Busses go to hospital ant to the center  a lot.   Links Some links you might find useful when considering coming to Oulu: