Barcelona: Hospitals

Also in Barcelona are some beautiful old hospitals. They have been retired and opened to the public after being in service from 1901-2009. 

In the 19th century, and into the early 20th, many people didn't go to the hospital partly for fear that they would go with a trauma injury and come home with a disease. To limit communicating infections between patients, the solution was to simply make separate buildings for different conditions. With 16 buildings in total, divided by gender, there was, for example, a Trauma building, a TB building, and several others. The buildings are connected by underground tunnels, which can be accessed by the central hub administration building, which doubled as a surgical unit.

The porcelain was not only a beautiful and popular decoration of the time, but also a relatively easy material to disinfect, and scientists of the time believe that bacteria couldn't survive on it nearly as well as on stone or plaster. 

It was a fascinating walk into the past. I'm working on a research project about the change of healthcare in Spain since the start of the 20th century, which made this visit really cool and fun, but also a gold mine for my assignment.

I plan to attend dental school, and am open to specialization possibilities such as oral surgery. The operating chairs of the time looked a little sketchier than any I ever hope to use!