The stranger inside us

Original title: Monsters Inside Me Production and year: USA, 2009 Genre: Documentary Medical topic: tropical diseases, parasitic diseases Other information: 5 seasons "Monsters Inside Me" is a documentary series in which each episode tells the story of a different patient. Their journey is chronicled from the very beginning—from the first symptoms through treatment and recovery. The subjects suffer from severe, often life-threatening conditions; unfortunately, the cause remains unknown for a long time. A team of doctors conducts extensive diagnostics, performing many different tests (the purpose and method of these tests are usually briefly explained by the narrator). When, after a long struggle, the cause of the illness is finally identified (which turns out to be a parasite), a description of the parasite is provided—covering the most important information: mode of infection, life cycle, habitat, and symptoms. Personally, I highly recommend this series, both to those just starting their studies in parasitology and to those who finished the course long ago. The series is engaging (and at times terrifying), making it an interesting way to refresh your memory on many truly important facts about common parasites. Given that travel is becoming increasingly popular, and that very remote, even wild regions of the world are becoming more popular travel destinations, there is a high risk that we will encounter a patient affected by one of these tropical diseases in our professional careers.