Week Six
Hello everyone!
I have to start off by acknowledging that I'm still in the bind that I was previously in last week. We've reached out to Dr. Maurer, but I don't think THAOS will be able to review our manuscript in this month's meeting. This just means that they'll review it at next month's meeting. Despite this obstacle that has been placed in our path, I'm still very confident that I can find something truly extraordinary with my project. Dr. Steidley and I are trying to figure out if I can continue to work more after the end of the SRP, so that way we can compile the data that we'll get from Pfizer and hopefully prove our hypotheses.
That's what's going on with my project as of now. The past two days at the Mayo Clinic were in a one word... stressful.
On Thursday, I observed more of Dr. Steidley's clinical patients and this one elderly couple stood out to me. Everything was going fine when all of a sudden, Dr. Steidley noticed a condition the lady had that was linked to one of her cardiovascular problems. I wish I could tell you more about exactly what she had, but HIPAA forbids me from doing so. I'll be honest, what she had actually freaked me out. I thought I had seen everything there was to see so far at the Mayo Clinic, but I was oh so wrong. Dr. Steidley had to bring in a urologist and a specialist for a second opinion, and they thought it would be best for her to be sent to the emergency room to be immediately treated.
Yesterday, I accompanied Dr. Steidley as he made his rounds in the ICU. Remember the patient I told you about several weeks ago that was my age? I'm happy to say that he's doing ok! Or at least better than what he was doing back then. Seeing his condition and how he's trying so hard to fight for his life, made me grateful for what I had now. I say this because of all of the college decisions that I've received so far and have yet to receive. I've been doubting myself and letting these decisions affect my sense of worth. I'm ashamed that I was thinking so much about myself when I was in a setting where patients' lives were on the line. Yet, when I saw the man that was my age I had a moment of clarity. At that moment my problems were completely insignificant, as I realized that I've lived a privileged life. I realized I should be thankful for what I have and what I've gained in these past few weeks and I wanted to mention that man as he was the one that gave me my epiphany.
I'll keep you all updated if I have any new information about the status of my project, so until then take care!
Saturday, March 28, 2015
Sunday, March 22, 2015
Week 5
Hello everyone!
Sorry for posting a little late. My schedule has been completely different since I recently got a job so I've been trying to find a good time to blog. Regardless, several interesting things happened to me this week that I thought I should share with you all.
When I came back to the Mayo Clinic after not being there for a whole week, the cardiologists were happy to see me again. I mention this since they made me feel like I belonged there. It was as if I was a part of their family and I've only been there for a little over a month. It felt truly wonderful to be in a place where I felt truly appreciated just for being there. Dr. Steidley was happy to see me again after spring break and in fact, gave me a packet containing excellent resources from the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) for applying to medical school. He gave me information on what I needed to do during college, when I needed to do it during, how the test will be different, as well as the profile for the Mayo Medical School in Rochester, Minnesota. All of this free knowledge I've been given has encouraged me to be even more proactive when I do go to college. I'm sorry if I'm rambling, but I feel blessed to be given access to all of these resources in medicine and to be able to experience moments that restore humanity.
One of those moments occurred earlier this week where Dr. Steidley and I were walking to the ICU when all of a sudden an alarm rang and on the intercom a nurse said "Code Blue". I found myself running with Dr. Steidley to one of the operating rooms where one patient was thought to be going through cardiac arrest. There were fifteen nurses and three doctors (including Dr. Steidley) who tried to stabilize the patient while monitoring his vital signs. The whole ordeal lasted for about a few minutes, but it felt like someone one would see from "Grey's Anatomy". In the end, it turned out the patient just had a seizure and was going to make it through. Seeing nearly twenty people working in unison to save one life was incredible and in that moment I was not overcome with anxiety but rather relief. I can't explain why, but despite how extreme that situation was I felt as if everything was just going to be alright in the end. It might be just from my association with the people I've encountered at the Mayo Clinic, but their professionalism and calmness in this situation was inspiring. I can say that I can not forget this moment for it perfectly summed up the reason why I wanted to be a doctor.
Now to talk about my project itself.
On Thursday, we sent our final version of our manuscript to THAOS. As proud as I was of our accomplishment, I was dismayed to learn that we would hear back from the committee in five weeks for approval. I found it sad, since by the time we found out my SRP would be over and I wouldn't have had the chance to use the data that we would have received from Pfizer to calculate each patient's MCF. This might be a major roadblock, but Dr. Steidley and Dr. Maurer are trying to speed up the review process from five weeks to one, since THAOS has a monthly meeting where they review sent research proposals. Our fear is that our proposal won't make it in time for this month's review. The worst case scenario is that it doesn't and that I'm going to have to find another way to find the MCF using different data. I don't know what our plan is for now, but as soon as I do I will let you all know.
Hello everyone!
Sorry for posting a little late. My schedule has been completely different since I recently got a job so I've been trying to find a good time to blog. Regardless, several interesting things happened to me this week that I thought I should share with you all.
When I came back to the Mayo Clinic after not being there for a whole week, the cardiologists were happy to see me again. I mention this since they made me feel like I belonged there. It was as if I was a part of their family and I've only been there for a little over a month. It felt truly wonderful to be in a place where I felt truly appreciated just for being there. Dr. Steidley was happy to see me again after spring break and in fact, gave me a packet containing excellent resources from the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) for applying to medical school. He gave me information on what I needed to do during college, when I needed to do it during, how the test will be different, as well as the profile for the Mayo Medical School in Rochester, Minnesota. All of this free knowledge I've been given has encouraged me to be even more proactive when I do go to college. I'm sorry if I'm rambling, but I feel blessed to be given access to all of these resources in medicine and to be able to experience moments that restore humanity.
One of those moments occurred earlier this week where Dr. Steidley and I were walking to the ICU when all of a sudden an alarm rang and on the intercom a nurse said "Code Blue". I found myself running with Dr. Steidley to one of the operating rooms where one patient was thought to be going through cardiac arrest. There were fifteen nurses and three doctors (including Dr. Steidley) who tried to stabilize the patient while monitoring his vital signs. The whole ordeal lasted for about a few minutes, but it felt like someone one would see from "Grey's Anatomy". In the end, it turned out the patient just had a seizure and was going to make it through. Seeing nearly twenty people working in unison to save one life was incredible and in that moment I was not overcome with anxiety but rather relief. I can't explain why, but despite how extreme that situation was I felt as if everything was just going to be alright in the end. It might be just from my association with the people I've encountered at the Mayo Clinic, but their professionalism and calmness in this situation was inspiring. I can say that I can not forget this moment for it perfectly summed up the reason why I wanted to be a doctor.
Now to talk about my project itself.
On Thursday, we sent our final version of our manuscript to THAOS. As proud as I was of our accomplishment, I was dismayed to learn that we would hear back from the committee in five weeks for approval. I found it sad, since by the time we found out my SRP would be over and I wouldn't have had the chance to use the data that we would have received from Pfizer to calculate each patient's MCF. This might be a major roadblock, but Dr. Steidley and Dr. Maurer are trying to speed up the review process from five weeks to one, since THAOS has a monthly meeting where they review sent research proposals. Our fear is that our proposal won't make it in time for this month's review. The worst case scenario is that it doesn't and that I'm going to have to find another way to find the MCF using different data. I don't know what our plan is for now, but as soon as I do I will let you all know.
Saturday, March 7, 2015
Week Four
Hello everyone!
This week was incredibly exciting since I finally got to talk with Dr. Maurer. Our conversation went extremely well and was surprisingly informal. We talked about how his volumetric index, the Myocardial Contraction Fraction, could be used as a reliable predictor of cardiac transthyretin amyloidosis. He and several other cardiologists developed it over a decade ago; however, they haven't established a numerical quantity with MCF yet that can accurately predict which patients have the deadly disease. He wanted Dr. Steidley and me to use data that Pfizer will give us in the near future to determine an average MCF value for afflicted patients. I'm continually humbled by this rare opportunity that I have been given to work with esteemed cardiologists and one of the world's largest pharmaceutical companies all in an effort to improve someone's quality of life. I feel that the highlight of our conversation was that Dr. Maurer would want us to present our findings later this year and afterwards Dr. Steidley told me he was looking for the next major cardiology conference to present our work! For now it seems that could actually happen, and I want to make that happen. The eagerness that I have to use the data that Pfizer will give us is killing me! At the end of our conversation, Dr. Maurer wanted us to send him our abstract proposal so that he could give that to a statistician he's working with.
All of that happened this Monday. I've revised the abstract proposal throughout the week, getting most of it done that day (I was on a roll and didn't want to stop). Yesterday, Dr. Steidley looked at our proposal, revised it to make it more scientific (because despite all my efforts I'm still a high school student), and sent it in to Dr. Maurer. Compared to previous weeks, I only focused on just one thing- my project. I felt like I made huge progress this week and that by the end of the project I'll have done something truly great. Next week Dr. Steidley and I are off for spring break, so I won't have anything to post. I'll be back in two weeks and hopefully Pfizer will give us that data we need to make our analysis. I've spent four weeks on this project so far and I can honestly say that I am enjoying my time at the Mayo Clinic. I've learned so much about the medical world, ideal doctor-patient interactions, and revolutionary biomedical technology that will be present within the upcoming years. I'm glad that I have this opportunity and I hope that I will continue to make a significant contribution to my project.
Hello everyone!
This week was incredibly exciting since I finally got to talk with Dr. Maurer. Our conversation went extremely well and was surprisingly informal. We talked about how his volumetric index, the Myocardial Contraction Fraction, could be used as a reliable predictor of cardiac transthyretin amyloidosis. He and several other cardiologists developed it over a decade ago; however, they haven't established a numerical quantity with MCF yet that can accurately predict which patients have the deadly disease. He wanted Dr. Steidley and me to use data that Pfizer will give us in the near future to determine an average MCF value for afflicted patients. I'm continually humbled by this rare opportunity that I have been given to work with esteemed cardiologists and one of the world's largest pharmaceutical companies all in an effort to improve someone's quality of life. I feel that the highlight of our conversation was that Dr. Maurer would want us to present our findings later this year and afterwards Dr. Steidley told me he was looking for the next major cardiology conference to present our work! For now it seems that could actually happen, and I want to make that happen. The eagerness that I have to use the data that Pfizer will give us is killing me! At the end of our conversation, Dr. Maurer wanted us to send him our abstract proposal so that he could give that to a statistician he's working with.
All of that happened this Monday. I've revised the abstract proposal throughout the week, getting most of it done that day (I was on a roll and didn't want to stop). Yesterday, Dr. Steidley looked at our proposal, revised it to make it more scientific (because despite all my efforts I'm still a high school student), and sent it in to Dr. Maurer. Compared to previous weeks, I only focused on just one thing- my project. I felt like I made huge progress this week and that by the end of the project I'll have done something truly great. Next week Dr. Steidley and I are off for spring break, so I won't have anything to post. I'll be back in two weeks and hopefully Pfizer will give us that data we need to make our analysis. I've spent four weeks on this project so far and I can honestly say that I am enjoying my time at the Mayo Clinic. I've learned so much about the medical world, ideal doctor-patient interactions, and revolutionary biomedical technology that will be present within the upcoming years. I'm glad that I have this opportunity and I hope that I will continue to make a significant contribution to my project.
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