After an incredibly quick 10 weeks, I am officially done with my internship at Children’s Hospital Colorado. Finishing out a project is always the hardest part of research. I spent the last few weeks at Children’s trying to tie up some loose ends before my presentation. I ended up screening about 900 charts in total and collected data on about 92 of those. Technically, I didn’t end up finishing data collection as we had close to 135 charts eligible for collection, but we still continued to do some preliminary statistical analysis in order to have results for my presentation. Originally, I was a little disappointed with the stats that came back; however, once I’d collected more data and rearranged the software some, I ended up getting some pretty significant results! I also worked on writing the methods section of the manuscript, and I think Andy was pretty impressed, so I am hoping to continue to work on the manuscript some this fall in hopes of pushing our work to publication. Since I didn’t finish collecting all of our data, I’ll have to wait for a medical student to finish it up before I continue that, and then we’ll reevaluate the results before writing the remainder of the manuscript. I am anxious to see where we can take this study; however, I do know the publication is a long, sometimes frustrating road. Regardless, having the opportunity to be hands-on in that process is something that I know will make me an even stronger student and researcher in the future.
One final roommate coffee date to finish our presentationsResults!!! Like I stated before, all of my results are preliminary and not entirely accurate for the scope of the study; however, I am still very excited to share what we found so far. For our analysis, we compared adolescents who had undergone either an open or closed reduction for their supracondylar fracture, and the groups were split according to reduction type. In regards to follow up, patients in the open reduction group attended more physical therapy appointments and patients in the closed reduction group were seen to have a shorter followup period overall. There was no difference in the time it took the fracture to heal in either group. The biggest takeaway was that range of motion was seen to be significantly higher in the closed reduction group (about 10 degrees). Because of this, we did a multivariate regression analysis for range of motion and found that females had about 10 degrees more motion than males, and patients with plate/screw fixation had about 19 degrees less of motion than patients with pins. Again, these results are not final, but they are definitely very interesting, and I am proud of all the work that I put in to get them!
To finish out the internship, the MRC had a small banquet for each of the interns to present what they’d done and found this summer. The entire organization was invited, and we were provided dinner beforehand. Then, each intern was given about 5 minutes to present and a few more for questions. I absolutely loved the involvement of all the clinicians, and I know all their questions made us each feel very accomplished. Presenting is always such an important part of doing any sort of work, and I know my understanding and confidence in my work improved greatly because of it. It was really cool to see just how much everyone was able to finish and how much we’ve all grown this summer. In my opinion, each of the presentations went incredibly well, and it sounded like most of the MRC agreed. It was certainly bittersweet to say goodbye to the people I spent almost the entire summer with, but I know we’ll all be in touch.
Practicing our presentations with our DIY podiumOverall, as I reflect back on the last 10 weeks, I don’t know that I could be any happier with my experience out here in Colorado. I absolutely got everything I was looking for and so much more. I can’t even begin to address all that I learned while I was out here, and I think that’s truly the best outcome I could have had. It’s really unbelievable thinking about how much I’ve grown as a student, researcher, and future medical professional. The skills I have gained and strengthened out here are truly something that I will carry with me for the rest of my life. I can now say that I’ve personally contributed to a clinical study, but that only begins to scratch the surface of all that I accomplished in my short time here. To say that I learned how to collect clinical data, analyze radiographs, and do statistical analysis; shadowed; and attended multiple different learning opportunities all in 10 weeks sounds crazy to say, but it’s true! I truly got to see the intersection of research and clinical practice, and I think that’s something every aspiring medical professional should experience.
This summer solidified my love and passion for medicine, and I am more certain now than ever that going to medical school is the right path for me. My experiences shadowing, especially in the OR, showed me truly where my passions lie. I got to see more areas of medicine than I ever have before, and because of that, I know where to direct my future experiences and even my career. Trauma orthopedics is definitely something I would love to get to know more about, and I owe that interest to my experiences here. I will forever be grateful to Cornell and Children’s for not only providing but also supporting me in this truly unmatched experience, and I know it is something that I will continue to reflect on as I pursue my future aspirations.
