I am very excited to be spending my summer as a research assistant at the Palmer Center for Chiropractic Research (PCCR). I found this unique experience through the help of my professors Kristi Meyer and Mark Kendall who had a previous student work here in 2019. I am a very question-driven individual, and I plan to pursue a Doctor of Chiropractic after I graduate from Cornell with a Bachelor of Arts in Kinesiology and Exercise Science. Previously, I was not aware of the depths of chiropractic research, and I had never thought about pursuing a career in this field. Before starting this experience, I knew that as a future chiropractor, I wanted to be comfortable with my research skills to be the best practitioner possible.
My first two weeks have been very exciting, and I have had continuous exposure to a variety of different specialists within the chiropractic research field. I have had introductory meetings with most of the faculty in the PCCR. Throughout these meetings, I have not only begun learning about how they found a career within chiropractic research, but also about their specific jobs and contributions to a variety of different projects. Two projects going on at the PCCR currently are Chiropractic Care for Veterans: A Pragmatic Randomized Trial Addressing Dose Effects for cLBP (VERDICT) and developing Quality Indicators of Chiropractic care. I have sat in on meetings for both the VERDICT and the quality indicators (QI) study, and near the end of the second week, I started helping with recruitment planning for the QI study as well. Sitting in on the meetings and seeing the collaboration that takes place has been very impactful even in the short period of time I am currently reflecting on. It is inspiring listening to people talk about and present research they are passionate about. I attended a presentation part of the Clinical Research Seminar Series where I listened to three different post-doctoral scholars affiliated with researchers at the PCCR present research they are conducting in Massachusetts and Connecticut. Other than the meetings and presentations I have attended through the PCCR, I have also attended clinical presentations done by the students at Palmer as well.
I spend most of my time working here: at my desk in my office.
The faculty at PCCR has been incredible with encouraging me to explore all different aspects of chiropractic. I have spent some time looking into specializations within the chiropractic field that are interesting to me, and reflecting on where I would like to go with my career. Other than the meetings and presentations I have been attending, I completed research ethics training programs and have began reading and dissecting published scientific literature. One of my main goals throughout my experience is to develop stronger skills for reading and understanding studies and research, as well as deepen my understanding of interpreting statistics. I have began exposure to that as well by watching different training sessions regarding data interpretation.
Originally from Golden, Colorado, I have never experienced an Iowan summer. I will be living in Davenport, right next to the Palmer campus. Outside of working at the research center, I have begun exploring Davenport and the Quad Cities. Last weekend, I attended the farmers’ market downtown and was also able to listen to live music from several different musicians. The two weeks that I have spent here have been amazing and have increased my excitement for the rest of the summer.