Week 1:
The Children’s Hospital

May 29, 2013

Wow! My first week has gone by really fast. I settled in with my host family the weekend before I started. I am living in a suburb near Aurora, so I have to commute (about an hour due to the heavy traffic) to work every day, which means I have had to get used to city driving. When I first got to the hospital on Wednesday, I got to meet one of the research assistants who will be working with me for the duration of my project. I entered through the main entrance of the hospital, and then she came to find me and lead me to where I would be working.

The hospital is HUGE, so I was glad she was there to help. The first few days of my research have consisted of me doing background research so that I can begin to become familiarized with important terms. Although it seemed difficult at the time, I am really glad I was forced to write critiques of scientific articles in Cellular and Molecular Biology. It helped me learn to read dense scientific journals critically, which has been especially important this first week as I do background research. I have also been learning a lot about starting research, writing protocols, and working to get approval from the Institutional Review Board (IRB). This is necessary for our research because we will be looking at patient charts to collect our data and the IRB needs to approve research related to patients and their protected information.

My project is titled: “Outcomes and complications of spinal fusion in patients with myelomeningocele.” It is a retrospective study, so we will be collecting and analyzing data already present in patients’ medical charts. During the study, one of our goals will be to identify the incidence of post-operative complications among patients with myelomeningocele that underwent spinal fusion at Children’s Hospital Colorado. The secondary aim of the study is to identify factors indicative of an increased risk for complications. Already in the first week I feel like I have learned so much, and I am excited to learn more as my project progresses. In addition to reading plenty of articles, I also got the chance to attend grand rounds last Friday with doctors, residents and medical students, which is an important teaching tool for medical education. I am interested in going to medical school, so it was interesting to glimpse into my possible future.

I took advantage of the weather this past weekend by doing some hiking and attending a Memorial Day picnic with my host family. It is absolutely beautiful out here, so I am hoping I continue to get the chance to enjoy the outdoors while I am here.