Week 8:
A Happy Heart

August 7, 2017

At the beginning of last week I had the opportunity to shadow Dr. Chareonthaitawee on the ischemic service. I learned about the different types of heart attacks and how they are approached when treating them in the hospital. Severe heart disease is typically treated with triple therapy anticoagulation and angioplasty. Angioplasty is an invasive procedure where a small tube is lead through a vessel in the wrist or groin and into the heart. Iodine dye is run through the vessels, which allows the physicians to view the amount of blockage in the arteries. If appropriate, they will then place a stent (plastic tubing) to re-open the artery and allow blood to flow back into the heart. After the procedure, it is incredibly important for the patient to stay on anticoagulants because the stent can close back up and the patient could die instantly.

A lot of the patients on the ischemic service were very sick and were at a point where the options were running thin. This was very sad to see, but also very rewarding when the doctors were able to do something so small and the patient was so thankful. While shadowing, I found myself loving when we went in to see the elderly patients. It seems that no matter what I am doing, I find myself loving geriatrics and working with this population in any way possible.

My co-workers Elena, Demi and I were asked to give a presentation to visiting college students from St. Olaf. We gave them a brief introduction on REM sleep behavior disorder and the research that we have been doing all summer. This was very useful in helping me wrap up what I have done and learned thus far, and also practice for the fellows showcase that I will be presenting at in the fall. I loved being able to share my experience and all of the amazing opportunities that have been presented to me. I really have had one of the most incredible 8 weeks of my entire life. I feel that I have learned more about sleep disorders, neurology and the medical field in these short 8 weeks than I ever have in my 21 years of living. I can’t help but be incredibly grateful for the Cornell Fellows program, Dr. St Louis and everyone in his lab for allowing me this adventure.

I ended off the week shadowing Dr. St Louis in the neurology clinic. It was very interesting because many of the cases we saw were not primarily neurological. It was often the case that the patient or other doctors could not find a cause for the patient’s symptoms, and therefore they believe the problem must be neurological. Dr. St Louis admitted that he was nervous that this would turn me away from neuro, and it is his goal to get his summer interns to want to pursue neurology. Surprisingly, this made me more interested in the topic. It proved to me that the mystery is still there, nothing about neurology is clear cut and that makes it all very new and exciting. I am now intrigued to see what the field of neuropsychology entails, and discover all of the amazing things that can be done.