Week 8:
A Little Bit of Everything

July 22, 2017

This week I’ve been doing a lot of different things. I started the week off sitting in on a participant visit for the first time in what seems like a while. It was a short visit, with just mood and mania scales, but it was nice to see a participant that I have seen three times before. So much can change for an individual in a matter of weeks. When this participant first came in, they were at a very low point. They were incredibly depressed. The next visit, they were so much better! It was a huge turn around. The following visit they were not quite as great, but still seemed to be out of the depression, and they remained the same at this visit. It makes it seem hopeful that this is a mood change that will stick for a while. It truly is rewarding to see someone’s health improve; I will never get tired of that.

My life seems to be revolved around SAS, the analytics program software, lately. I already mentioned this, but I signed up for a free class on using SAS this summer. I did so after learning that it is used for analysis in this lab. So, now that I have a very basic background knowledge, I am using it to look through data that Dr. Fiedorowicz has from a previous study. Honestly, the hardest part of it was figuring out how to get the data I wanted into the program! After much frustration, I threw in the towel and started looking at the data just using excel. But, then Dr. Fiedorowicz encouraged me to try SAS again after seeing I was in Excel, so I put my frustration aside and tried again. And what do you know… I figured it out! With a little help from a book that Dr. Fiedorowicz lent me. Surprisingly, I was able to run the program so much better than I figured I could. I spent a good amount of time playing around with data, and just exploring the program more. I found myself having fun coming up with variables to compare and making charts and such. To tell the truth, I’m pretty proud of myself for going out of my way to learn something new (that wasn’t required) and then apply it, like I have with SAS this summer.

I’ve also worked on the literature review that I am helping with. After sending my draft of my section of the literature review to Dr. Fiedorowicz, he sent me back some comments so I can keep moving on it. Surprising to me, there were only 3 changes for me to make so far. I got rid of an excess sentence, and I went back to my sources to elaborate on a statistic and on a mechanism. These were quick and easy changes for me, so I got it sent right back out to him. I hope and think that I am showing that I can make a valuable contribution along with the others in the lab when it comes to writing this literature review. It’s looking like I will probably be published in the future because of this opportunity, and that’s certainly a plus.

A major thing  I learned this week was the importance of our relations with the study participants. There was a mix up in the lab, and we were not there to meet one of the participants when they arrived. How the scheduling got off, we are not sure, but that really does not matter all that much. Dr. Fiedorowicz was very concerned about this happening, and so we all went to patient services and arranged a gift card for them in order to apologize for the mistake. It is so important to right any wrongs, and to make up for any even slight inconvenience a participant faces in trying to be a part of a study. It is difficult to find people for studies, and so losing even one person can hurt the lab. Since these are people with mood disorders, it is even more tricky, because it is already hard enough for them to get themselves here and agree to participate. So, for this to happen, is a big deal. We could’ve really upset the participant, and they are irreplaceable. Having access to an office in the hospital that particularly addresses keeping up relationships with patients is so useful, and so good to know about.