Week 6:
Data, More Data, and the Zoo

July 23, 2017

As usual, my week was filled primarily with data entry. I am close to getting done so I should finish next week. Aside from the thrill of data entry, I was able to get another shadowing opportunity. Outside of work, I got to explore Denver and Boulder a little bit more.

This week, I was able to shadow an athletic trainer who works for the trauma team over in the University of Colorado Hospital. This is the adult hospital right next to Children’s. A lot of what I got to see was post surgery check ups. I saw patients get stitches removed, cast removal, and boot fittings. I didn’t know that athletic trainers worked in clinics, but they are becoming more and more prevalent. The trainer I followed, Dan, explained that his main job was to make the PA and physicians’ jobs easier. He would do the initial patient contact and find out what the patient’s major concerns were. He would relay any info from the patient to the provider so they knew what to expect and could make the appointment quicker. Speeding up the process if helpful for not just the providers who are very busy, but also the patients.

There was also a PA working in the clinic that day who allowed me to shadow him as well. After Cornell, I am going to take a gap year to really put the most time and effort into my applications and GRE as possible. He said he also took a gap year, and strongly suggests it as the break can be incredible beneficial. He spent the year backpacking around Europe. I found this interesting, because we often time stress the importance of staying involved and productive during a gap year. He used his break to explore a new part of the world, which I think is an incredible opportunity. It made me think about really considering options for my gap year and see what opportunities may be out there.

Outside of work, I got to do more exploring. My boyfriend Mikey was here until Tuesday night, so Monday we did some more hiking. As soon as I finished work, we headed to Boulder to hike. Sadly, we didn’t get to make it all the way too the end as it started getting dark. We got to see the sunset from the trail, though, which was pretty amazing. After our hike, we went to walk around downtown Boulder. Boulder has so much to do especially in the Downtown area. Pearl Street reminds me of a big city without being as overwhelming, which I really enjoy.

On Friday, I went to the Denver Zoo. My mom and brother went when they were here during week 1 and had lots of fun. I spent most of the afternoon there since the zoo is pretty large. The baby monkeys and giraffe were my favorite.

My lacrosse coach from Cornell was in Denver to recruit at a tournament. I went to the tournament with her on Saturday. Luckily, Saturday was a beautiful day in Denver, so I got to spend the day sitting outside watching lacrosse. Not much to complain about with a weekend filled with the zoo and lacrosse!

Next week I should finally finish up my data entry! Then we can move onto the analysis and hopefully find some interesting result. Besides the excitement of finishing the data entry phase, I am going to be doing some more traveling next week which I am very much looking forward to.