Week 7:
Round One is Done

July 31, 2017

2,507 patient charts later and I have finally finished the preliminary data entry. Once I finished, I came up with a more concrete definition of an athlete. This will help me reclassify the patients with an “unknown” athlete status more efficiently. Hopefully, I can finish reclassifying all the patients next week.

This week, the neurology department hosted a presentation about physician assisted death. A group of us interns and research assistants made time to go listen. Physician assisted death was made legal in Colorado in 2016. However, the law specifies the patient must have 6 months or less to live and able to administer the medication themselves. The patient must not have any sort of mental illness.  Hospitals are not required to provide physician assisted death. I found it interesting to hear the reasons behind why the University of Colorado Hospital chose to participate in offering PAD services. I have strong beliefs about the idea of “death with dignity” and found this talk very interesting.

While I continued data entry during the week, I was able to take a long weekend and get away. I flew to Chicago on Thursday night and after missing the train home, I made it back to Morton (my hometown) early Friday evening. My family from North Carolina was visiting, so I was able to spend time with them. All of my siblings and sister-in-law were home as well, which is a rare occasion.

I spent Saturday relaxing by the pool and catching up with my family. My grandparents live on a lake, so we spent most of Sunday by the lake. We went paddle boarding and kayaking. We also got to go fishing, which is one of my favorite summer activities. Unfortunately, my cousin Edie was the only one to catch a fish.

I was sad to leave home on Sunday. I love Colorado and my internship, but being far from my family and friends can be difficult. There are only 3 weeks left of my internship, so I want to make the most of my time left. I hope I can get out and explore Colorado some more next week.