Week 2:
Settling In

June 25, 2018

This week was all about finding my groove and settling into a schedule. I got back to Aurora Sunday night after spending the day with my dad and brother at the Colorado Renaissance Festival, it is really nice to be able to go home on the weekends to see my family. After getting to spend the weekend home for Father’s Day, I was ready to get back to work.

I started my Monday creating a database so I could start data collection. Last week there were some hiccups gaining access to the UC Denver website, and now that is all cleared up making this week smooth sailing. By the end of Monday, I had my database set up, and I was ready to get this project moving. Tuesday I met with my provider/PI to make some decisions on what data we wanted to collect and how we wanted it collected. We also talked about his journey through medical school. Dr. De is going to be a fantastic resource for me this summer and I am so glad we get along so well.

After my meeting, it was time to go to Journal Club. This is a required event for all the interns and really is beneficial in helping us to think critically about scientific articles and our projects. Stay tuned for next week where I will be presenting a journal for the club. I am so thankful for Cornell’s curriculum because it has given me the tools to read an article, understand it, and critique it within a short time frame. Usually presenting makes me nervous but I feel very ready for this!

This week ended with me being further ahead on my project then my RA anticipated. I hope that by setting a steady pace, I will be ready for statistical analysis by week 5- thanks Cornell for accelerated timelines during the school year! If I get this done, I will have the chance to help write the manuscript for the project which could possibly lead to a publication! Being ahead also meant that Friday could be more about other aspects of my internship rather than just data collection. My RA has been great with helping me network around the hospital. He helped me compose emails requesting job shadow opportunities and even gave me a tour of the Emergency Room. The sense of community at Children’s Hospital is so reassuring and makes me love work even more.

While it sounds like I am all work and no-play this summer that is not 100% the case. Long days of staring at a computer screen gets exhausting which is why I got a gym membership. I love to get off work and head to the gym to relieve any stress before going home. I got a membership at the Health and Wellness center on the Anschutz Medical campus. The facilities are beautiful, and the environment is just what I need after a long day at work. They even offer classes that are included with my membership! I love to do sunrise yoga at least once a week.

I am really enjoying getting to settle into the Gait Lab and cannot wait for this next week. As part of my internship I get 20 hours of shadowing at Children’s Hospital and, on Wednesday, I will be doing a whole day of Urgent Room and Operating room shadowing with Dr. De. I am excited to report back with my experience and can’t wait to get back to work Monday!