Week 7:
Pop Culture

July 23, 2022

The 7th week of my internship at Mayo Clinic was one for the books. Even though we patient charted and reviewed files for the majority of the week, it was the conversations we all had together that made this week one of the most memorable. Everyone in the reading room spent a full day explaining the entire plot of of the show ‘Stranger Things’ to me. The storytelling was excellent and made the day go by very quickly. Surprisingly, we got all of our work done faster than usual!

This week we found out what our third project for the summer is. We will be looking at epigenetics in the community. Specifically, we’ll be looking at the levels of RSWA between individuals in the area. Since we’re still finishing up on our CBS project, we haven’t started on this one yet. I think the idea is very interesting and will provide some good insight!

As I had mentioned, we patient charted a lot this week. We were looking for control patients for the individuals who are in the CBS study. Trying to find controls was like a puzzle – challenging yet fun. It was interesting how excited everyone got when we found someone who was a match with a patient. The lists we sorted through were upwards of 400 individuals, so I suppose it makes sense!

Aside from scoring and patient charting, I spent some time reading various journal club articles. The articles focused on SHY (synaptic homeostasis hypothesis). I had never heard of this theory before so I read each article intensely to make sure I understood everything I could about the topic. The theory suggests that sleep is the result of plasticity. Plasticity in the brain is similar to actual plastic – it can change as it conforms. With brain plasticity, and the idea behind this theory, it is the re-wiring of the brain to account for learning and memories. To sum up the articles, SHY suggests that during sleep, while the brain is nearly just as active as it is while awake, it is able to “reset” itself to a basic, homeostatic environment. This “re-set” then allows the brain to learn and create memories all over again the next time you awake! Neat, right? I think I’ve found a new area of interest in this incredible subject.

In other interesting things to happen this week, Dr. St. Louis invited the interns to watch the two RAs (research assistants) performs gait training. Jack and Emma led Dr. St. Louis through a series of gait-specific activities, like lifting one leg to balance on the other or walking down a long hallway. Jack was able to record all of the data needed via monitors on Dr. St. Louis’s feet. Data collection would occur on patients before they have a sleep study. This data could be suggestive of neurodegenerative diseases! Overall, it was really fun to see how Jack and Emma would have walked a patient through the exercises!

I was able to meet with Dr. St. Louis individually this week! I was very happy to have the chance to chat with him about this summer’s experience. During my meeting with him, I had mentioned that I would be interested in shadowing a neurosurgeon if that was at all possible. Dr. St. Louis was kind enough to talk with a few people, and opened the opportunity for me to shadow a neurosurgeon! I’m so happy to set up the shadowing dates and see where the experience takes me!

For our activity this week, we went to an escape room! The archaeology-themed adventure was extremely fun. A few weeks ago when we planned the event, Carter predicted how everyone would participate in the escape room. It was very funny to us all when each personality he predicted was completely accurate! To top off the excitement, the Indiana Jones Theme playing throughout the room really boosted our moods when we were getting down to our last minutes and even seconds. Everyone worked so well together – there was nothing but laughter to help us problem solve!

This coming week, I am most looking forward to my next shadowing opportunity. I’ve always had a personal interest in IVF, so I am very excited to shadow twice this coming week at the in vitro fertilization clinic! I’m also looking forward to more training with Dr. St. Louis. All of the interns will have the opportunity to give data via an EEG! It’ll be a very cool experience – I can’t wait!