Week 9:
A Flavorful Week

August 6, 2022

This week was bittersweet as it was Nolan and Dalin’s last. We were finishing up scoring files, helping out with other projects, and running statistics most of the time; and at others, we were spending time together before we all go our separate ways. Our going away celebrations brought so many new memories that it makes it really hard to say goodbye. This coming week will certainly feel different!

As I mentioned, we spent a lot of our time this week completing important tasks like running statistics. We each divvied up the workload by having Nolan primarily run the numbers, Carter and I patient chart, and Dalin score some files. This method made the work go by fast! Because of our efficiency, we were able to help Dr. St. Louis with a few older projects that needed a little bit of boosting. We primarily scored files for the projects, which made everyone very nostalgic of when we were first learning how to score! It made everyone realize how far we’ve come this summer.

Luckily, the statistics for our Charles Bonnet Syndrome project are looking on the up and up. This was incredibly good news! Watching the stats come back as significant boosted everyone’s moods considering our hypocretin project took a turn for the… less-significant. It was really fun to have everyone get excited when Nolan would say, “this group’s significant!”

We discussed our final article at Journal Club this week. It was an interesting piece that covered REM Sleep Behavior Disorder (RBD) in Korean elderly. This paper has been incredibly influential in the RSWA world as its aim was to investigate the prevalence of RBD in a given population. For this article, Dr. St. Louis had us spend a lot of time reviewing the methods and results of the study. We went over the sample size, participant demographics, and methods used to analyze the subjects. The results of the study suggested a 2% prevalence within the community that the sample was taken from. This is important to note and one of the reasons why the paper is influential.

We also read an editorial piece reviewing the article we read – which was a critical thinking strategy new to me. The editorial suggested that while there were prominent limitations within the original article, the results suggest something to consider seriously: early identification of RBD would offer neurotherapeutic opportunities earlier with the hope to diminish the affects of RBD. Since RBD’s prevalence is growing, as suggested by the original paper, learning about it and providing solutions for it is only going to grow!

As I mentioned, this week was Dalin and Nolan’s last week in the lab. It has become a tradition over the past few years for Paul to host the interns at his house for a going away celebration! All of us organized the event and showed up with lots to do. Carter grilled everyone burgers, chicken, and hot dogs. I had to throw some of my Iowan roots into the cook-out by bringing corn for everyone. It was a major hit! Dalin and I played corn-hole against Nolan and Carter. Unfortunately, Dalin and I were crushed by the guys. They definitely got even with us from Week 8’s foosball match! It was a good time nonetheless. We ended the evening by playing VR!

Another tradition that didn’t go missing from this summer was a pizza party with Dr. St. Louis at the local pizzeria, Pasquale’s! We all tried a few of the pizzas they had to offer – all of which got 5 stars from me. The evening was full of great food and conversation!

The final celebration of the week was hosted by Dalin. I had mentioned how much I enjoy spicy food at the beginning of the summer. Dalin planned a spicy food challenge at her host’s house on her last day in Rochester. Everyone had high hopes that I would finally meet my match, but to their surprise, I enjoyed everything I had!

This coming week will be Carter’s and my last week at Mayo Clinic. I anticipate it being just as bittersweet as this past week. We will be finishing up statistics and helping out with the other projects. I do have one last thing that I’m looking forward to: shadowing in the neurosurgery department! I can’t wait to write about this experience!