Week 1: First Exposure to Clinical Work and Surgery

Working in a laboratory and performing basic science research makes it easy to forget what we are working for: helping to improve the efficacy of treatments and patient's quality of life. The opportunity to shadow and work with clinicians at Weill Cornell Medical School and New York Presbyterian Hospital has been a truly impactful experience thus far. My first week has already been busy. 

Monday I met with my clinical mentor, Dr. Spector, and observed him during office hours and patient follow-ups. This was my first exposure to the doctor-patient relationship from the doctor's point of view. Talking with Dr. Spector helped me understand a clinicians thinking and concerns throughout the entire treatment process. I learned some basic plastic surgery procedures and some of the history behind each procedure. The next two days consisted of surgery. Putting on my scrubs for the first time was really cool. I had the opportunity to observe many surgeries including an abdominal wall reconstruction with bilateral components separation/placement of bio-prosthetic mesh, a nerve and tendon repair in the wrist, as well as a revision of vaginal reconstruction. Watching the surgeries was incredibly interesting and strangely addicting. In rounds the next day, we saw patients after their surgery; some even up and around following very invasive procedures. This is a testament to the skills of the surgeons. Thursday saw more office hours and meeting more patients. This time really reinforced the importance of the relationship between the patient and doctor, and the trust needed between the two. I then ended the week focusing on lab work in Dr. Spector's lab. 

Working in Dr. Spector's lab will be a great experience for me as well. Dr. Spector's lab focuses on building vascularized tissue scaffolds of clinically relevant size. Given my previous research experience and research goals for grad school, working in his lab will teach me a great deal. I hope to be able to use the labs translational approach to research questions and ability to identify problems that a clinician faces in order to better inform decision I make later in my own research project. 

This has also been my first experience in New York City, which has proved to be just as eventful as the OR. A city constantly on the move, with so much to do, this is stark change from both Ithaca and Wisconsin. I am very excited for things to come in the following weeks.