Week 2

The past week has been very interesting!  I was able to meet with my clinician mentor, Dr. Bostrom, on Monday after he returned from his travels.  It was nice to finally meet him and hear about his plans for the summer.  Most of the week I continued to work with some of the researcher in Dr. Bostrom's group and learn more about their work.  They are currently designing a new study aimed at exploring and better understanding implant infection and it has been very interesting to see the preliminary work and study design aspect of this project.  Additionally, I attended a bunch of biomechanics research meeting for a variety of labs at HSS, which has been a great way to learn a lot about all of the fascinating work being done here.  I was also able to attend the fellow research presentations which consisted of about a 10-15 short research presentation by each fellow on their research project. This was very interesting because it gave me a great overview of clinal based research in orthopedic surgery.  The contrast between the clinical research and the more lab based research projects is very interesting to me and it is cool to see how each shapes the research questions posed/investigated by the other.

Finally, and most exciting, I was able to observe two joint replacement surgeries this morning!  First, I saw a total hip replacement which was fascinating.  Additionally, I was able to see a total knee replacement which was also great.  It was amazing to watch both surgeries and see how much orthopedic surgery it actually like carpentry and how efficient and organized the surgeons are.  I also found it very interesting to see how damaged the cartilage was in the joints being removed; in both cases their cartilage was severely degenerated or completely worn away.  Seeing these highly damages joints come out of actual people really puts the value research we are doing to better understand and treat this disease in perspective.  I found the whole process fascinating and within about 90 minutes after entering the OR both patients were on their way with a new metal joint.  The whole process was a little overwhelming and there was a lot going on so I hope to be able to see these joint replacements a few more times in the coming weeks to get a better idea of everything that is happening.