As the program was coming to an end, I tried to observed other procedures outside the interventional radiology department. Dr. Pua was able to arrange an observership with Dr. Stiles from the department of cardiothoracic surgery. It was an exciting opportunity since I have no experience in the field. The first patient I observed suffered from hiatal hernia. Before this case, not even in my wildest imagination, I would expect the stomach to be able to push through someone diaphragm and into the chest region. In order to treat this case, the team of doctors pulled his stomach into the abdomen, which left me in awe. Another interesting case occurred during the replacement of esophageal stent from a patient who underwent esophagectomy. The physicians explained in detail the complicated case to me. I was very surprised that a patient can survive a total esophagectomy since the stomach needs to be pulled up to the chest region.
Finally, aside from observing cases in the operation room, I continued my research in predicting the outcomes of patients with traumatic brain injury (TBI). From my preliminary results, it seems that my small sample size of patients was preventing the GRNN from making accurate prediction. However, even though the summer immersion ended, I will continue working on this project during my free time in Ithaca. I will ensure that my data have been correctly processed. In addition, I will try different training schemes for the machine learning algorithms. By comparing the results of different methods, I hope to gain a better understanding of my dataset and to determine whether or not is feasible to create a model for TBI.
I can’t believe this was the last week of the summer immersion. It was a bittersweet experience. One part of me was really happy to go back to Cornell in order to complete my doctorate degree. I was also very excited to move into my new house in Ithaca with my new housemates and our cats (Kylie+2 new kitties!). However, I missed the city. After all, I spent 3 years of high school in Queens and 4 years of undergraduate in Long Island. This area was a placed I called home for many years. Woes aside, I am very grateful to have met a wonderful team of clinicians and researchers who have mentored me throughout this period of time. I am also very grateful for what New York City had to offered. I have lost count of all the places I have been with friends and family during this short summer. It was truly an unforgettable experience.
New York
concrete jungle where dreams are made of
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