So, I have finally arrived in NYC, and before I knew it two weeks have gone by. I hope the rest of the summer doesn't fly by this fast, because overall I have been having a great time. I first got into Olin Hall on a Saturday, which was extremely convenient. I got extra time to sleep off the insanity that was the scurry to get everything set for the trip, and I had time to comfortably settle into my place. It definitely wasn't what I expected, but it was nice, and the surrounding area was very interesting. Plenty of randomness around to keep me entertained while I got ready for the program to start.
That Monday we had the introductory meeting, and then I finally got to meet my clinician. Dr. Shah is an oncologist who specializes in cancers of the GI tract, which I was particularly appreciative of since my research in Ithaca involves colorectal cancer. That first week I was introduced to the staff in the department, and I began doing clinical rotations with Dr. Shah and the other doctors. When I first began shadowing them, I was amazed at how they operated. Their thought processes seemed so fast; they just spouted off all these abbreviations for drugs and chemotherapy plans, along with pros and cons for each based on a few patient symptoms. It was a bit of a struggle to try and keep up with them. By the second week, after I had done some reading of my own and asked a few questions, I found my eyes a little less glazed over during conversations. So that was good. I was also impressed with their interactions with the patients outside of them. There were some patients who were coming to the clinic for the first time, and others who had been coming for years, and it was really interesting to see the bond that forms between the two of them. The patients who had been seeing the doctor for years would eventually switch to chatting about their outside life, and some of them seemed pretty close with the doctor. Sometimes it was really sad; occasionally a patient would come in who was obviously in a pretty bad condition, and the patient and/or his/her family would be so distraught. I wouldn't know what to say, but the doctors were always so calm about it. I guess you just learn what to say after doing this for decades. I for one didn't; I can't say I've dealt with very many situations like that. But sometimes it seems like they appreciate the conversation, if for no other reason to take their mind off things.
I've also been given a project to undertake, and it's pretty interesting. I'm supposed to work on a signaling network model for the angiogenesis pathway in gastric cancer. After I heard Dr. Shah going over the details I just thought thank goodness I took that systems biology class. I can actually sound like I know what I'm talking about. So know I just need to get down to brass tacks and read up on this pathway. I feel like I don't know nearly enough about the molecular biology involved to do anything useful yet. But it's all stuff I feel will be useful down the road, so it gives me more motivation to learn it. And...if I do work this out into something further than a summer project, I may get a reason to come back down her more often. Which would be wonderful. Because I seriously love this place. I feel like a boss in business attire with a hospital badge, taking lunch breaks to catch some of the Euro Cup here and there, then rolling back in to the clinic. I could definitely get used to this.
No comments:
Post a Comment