I devoted the majority of my week to working on my research project. Consequently, this meant spending time at both the lab in Weill and at Rockefeller to create a vaccine construct. It's interesting being able to spend some time at Rockefeller and see the vast array of their resources. Overall, I was able to make progress with respect to synthesizing part of the library that I will need. In addition, we had a very extensive lab meeting this week, which was particularly useful for me. To this end, it allowed me to learn a fair amount about the research being conducted by several post-docs in the lab. More importantly, it also enhanced my understanding of the mechanisms involved in oligodendrocyte destruction in MS. In my estimation, it was one of the most informative presentations I have been able to attend.
I also spent some time in the OB clinic this week. I had the opportunity to see a variety of women in post-operative recovery from C-sections as well as various other gynecological procedures. During the rounds, the patients that we saw were either pregnant or in recovery. It was a little different to be able to see the before and after picture - either way, it appeared as though the patients were enduring a fair amount of discomfort. By contrast, there were two women we saw who had delivered their newborns by natural births, and they seemed to be the most energetic and in the best physical state. I was not able to view any live births, since there were none scheduled for my rotation. However, I was very satisfied at seeing how well equipped the physicians and medical teams are for dealing with pre-delivery and post-delivery concerns to ensure that both the mother and infant are in the best physical states.
With Dr. Gauthier, I was able to see more patients with MS this week. This week was different from previous visits since she had a large influx of new patients. This opportunity allowed me to see how she is able to develop a rapport with the patients to make them feel comfortable with their diagnosis and the treatment plan moving forward. It also showed me how different medical centers take MRI/other radiological images differently - this then makes it hard to compare scans to track patient disease progress over time. More specifically, one patient came in to Dr. Gauthier's office for a consultation as she had been to 5 other neurologists previously over the course of 2 years. With each neurologist, the patient received a new set of brain and cervical MRI scans. The patient was reluctant to accept the MS diagnosis and therefore, sought multiple consults. Dr. Gauthier agreed that the patient did have MS consistent with some of the symptomatic episodes. However, the treatment type is dictated by what is understood to be the "pace" of disease. In some patients, the MS is mild, and in others, it is very severe. Dr. Gauthier was unclear as to how accelerated the pace of the disease was in this patient - if it was very serious, she would need to start on the most robust line of medication, which carries the most side effects. The uncertainty came from the difficultly in comparing the different scanning preferences from the 5 other facilities. This shows that though the diagnostic power has increased exponentially with the advent of MRI, how this technology is individually applied and interpreted makes a significant difference in how a patient's course of treatment is decided.
I will say that the best part of the immersion term is that each week teaches me something new. Some parts of this knowledge are more obvious, but the subtle aspects are just as informative too. It certainly speaks to the complexity of medicine and healthcare - two closely related, but not necessarily synonymous fields.
I also spent some time in the OB clinic this week. I had the opportunity to see a variety of women in post-operative recovery from C-sections as well as various other gynecological procedures. During the rounds, the patients that we saw were either pregnant or in recovery. It was a little different to be able to see the before and after picture - either way, it appeared as though the patients were enduring a fair amount of discomfort. By contrast, there were two women we saw who had delivered their newborns by natural births, and they seemed to be the most energetic and in the best physical state. I was not able to view any live births, since there were none scheduled for my rotation. However, I was very satisfied at seeing how well equipped the physicians and medical teams are for dealing with pre-delivery and post-delivery concerns to ensure that both the mother and infant are in the best physical states.
With Dr. Gauthier, I was able to see more patients with MS this week. This week was different from previous visits since she had a large influx of new patients. This opportunity allowed me to see how she is able to develop a rapport with the patients to make them feel comfortable with their diagnosis and the treatment plan moving forward. It also showed me how different medical centers take MRI/other radiological images differently - this then makes it hard to compare scans to track patient disease progress over time. More specifically, one patient came in to Dr. Gauthier's office for a consultation as she had been to 5 other neurologists previously over the course of 2 years. With each neurologist, the patient received a new set of brain and cervical MRI scans. The patient was reluctant to accept the MS diagnosis and therefore, sought multiple consults. Dr. Gauthier agreed that the patient did have MS consistent with some of the symptomatic episodes. However, the treatment type is dictated by what is understood to be the "pace" of disease. In some patients, the MS is mild, and in others, it is very severe. Dr. Gauthier was unclear as to how accelerated the pace of the disease was in this patient - if it was very serious, she would need to start on the most robust line of medication, which carries the most side effects. The uncertainty came from the difficultly in comparing the different scanning preferences from the 5 other facilities. This shows that though the diagnostic power has increased exponentially with the advent of MRI, how this technology is individually applied and interpreted makes a significant difference in how a patient's course of treatment is decided.
I will say that the best part of the immersion term is that each week teaches me something new. Some parts of this knowledge are more obvious, but the subtle aspects are just as informative too. It certainly speaks to the complexity of medicine and healthcare - two closely related, but not necessarily synonymous fields.
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