Summer 2017 Internship

Getting an internship was among one of my top priorities for this school year, involving countless applications and attempts. The searching period opened my eyes to the harsh realities of job hunting, as denial after denial chipped away at my confidence in finding a position for the summer. Fortunately I did not give up, and eventually I was accepted into the Scans Design Innovations in Pain Research Program, a summer research internship involving research in pain medicine.

The program itself was, while interesting, rather typical to what I expected out of a summer program: a handful of lectures, a few guest speakers, and a much needed $5000 stipend. Of course, the program was the least of my interests, and the opportunity to jump into research alongside experts in pain medicine was extremely exciting and at the core of my summer experience. I was assigned to 3 mentors: Dr.Michele Curatolo from UW Medicine, Dr.Monica Vanilla from HIPRC, and Dr.Elizabeth Powelson from Harbourview Medical Center. While the level of support each gave to my research experience varied significantly, all of them were clearly experts in their field, and I was honored to be able to work alongside them.

I was involved in 3 research projects: a lower back pain study at the Rehabilitation Institute of Washington, a study on chronic headache treatment at the Roosevelt Pain Clinic, and a study on chronic pain after trauma out of HIPRC. Their methodologies and styles varied greatly, which was a great thing for someone new to clinical research. My responsibilities varied greatly, and I was largely independent with my work: be it scheduling new patients, running tests, modifying procedures, managing databases, and doing patient interviews, I was going all over Seattle keeping up with my work. By the end of the program, I felt that I had accomplished a great deal, and helped keep the project moving forward smoothly.

It wasn't just research I was involved with: my mentor Elizabeth Powelson offered me the chance to shadow here in the OR, and I learned a great deal about surgical procedures and life as an anesthesiologist. Another big part of the program was preparing a poster and presenting at the summer research symposium, another new opportunity for me: while I have done a presentation at a symposium for my yeast research lab, I had never made a poster. It was an exciting and eye opening experience.

All in all, this was an excellent experience for me, opening me to the possibilities of clinical research in the future. I hope to continue working with my mentors throughout the school year, and even if I can't work full time anyone, I wish to shadow them further and explore more about medicine.