Week 3 - Alikhan Fidai

 


Rachel and I joined Dr. Härtl at his home for fireworks and dinner on Monday. It was a wonderful opportunity to connect with our clinical mentor outside of the hospital. On Tuesday, I started the day by attending a meeting at the Spine Conference. At this conference, physicians from Cornell and Columbia present extraordinary medical cases and ask their colleagues what they believe the best course of action is. Later that day, I sat in on a meeting Dr. Härtl had scheduled with his collaborators in Tanzania, Canada, and Germany. We went over the status of multiple projects and set action items for next week. On Wednesday, I compiled several papers for a review paper I am working on for the Bonassar lab in Ithaca. On Thursday, I attended another Spine Conference case meeting before heading to the hospital. At the hospital, I watched a minimally invasive lumbar fusion surgery as well as an open craniotomy with awake motor mapping using electrodes. We have been waiting patiently for our IRB to get approval before I can begin to preserve and characterize the cellular composition of the bone marrow concentrate used to treat degenerative disc disease.




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