Week 4 - Samantha Bratcher

This week I got to join Dr. Talenfeld in the clinic. Since most patients are referred to the IR department, clinic visits usually consist of explaining the procedure that will be done, answering questions/concerns, or discussing how the patient is following the last procedure/next steps. Many of the patients who come to the IR department have cancer. Dr. Talenfeld was familiar and had a relationship with his patients, which I liked to see. He cared about what his patients had to say and explained things as many times as needed. In a time where it feels like general society is caring less about science, forming trusting relationships with patients is important and beneficial.

I also spent a day shadowing Dr. Schwartz in nuerosurgery. It was pretty intense to watch. I saw two parts of a brain resection to treat epilepsy. In the first, they placed electrodes into a girl's brain. They had a robot which could show the surgeons where to enter and the entry angle to correctly place the leads. I didn't get to see this, but next, they will monitor her and record what regions of her brain are active when she next has a seizure. The final step would be to remove those portions of the brain. The second surgery I saw was the final step: brain resection. It was extremely impressive to watch Dr. Schwartz navigate the needed and unneeded brain tissue. There was also a large artery on the brain surface which he worked around and underneath. It was a bit surprising to see that they don't always cut tissue out; some was simply suctioned out. Ultimately, I hope they recover well. Brain resection is a last resort option that usually only reduces seizures by ~50-60%.

No interesting work pictures this week, but here's a neat picture from the bottom of the One World Trade Center that looks like it rises infinitely. Last weekend I rode the ferry to Staten Island and saw the Statue of Liberty. I also went to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. It was amazing. I really liked seeing the Temple of Dendur in the Egyptian section. Maybe I'll go again if I have the time; I definitely skipped a large portion. I still need to get somewhere high up to view the city from.