Week 6 07/26/21

 Week 6


In the last week of the summer immersion program, I tried to wrap of a few of my deliverables instead of continuing to shadow surgeries for the majority of time. Over the past weeks I have been working with Dr. Bradley Pua for a conjoined case study with Dr. Jeffrey Milsom who is in the colon and rectal surgery department. The case study was looking at a possibility to combine interventional radiologic techniques for treating some small bowel complications. This week I helped them with editing the texts and figures for this case report. We imagine there would be a few more rounds of edits in the next few weeks before finalizing the manuscript. In addition, on last Friday I gave a brief presentation on the topic of this case study to our fellow summer immersion students and our coordinators. 

Overall the summer immersion has been an incredible experience for me. Not only has it given me the opportunity to witness medical practices on a daily basis, it has also prompted me to think a lot about the interface of clinical practice and bioengineering research, and how these two aspects could synergize to foster more biomedical innovations that will be truly meaningful to advancing patient care. Many of the doctors I have met in the IR department has also kindly provided me with their thoughts and inputs on how they would like to see new bioengineering ideas being carried applied in their surgical procedures. 

Lastly, I want to thank everyone for making this summer immersion happen. Although this year has been a difficult time, our wonderful team of program directors, both in Ithaca and NYC, has still made it possible for us to participate in this year's immersion. I also want to thank my mentor, Dr. Bradley Pua, for helping me every step along the way. He was always super approachable and he has encouraged me to explore many things outside of the IR. I am also very grateful to all of the clinicians who have generously allowed me to shadow their surgeries and clinics. I also want to thank all of my peers, for all of the movie nights, ping pong games, late-night ice creams, and most importantly, for making this summer an unforgettable experience.

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