Week 6 - Rick Zirkel

 Clinical: I was able to shadow Dr. Kaplitt for the final week again during a focused ultrasound case in which he ablated a specific region of the patient's brain using using MRI. The patient had essential tremors and showed significant improvement by the end of the session. I was also able to shadow in the OR and saw Dr. Kaplitt replace a battery pack for Deep Brain Stimulation.

Research: My research finally began in the last week as I was able to perform the cannula implant surgeries on 8 experimental mice. I performed bilateral cannula implantations of optical cannula into the dorsal striatum, and in two weeks will return to Weill Cornell to conduct the fiber photometry imaging while the mice are exhibiting the freezing of gait phenotype due to exposure to magnetic field change brought on by MRI.

My research mentor Dr. Santiago Unda has been an incredible hep during my time here and I wish I could have been more productive with my research with him, however have been able to due to several aspects. The time trainings took to complete and awaiting for the arrival of the necessary materials to perform the cannula implants prevented me from really starting my research until the last 2 weeks of the program. 

Outside of research has been a great experience to be able to shadow Dr. Kaplitt during his surgeries and focused ultrasound cases. I am very grateful to have been able to have such an experience.

The social aspect of immersion has also been great, as I have really gotten to know the 1st year class, which had been very difficult to do due to covid.

Overall there were many things that I would have changed about my experience during immersion, but I am glad that I was able to have the experience that I did.

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