2 – CA Work Experience Program

Day 2

So today I actually got to go to the lab and do some research along two MDs and one undergraduate from Duke. Today was mainly an observing day to get a feel for the lab and all of the protocols. I observed the two MD students conduct research while I sat with the undergraduate student (Sarah) who explained to me her data analysis on the potency of different types of drugs on colorectal cancer. One of the MD students that I was working with showed me some of his work with pipetting tumor cells to be tested for what types of proteins are in them. He explained to me that they transfer tumor cells directly from the OR to the lab to create buffer solutions and test them for what proteins they have inside of them in order to assign different drugs to each solution to test which drug is most effective at dismantling the proteins existing in those solutions. This was particularly interesting especially after learning about buffer solutions in chemistry; seeing one of the MDs put my chemistry knowledge to use was spectacular. I actually got a feel for what I was learning out of a textbook– it was the tangible aspect of all the calculations that I did throughout this year. It’s so fascinating to me that the other side of what seems intangible, almost theoretical numbers are physical appliances with very visible applications. The other MD took me around the lab for a tour to show me its basic functions and the equipment used to conduct respective experiments. But they also explained to me that most of their research isn’t actual, tangible lab work. Rather, most of their time is spent analyzing the data that they collect evaluating cancer drugs and different mechanisms to approach cancer cures. Again, my chemistry and math knowledge was laid out on a practical level as I observed the MDs and the undergraduate (Sarah) calculate standard deviation when determining the potency of each drug; such practical application with data analysis reminded me a lot of pharmaceutical work, so it was interesting to draw a similarity between those two professions. In general, today was a pretty hands off day, but in the next few days, I’ll be observing drug effects on actual cancer patients that have come through the office, and I’ll be actually going into the clinic and meeting cancer patients with Dr. Hsu.

Day 2 – More and More and More Statistics

The second day began with a nice 10:30am start, but the late wake-up time still didn’t prepare me enough for that day’s statistics lesson. Today, Dr. Laber introduced us to the programming language R, and gave us several examples of how it can be used. We first looked at a massive spreadsheet of data taken from about 20 different dogs suffering from induced paralysis (from a getting hit by a car, falling, etc.), with cells including the time since incident, presentation, gender, breed, location of source, and biomarker proteins such as pNHFP and S100B that were measured. Dr. Laber asked Suki and I to find the primary causal factor that would determine a dog’s ability to walk after both 6 weeks and 6 months before setting a timer to 5 minutes and stepping out of the room. While a little daunting and stressful, we were able to deduce that if the average level of protein GFAPP exceeded a level of 0.31, the dog would have roughly a 92% chance of remaining paralyzed. He agreed, then showed us how R could be used to come across the same conclusion by comparing statistical algorithms of recovered vs. non-recovered dogs. He continued with these short exercises where he’d give us time to converse before explaining it in code, with examples such as latent states of depression of terrorists vs. non-terrorists, as well as methods of finding demographics of a population with just a small sample. It was quite the hour-and-a-half long hyper-speed presentation of applications, but our work felt important and our conclusions felt meaningful. Later that day, we went to the Laber Labs at BOM to meet with the team’s graphic designer, Lisa, to speak with her about a potential project for Friday using 3D imaging before we helped train the chess-bot Nona through about 600 more actions. Our time today felt pretty long, but the lab is full of so many interesting people and projects that each day is something completely new.

Dr. Laber’s morning presentation – on the pages are just lines and lines of code

Lisa’s sketch ideas for Nona, the chess robot

Day 2- TLC in Pediatrics

The photo above depicts an artwork piece in the office. Many kids like to find the hidden creatures in the pictures while they walk to their room.

Babies galore seems to be a common thing at Carolina Kids Pediatrics. Most children come for a visit during the first few days of their life, at 2-3 weeks old, then around 4 or 6 months, then a year, 18 months and 24 months. Thus, a lot of young children pass through since they need more wellness visits. I also met a number of four year olds with bellyaches, coughs, fevers, and rashes. Some of today’s illnesses included ear infections, persistent bumps, and back pain.

Despite learning the ropes, i am still surprised and sad to hear kids wailing in the room next to me. Dr. Willey does an amazing job calming down her patients when they’re being treated. However, I’ve learned that preventing a toddler or newborn from crying can be an impossible task. The battle continues when the patients receive shots. Nonetheless, Dr. Willey’s calm nature proves effective in establishing a safe environment for the kids.

Dr. Willey uses a wide variety of techniques to calm her patients. Before interacting with any newborn, she strokes their head and establishes a calm, comfortable setting. For 18 month old patients, she typically hands them a cup within a cup to distract their hands. For the quieter patients, she simply gives them a light bounce in her arms before listening to their heart and lungs. For older kids, she begins by asking them about school and what they like. Therefore, she uses both physical and emotional connections to calm her patients before beginning her examination. I can tell she is comfortable with her patients. She remembers all of their information even if she hasn’t seen a patient in over a year.

Overall, today was wonderful. Dr. Willey inspires me with her calm, nurturing approach to medicine. She told me today that her residency program promoted a wholistic approach to medicine, meaning they should focus on the patient as a whole person with physical and emotional needs. I see this in each of her visits as she takes the time to understand each patient beyond their medical needs. I can’t wait to learn more about pediatrics from such a caring, knowledgable doctor!

Fun Facts:
– Swimmers ear comes during the summer as the water gets hot and bacteria begins to ‘fester’.
– Babies first see bright, bold colors. They cannot see pastel colors until later in life.
– At four months old, it is difficult for babies to sweat. This puts them at risk for overheating.
– Sometimes drooling can be due to a sore throat rather than incoming teeth.
– Arms can become sore with a cold as lymph nodes become swollen.
– Nitrates in your urine can indicate infections and bacteria.
– Line 5 is never used on the phone system in the office. I don’t know why.