LEARNING LOG

Learning Log

Learning Log

OPTION 4

Like many students last year, I kept hearing that the class of 2003 would be required to complete a senior project in order to graduate. Difficult as I thought that would be, I reminded myself that it couldn't be too much of a struggle because I already had a great topic.

After an eight-day stay at Children's Hospital during the summer of 2001, which involved surgery, among many things, the chief of pediatric surgery, Dr. Henri Ford, presented me with an unbelievable offer. I had previously mentioned to him that I liked science and was interested in medicine, so he suggested that I work in his research lab that next summer. At once, I realized this was an incredible opportunity - many college and medical students often vie for this coveted position. With a grin and a handshake, I immediately accepted his offer.

Other than doing experiments, attending lab meetings, and possibly shadowing surgeons at Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh, I was clueless as to how I would spend my summer at Rangos Research Lab. However, I was in for a major shock when I arrived on my first day - everyone else was much older and far more educated than I. So, while all the medical students, college students, and fellows were reading over their assignments, I, the high school student, attempted to read the grant.

Over the next few weeks, things did not become clearer. My main supervisor took a two-week vacation and no one else knew what to do with me. Whenever I would inquire as to what I would be researching or what experiment I would be doing, I would only get vague responses, such as, "Oh, I'm sure you'll find something." (Of course, no one seemed to include exactly where I would find this magical "something".) During these few weeks, I faced many challenges. I constantly tried to read articles about what everyone else was working on, but the medical terminology was so advanced that I couldn't understand any of it. In the meantime, I fed the baby rats in the lab, observed Katie (a supervisor) and Atalie (a college research student) perform their experiments, and attended lab meetings where I was scared to be asked any questions for fear of not knowing the answers. At Children's Hospital, I observed Dr. Edward Barksdale in both the clinic and the operating room.

Some of the different surgeries I observed include a removal of the lower left lobe of a lung; nephrectomy, where I was actually allowed to put on surgical gloves and hold the kidney to feel the difference between the diseased and healthy tissue; repair of a diaphragmatic hernia; repair of pyloric stenosis; removal of a cystic hygroma; repairs of two inguinal hernias; and removal of a gallbladder. I thoroughly enjoyed my time in the operating room, especially because I wore scrubs, a hair net, and a surgical mask, and I felt extremely important. I was allowed to stand right up against the operating table so I ...