The site of my practicum project was located at Montefiore Medical Center in the Bronx New York. Specifically, in the Pediatric orthopedic surgery Department. My site supervisors were Dr. Eric Fornari and Dr. Alexa Karkenney. I found this site through my mother, who also works at Montefiore Medical Center. But, I still had to go through the rigorous process of applying, writing a cover letter, fixing my resume, and having an interview. My advice to future SGC scholars about this field is to apply to as many places as possible. Internships have become extremely competitive in the last few years, especially due to covid. There are larger applicant pools and fewer internships being given. That being said, my advice is to apply to as many places as possible and see where you hear back. Also, don’t be afraid to email people in your perspective fields. I have done this a ton asking doctors if they are doing any research over the summer and seeing if/what they say back. You never know if you never take the chance.
At this site, I performed a multitude of tasks. I will first start with the shadowing/observing part of it. There were some days in this internship in which I was given the opportunity to watch live surgeries or observe a doctor seeing patients. I was able to be in the room when patients were being diagnosed with whatever issue they came in with. Also, I was able to see a couple of very interesting surgeries that I found fascinating. But, the bulk of my time spent here was doing research on Developmental Dysplasia of the Hip (DDH) in newborns. I was given the summer to look into over a thousand patient files from the last 5-6 years and record all background data from each patient. I would record their sex, BMI, ethnicity, race, family history, and doctor's notes, and also record the dates and outcomes of each hip ultrasound they received. I learned a lot about the science behind the job site that I was at. I became well versed in the ability to read an ultrasound of an infant's hips. Most of the reading for the hips of an infant of the ultrasound came from recognizing each part of the body. It became easier after time that I was able to identify structures like the femoral head, bony coverage, alpha and beta angles, and the pubic bone. All of these must be known so that an accurate reading of the baby’s hips can be taken. The research that I was a part of was trying to find a new way to diagnose DDH with the addition of measurements like the percent bony coverage and pubic bone length. We were trying to see if these measurements could improve the accuracy of diagnosing DDH.
I have modified my future plans at UMCP based on several recommendations received from current medical students and residents. I tried to ask all of the med students and residents for advice on my future this summer to see what I can be doing to maximize my chances of getting into medical school and enjoying what I will be doing for the rest of my life. Mostly all of them told me to change my major to something more specific, rather than general biology. So, I made the switch to Physiology and Neurobiology. They also told me to get more involved with clubs and extracurriculars on campus. Also, the biggest question for me was trying to decide what I wanted to do in the future now. After talking with these people, I realized that I don't have to pick exactly what kind of doctor I want to be right now. Most of them admitted to trying to do this and all of them ended up changing to something else. This took a little stress off my shoulders because I have plenty of time before I have to make that decision. This project has affected my future career plans in that I learned that I really like the research side of medicine. I really enjoyed trying to find different correlations by sifting through the data and helping find alternate practices to those that are believed to be foolproof. There are so many practices in place right now that are outdated and there are more effective ways to treat these conditions or illnesses, but no research has been conducted to prove otherwise. I definitely want to be a part of more medical research in the future.