Week 2: Collecting Data & Learning Experiences in the E.R.

Welcome to my Week 2 Senior Project Blog, everyone! 

This week, I worked on syncing my circadian rhythm to the timings of my shifts in the E.R. and refining my educational material. 

Handout_2 Handout_1

Throughout this week, I finalized my educational handouts, as shown above. Also, I was able to finalize my comprehension questions, adjusting them after having an educational session with a diabetic patient. After completing the comprehension questions, I worked to complete my survey to be sent after my educational sessions with patients.

By collaborating with my external advisor, Dr. Srinivas, I was able to a devise a change in my current surveying method. During the remainder of his E.R. shifts, when seeing a diabetic patient, my external advisor offered to also conduct educational sessions using my material and comprehension questions. This change would allow us to increase our survey sampling size for my project. 

Throughout this process, I have learned the patience required when collecting data for scientific research projects. While waiting for diabetic patients to enter the E.R, I have made sure to expand my knowledge of medicine and healthcare in many ways. For instance, I was able to converse with an E.R. technician and learn an introduction to reading electrocardiograms (ECGs). In this introduction, he taught me how the numbers and letters on the ECGs represent different angles of the heart, and how the ECG’s can help indicate abnormal heart rhythms and heart disease. 

Lastly, I had the pleasure of getting to know a fourth year medical student attending medical school in California. Our conversation ranged from her experiences in medical school, her experience doing clinical rotations, differences between M.D. and D.O schools, and how fourth year medical students will find out whether they matched to residency next week, the next step in training to become a doctor. She shared her insights in her decision to specialize in pediatrics, and emphasized the value of not having “tunnel vision” and being open minded to various medical specialties before committing to a career path. 

This week has been significant in terms of my learning journey, both professionally and personally. With these lessons and experiences in the E.R in mind, I look forward to educating more diabetic patients in the E.R. next week!

That’s all for this week, stay safe and curious out there!