Week 4: Expanding My Research and Patient Outreach

This week marked an important shift in my project from mostly observation and research into more direct patient-focused work. One of the main things I worked on was identifying additional patients who have both psoriasis and experience with GLP-1 medications. With guidance, I learned how to navigate the clinic’s system more efficiently to filter for relevant diagnoses and treatment histories. This process helped me better understand how patient data is organized and how specific populations can be identified for research purposes.

In addition to finding patients, I spent time carefully planning out the questions I would be asking during patient outreach. I wanted to make sure that my questions are clear, respectful, and actually useful for my project. The questions focus on areas such as changes in psoriasis severity after starting GLP-1 medications, any noticeable improvements in symptoms, impacts on quality of life, and overall satisfaction with treatment. I also considered including questions about side effects and accessibility, since those factors can play a major role in treatment decisions. Thinking through these questions made me realize how important it is to gather both clinical and personal perspectives when looking at treatment effectiveness.

I also continued scribing, which has been one of the most valuable parts of this experience so far. Each day, I am exposed to a wide range of dermatological cases, from benign body exams to skin cancer diagnoses. This has helped me become more comfortable with medical terminology and better understand how providers assess, diagnose, and treat different skin conditions. In particular, seeing multiple psoriasis cases in real time has reinforced how variable the condition can be from patient to patient, which directly connects to my research.

Overall, this week felt like a step forward in making my project more interactive and applied. Between preparing for patient outreach and continuing to gain clinical exposure through scribing, I am starting to connect research, data, and real patient experiences in a much more meaningful way.