It's Just the Beginning

Persistence leads to results and that is what happened this week. However, it seems as if I have rounded off to the beginning of another milestone in my ISM Journey.

Weekly Report 3/19/2018 to 3/25/2018

Persistence truly guarantees that results are inevitable. The past several weeks have been frustrating in terms of getting through the observation application process. However, this week was a new start in that after several consistent emails, phone calls, and messages, the process has been approved. This means I get to begin the process of the final product which should be immensely exciting as it includes watching surgeries, going on clinical rotations, conducting clinical research, etc.

The past week has also been dedicated towards writing the final product progress assessment that was written in order to track the progress that has been made so far on the final product. Most of the work done so far has been dedicated towards research on Chiari Malformation and the deficits caused by the condition. This included learning the symptoms, types, treatment options, malformations that are a result of Chiari, and demographics related to the disease. This essentially provided a generalized idea of how the conditions progresses and what is currently known on the malformation which will aid in the research further on in the final product process. The other half of the process has been to begin drafting the informed consent in order to make sure that we have an adequate amount of participants that are willing to participate in the study. This also means that we have to ensure that all the information is confidential and no patient information is released to the public when the paper is published at the end of the final product process.

The following week should be full of mentor visits as the time has come to get a badge made as soon as possible so that I can begin watching surgeries. The next week should also be the first meeting with Dr. Braga’s other ISM student who has been in contact with me via text throughout the past few months. I went ahead and updated her on my application getting approved, so we both should be able to meet very soon.

The next few weeks will be dedicated towards getting ready for final presentation night which will include reserving rooms for FPN, creating an invitation, guest list, and start the hands-on work of final product. Soon, we will be conducting clinical trials in order to gather information clinically through watching surgeries and looking over patient information. The next several weeks should be very exciting and full of opportunities to learn!