Faith Muriuki - Dr. Spector

 7/22/2024 - 7/26/2024

This week started with clinicals. There weren't many patients, but it was still a cool last day of clinics. It was also really crowded in the clinic space where Dr. Spector works because, in addition to the usual members of his team, there were two extra people. One was training to be a Physician Assistant (PA). It was really interesting to talk to the PA-in-training because she is in the stage of her program where she is rotating through different medical departments to decide which is the best fit for her. Plastic surgery is her third rotation; her first was psychiatry, and her second was in the colostomy department. She already decided that the colostomy department is not for her, which is completely understandable. She said psychiatry was really cool. I found her stories about her time in the psychiatry department fascinating as it is completely different from anything I have experienced. My sphere of research has always been focused on the physical condition of the human body. I have little experience or exposure to research or medical treatments that focus on mental health. The second person who joined us was a sub-intern (sub-I). I actually recognized him from one of the OR cases that occurred last week. He had been kind enough to explain to me exactly what was happening and why, as well as the patient's history. The sub-I explained to me that sub-I’s are required to join the clinicals of all the plastic surgeons in the hospital they are currently shadowing. Despite being at Weill for some time, Monday was the first time he shadowed a plastic surgeon during clinical rounds. It was also his last week at Weill, so his entire week was filled with clinicals with other plastic surgeons. Clinicals was the last time I saw him, but I hope he was able to complete the requirement.

The next day, we had the weekly Tuesday meeting where my peers presented the research they did during the summer. It was really cool to hear, and the research was impressive. After the meeting, I went to the lab to image my H&E slides. It was not a productive session, and I had to redo the imaging later in the week. I redid the imaging on Thursday, and this time I was much more successful.

I also joined my last lab meeting on Thursday. I greatly appreciate Dr. Spector and his medical and research teams for being kind enough to welcome me during the summer. I really enjoyed this experience and learned a lot.