Today was the start of the 3rd week of MedEx. To start the day off, Dr. Matthew Hudson and Ms. Stephanie Tanner came to speak with our group about how to conduct research, how to develop a research question, and what makes for good research. I found this especially interesting because I would love to do research/ I am currently seeking for an opportunity to research as a high school student. Dr. Hudson does research with oncology currently, while Ms. Tanner does research with orthopaedics. Both of these fields are extremely interesting to me. Some of the advice that they shared in developing a research question is that it must follow PICOT (Population, Intervention, Comparison/Control, Outcomes, and Time). PICOT is essentially a method which ensures an actual study is being done, and from there both advised that further revision be done with a method called FINER (Is it Feasible, Interesting, Novel, Ethical, and Relevant?). Ms. Tanner and her orthopaedics department had just completed an 8 year study that was going to be published in the New England Journal of Medicine. She and her colleagues (both here and overseas) tested to see whether saline or soap at high or low pressure did a better job of washing out compound fractures. The study revealed that saline is much more effective in washing out compound fractures/ limiting the number of infections while the pressure doesn't matter. After their presentation, Dr. Hudson and Ms. Tanner gave out props to our table groups in order to stimulate possible research questions. My question was worked around whether or not the presence of toys would improve the overall health of type I diabetics (children only). Next, I decided to go and have an extended talk with Dr. Hudson. Dr. Hudson shared with me some tips about how to find research overseers. He also went over how research attempts to solve the unanswered questions/ offered other general advice. Next, MedEx Tier I prepared to do research into different professional programs and their length of study. I was assigned to look into a PA's career path. I found that they have 4 years of undergraduate, then 2-3 years of PA school, but in order to be accepted one must have 1000-2000 clinical/direct contact with patient hours. As a result, most have master's degrees. While being a PA did sound fun, this research helped to solidify that I plan to go on the MD route. To conclude the day, Dr. Griffith, a psychiatrist, came and spoke with our group. Dr. Griffith began and ended his presentation with questions because he knew how many questions students tend to have about the brain. I was able to ask him questions ranging from ADHD medications to opioid crisis issues to how he values intelligence tests to what working at the VA during a Crisis is like (VA Crisis). He did a wonderful job of presenting the career of psychiatry/ he continued to solidfy my interest in the brain. Some of the information that I learned was that minorities in America are more likely to experience mental disorder and that adults living with any mental disorder die, on average, 25 years earlier. What a great day!
Comments