Stockton Troyer ’19

St. Luke’s Orthopedics, Boise, ID

This previous summer I was lucky enough to serve as a ROCK (Research in Osteochondral dissecans of the Knee) research fellow. This is an organization that was formed by a group of orthopedic surgeons that specialize in pediatrics from across the U.S. to advance the understanding of orthopedic procedure for pediatric patients. They formed this group to combat a lot of the added difficulties of performing orthopedic procedures on pediatric patients (such as open growth plates that can’t be drilled across). Besides containing surgeons from all over the U.S., it also contains surgeons from Germany, France, and Brazil.

Holding a computer as I make a set of measurements from a specimen that we are dissecting in lab.
Holding a computer as I make a set of measurements from a specimen that we are dissecting in lab.

My responsibilities as a ROCK research fellow were broad and comprehensive. At the beginning of the summer, a group of surgeons meet in Denver for a week to dissect and take measurements on pediatric cadavers. During that week we will dissect anywhere from 20-45 knee specimens. My responsibilities during this time are to assist the surgeons in their dissections: this can range from stabilizing the specimen with hemostats or by holding it to making sure every surgeon has all the necessary tools they need. Additionally, it is my responsibility to make measurements on the specimens once the surgeons have dissected to a point where the specimen is ready to be dissected. We will often send parts of the knee to others labs across the U.S., and I have to assist in the labeling and sorting of the dissected parts to ensure that each lab receives what they need. We typically have hundreds of samples that need to be distributed to several different labs across the U.S.

After the week of dissections is over, we then head to Boise, Idaho, for the rest of the summer. Once in Boise we then begin to analyze all the data we gathered from the dissections and write articles and book chapters to be published in health journals. We’ve had articles published in the American Journal of Sports Medicine and Arthroscopy to name a few. While my work during the dissections is stimulating and exciting, my work during the data analysis and article writing process is very engaging. This is because during this time, I get assigned to help write the articles. I was assigned first authorship on two articles, which entails making all the measurements for the paper and then writing the entire manuscript. This is a very time intensive and lengthy process, but one that I find very rewarding because it allows me to become incredibly knowledgeable on whatever topic my article is on through reading hundreds of academic articles to familiarize myself with the current literature and understanding of my topic. Throughout this process I was in contact with the doctors who I was working under; both filling them in on how the data we gathered was looking and also seeing what their thoughts are on how am I writing the paper.

Writing these papers is very important because its pediatric orthopedics is an area that is underserved. Also, as sport participation rises and performance level increases, many doctors are seeing an increase in injuries at younger and younger ages. The implications of these injuries are that they need to be healed but there is very little knowledge of how is the best way to do that. It’s very rewarding to do work that I know will lead to the improvement of treatment for kids who are afflicted with painful conditions and didn’t have any options for treatment before this.

It’s also a fantastic opportunity for me to get more experience in the medical field. As a pre-med student it can be hard to get into the medical field while an undergrad but it’s also important to in order to get a good sense of what the medical community is like so I can get a sense of what life as a doctor is like so I can tell if that’s a lifestyle that I could see myself living. Also being in contact with so many doctors from so many places provides a great opportunity to talk to them about their thoughts about being a doctor. This gives me a chance to see life as a doctor from many different perspectives in many different environments.

This research is very important to these doctors, but due to their strenuous schedule of seeing patients and operations, they have very little time to do research like this. Being able to help them out on this important research is very rewarding to see how grateful they are because this research directly helps them improve their care on their patients because they are all orthopedic surgeons with a focus on pediatrics. Knowing that the doctors will use the information from my research to provide better care to their patients makes it an incredibly rewarding experience.

For example, one of my projects was simulating drill tunnels for a PCL replacement that avoided the growth plates for patients with open growth plates. Pediatric patients have open growth plates and many orthopedic procedures drill through the growth plates, but drilling through an open growth plate can cause growth deformities. So a specific challenge of pediatric orthopedics is performing reconstructive procedures while also avoiding the growth plate. The purpose of my study was to simulate tunnels that would avoid the growth plates and alleviate the concern about causing growth deformities. To do this I created 3D models of pediatric knees from CT scans and then simulated drill tunnels on these models. But now there exists a set of tunnels for PCL replacement that can be used by these doctors. In the future, these doctors can use the work I did to help them provide better care to their patients.

Through doing this research I have been able to see the world of Orthopedics. This is an invaluable opportunity to experience life in a specific medical field. I have seen that Orthopedics is a very interesting field and potentially something that I could see myself doing as a career in the future. The chance to know where I might want to go in my future in the medical field is very helpful for when I’m deciding where I want to take my life after I graduate from Williams.

The ASIP grant was crucial in my ability to perform this summer job and to have all of the fantastic learning and growing experiences that I did, and for that I am very grateful.