Stanford Cardiothoracic Surgical Department, Palo Alto, CA; Kaiser Permanente, Cupertino, CA; and EARS Associates, San Jose, CA
This summer I had the opportunity to work in a research lab at Stanford. I also shadowed a couple of different doctors in Northern California. I performed an amplitude of tasks ranging from completing paperwork for patients to scrubbing into an operating room to helping perform open-heart surgery on pigs.
The first six weeks of my internship were spent in Dr. Anson Lee’s cardiothoracic laboratory. I started in the lab on June 10th and the first few days I have to admit were slow. I had to fill out a lot of paperwork in order to work with animals (rats, pigs, and mice). While waiting for the paperwork to be approved, I helped out with some of my peer’s projects (cell culture, decellularization, RNA extraction, 3-D printing). While at Stanford, I worked primarily with Dr. Terrance Pong, both a doctor of medicine and philosophy, and an amazing mentor. There were a lot of summer interns in Dr. Lee’s lab and we all worked on different projects, but Dr. Pong was able to work with all of us. He wanted all of us to truly understand everyone’s project like it was our own.
After the first week, I decided upon my project—studying fibroblast cultures. Every Thursday the Lee lab had a new harvest. Meaning, every Thursday we received a shipment of baby rats. My colleague would extract the hearts and I would isolate fibroblast cells from the lungs and skin of a rodent. I had never isolated fibroblast cells before this summer, so I had to do a lot of research before beginning. The first time I tried to isolate and plate fibroblast cells I was unsuccessful. I created a protocol of my own to use when isolating fibroblast cells and the second time around I was successful. Once I learned how to properly isolate the cells, I plated them on six well plates. Then I needed to stain the cells to identify that they were only fibroblast cells. I used DAPI and vimentin antibodies to stain for fibroblast cells. Once I correctly identified the cells, I injected them into decellularized heart tissue along with cardiomyocytes (another summer intern’s project). After a few days, the tissue regenerated! Long term this project will be beneficial for people that have certain “dead” areas of their heart.
All of the physicians I shadowed were amazing and extremely talented. Dr. Lucy Kim, a general practitioner with Kaiser Permanente, called herself the real-life “doctor pimple popper” as she performed a lot of minimally invasive procedures in an outpatient operating room. Dr. Kim explained the benefits of working for a major cooperation like Kaiser. I also shadowed an otologist, Dr. Jennifer Maw, who owns a private practice. Dr. Maw was in charge of everyone and everything. She had the difficulty of hiring medical assistants, audiologists, scribes, and secretaries. There are only a handful of doctors that own a private practice in Northern California because they are struggling to compete with major corporations like Kaiser and Bass Medical Group. I loved my time with Dr. Maw because she taught me the importance of thoroughly checking everything and organizing a group of medical staff. Her work ethic is unparalleled. In the future, I would like to work for either a major organization or in the military instead of owning a private practice. I believe there is great value in shadowing professionals before entering medical school. Not only is shadowing beneficial for the students but also for mentors. Shadowing is important for surgeons and residents because it gives them a chance to practice teaching. Dr. Pong’s motto was, “see one, do one, teach one,” that is how you truly master your craft. For example, once I learned how to isolate fibroblast cells, I taught the other interns in the lab how to do the same.
I have shadowed doctors in a clinic before, but this summer was my first time scrubbing into an actual operating room. For me, it was an incredible learning experience because I saw first-hand the complexities of surgeries and the importance of prep. The first case I scrubbed in on was an excision of a lipoma. The removal of a lipoma is relatively straight forward, however the person started bleeding profusely mid-surgery. Through it all, the doctor remained calm and started to pack the area while electro cauterizing the surrounding area. I learned the patience and knowledge that a surgeon possesses.
This summer was extremely helpful for the remainder of my time left at Williams. Originally, I was on the pre-nursing track. I thought long term I wanted to become a nurse anesthetist or a nurse practitioner. However, now I know that I want to become a surgeon. Specifically, I want to specialize in pediatric surgery, potentially pediatric oncology. I have always loved working with kids, so I knew I wanted to one day work with kids; but it was not until this summer that I realized that I also want to operate. Moreover, I initially thought that doctors did not have time to interact with their patients the way nurses did. My assumption was wrong. The doctors I shadowed this summer spent a lot of time with their patients. They took the time to not only talk to their patient about their health but also ask questions about their family members, birthdays, vacation plans, etc. It was reassuring to see that doctors work to make a connection with all of their patients. Knowing that I will be able to perform surgeries in addition to having a personal connection with patients makes me want to become a doctor that much more! Moving forward, I plan on taking the MCAT in February and applying for medical school my senior year (2021). I am so excited to embark on this journey! Also, my work in the cardiology department this summer made me realize that I want to do a thesis focusing on the heart, hopefully with Neuroscience Professor Martha Marvin and her work with heart valve replacements in fish.
Thank you so much to the Class of 1966 and the ’68 Center for Career Exploration for helping to make this summer possible. There are truly no words that can express how grateful I am to have had this internship. I am so extremely blessed to go to a school like Williams where the alumni are so closely invested in current students. Thank you for an unforgettable summer! As always, GO EPHS!
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