Webb-Waring Center, University of Colorado, Denver, CO
Colorado prides itself on being the ideal summer destination with a myriad of fun activities, such as hiking, camping, biking, whitewater rafting, hot springs, and different festivals—all to get your heart racing as well as getting your mind some inner peace. And this summer, I had the honor to experience the magical natural power the state offers through the Colorado Undergraduate Summer Program (CUSP) at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus.
I embarked on my amazing journey to Denver at the beginning of June with about 20 other interns from universities across the country. The main goal of CUSP is to demonstrate to the undergraduates how research can be a valuable way to learn medicine and assist its advancement; hence, the interns spent most of the time working on our respective biomedical research projects. I worked under the mentorship of Dr. Ivana Yang, examining the impacts of environmental and genetic risk factors on the development of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), a progressive, irreversible, and fatal interstitial lung disease that affects five million people worldwide and has limited treatment options. This project served to further elucidate the mechanism behind prognosis of IPF, which might enable earlier diagnosis of the disease as well as the development of better treatment plans. Over the course of the two months, I was able to acquire new knowledge of pulmonary diseases and lab techniques and generate useful preliminary data for my lab. Furthermore, I got to know the researchers working in my lab as we shared the struggles to book the super popular microscope room at our research building and learned about each other’s projects as well as life experience. My summer was concluded with a poster session where all the interns presented a formal scientific poster and responded to various questions of attendees, members from different campus departments. Compared to my research experience the previous summer, the work this summer challenged me to venture out of my comfort zone and become a more independent and self-driven researcher. But what I felt especially grateful for is the wide variety of programming organized by CUSP outside of the lab that enabled me to gain a better understanding of the medical field and learn more about my peers and myself.
Every morning before lab work, Dr. John Repine, the program director, would set up an interactive session, engaging the interns in conversations with the diverse group of faculties on campus. We would have highly successful researchers, many of whom are prospering physician-scientists, come in and give lectures on a wide array of topics, ranging from advanced biological concepts to biomedical research ethics. The students were almost always captivated by the talks and were often inspired by the distinct life experience and career trajectory of the speakers. We also enjoyed the unique opportunity to meet the Deans for Admissions for medical school, graduate, and MD/Ph.D. (MSTP) Programs, and understand better the entire medical school application process through comprehending these professionals’ perspectives and expectations. Sometimes, we would spend the morning touring some of the key medical school facilities, such as the Emergency Department (ED), NeoNatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU), and the Radiology Teaching Center. I was fascinated by all these tours and amazed by the innovations the staff tried to bring about to each place. After the trip, I also took the advantage to shadow the pediatrician who was in charge of the NICU and the ED doctor, both of whom gave me unique insights into the medical career. They also showed me how different personalities would fit into different job responsibilities in medicine.
However, unarguably, my favorite activity organized is the case study session, during which Dr. Repine and Dr. Yussman guided us through actual clinical case review. Dr. Repine truly believed that teaching interns about the practice of medicine could advance the value of participating in research as a vehicle to enhance learning medicine. Everyone was intrigued by the idea of being trained like a true first-year medical school student discussing actual clinical cases and learning to make differential diagnosis like a real doctor. All the clinical cases we examined were carefully chosen by Dr. Repine. They provided us with new medical knowledge, but more importantly, they helped initiate important conversations regarding various challenges presented to healthcare providers in the modern society, such as affordability of care, diverse cultural and socioeconomic backgrounds of patients and etc. I was constantly reminded that doctors need to treat not only the body of a patient but also the soul of that patient. We learned to take into account contextual information and pay more attention to the impacts of social environments on the patients. Sometimes, these societal issues can be on a greater scale, leading to public health concerns. For example, one case we examined involved lead poisoning in children due to poor housing furnishing by lead-based paint. Hence, it is also the doctor’s responsibility to stand up for the community, leading conversations in public health prevention programs. The case study enlightens me as I became more aware of the delicate boundaries doctors need to establish. Throughout the differential diagnostic process, a doctor needs to be compassionate but not overly engaged because he or she needs to establish rapport with the patient in order to have a clear idea of what exactly is wrong with the patient, yet at the same time the doctor cannot get too emotionally involved with the patient and lose the big picture due to the sheer amount of information from the patients. A doctor needs to be able to solicit information from the patient but also has the capability to analyze the given information and synthesize them. Nevertheless, the doctor also needs to make sure that he or she does not just see the patients as a mere list of signs and symptoms but as real people who need a helping hand. Thanks to the case studies, I discovered what I especially like about a medical career is its complexity and diversity. Treating patients requires both creative imagination and logical reasoning since the doctors have to come up with all types of possible causes of the patients’ symptoms but they also have to narrow down the list to specific things with solid evidence. Additionally, medicine is both an individual art and a team sport. Each medical professional has to have the ability to perform individual task and solve problems independently, but everyone also has to collaborate with each other to provide the best care possible for the patients.
Outside of work, I also had a great time exploring Colorado. From hiking to rafting to strolling around downtown Denver, I truly enjoyed all my adventures here with people of different interests. I loved how there were always something exciting or interesting going on somewhere around Denver and you would never really find yourself running out of things to do in Colorado.
I am immensely grateful to Mr. and Ms. Fitzgerald P19 whose generosity provided this summer medical internship. The program allowed me to learn more about myself and solidified my desire to become a physician-scientist, staying at the cutting edge of scientific innovation and supporting people through some of the most difficult journeys in their lives. More importantly, I formed meaningful relationships with my peers and learned so much from my great mentors. CUSP gave me a summer full of exciting explorations of new knowledge and introspective moments. It’s truly the magic of amazing mother-nature at work in Colorado.