Week 3

I started off the week with an episode of nostalgia.
I was invited to the neurology department's research symposium, where all of the doctors gather to present their research projects from the last year. In other words, I attended a professional science fair. I was introduced to several other neurologists among rows and rows of poster-board displays, and all I could think of was the amateur melt-an-eggshell-with-soda project I had done as a nine-year-old. Of course, their experiments were much more complex, but it was still interesting to see the scientific method in practice. These posters contained a vast array of research topics ranging from dementia in patients with Down syndrome to ketogenic diets as a form of seizure treatment. It was especially exciting to know that I recognized some of the terminology (i.e. PCR, Western Blot Test) discussed in these studies from my biology classes.  

Dr. Zieman, my mentor, presented her own research from this last year, a study of domestic violence patients with TBI. Although different from my own, her research is the inspiration for my project, so there are some similarities between the two. First of all, her study was retrospective. There are several reasons why my own research should be conducted in the same way. The most immediate issue is the fact that I don't have access to my own patients. I only have access to medical records from former patients. Additionally, due to time constraints, I'm unable to search for a sample size of current patients who meet all of the criteria for my research.  The process of selecting patients and debriefing them about the study would be too lengthy. So, instead, I've decided to use information that is already in the system. 

I spent the rest of the week observing more patient visits. Despite the fact that I've already been a clinical observer for weeks, I haven't seen everything. I'm continually surprised by how different each case can be. One patient might show all of the classic symptoms of a mild TBI: headaches, nausea, dizziness, irritability, etc. Then the next patient (who also has a mild TBI) could show no common symptoms of a mild TBI, but instead display symptoms characteristic with Bell's palsy (muscle weakness in one half of the face). There's unpredictability everywhere. That's what makes my job so interesting.