Summer Internship Journals: Robert Gallo '17 and Michelle Ryder '17

At the conclusion of my research at Brigham and Women's Hospital's Surgical Planning Lab, I can look back at the summer and see how I put together my final project. While I began the summer believing I would be researching solely within the medical field, I see now that research is really the combination of several fields to solve a problem. In the course of my research, I used various disciplines to achieve my goal, including physics, computer science, biology, and mechanical engineering. Since research is about problem solving, I spent my summer focusing on one problem: the accuracy of needle insertion procedures. Needle insertion is used to treat a variety of ailments, since it is not as invasive as traditional surgery. For the various procedures the lab works on, accurately placing a needle is critical to effective treatment. But my internship transcended basic research. I gained a much deeper understanding of how to use science practically to answer questions.

Perhaps the key skill I came to understand during my internship is the mechanism of scientific problem solving. At Rivers, the process of the scientific method is at the heart of all science classes, and is used as the lens through which the world is viewed. However, before my internship, I had never seen it be used in practice, staying in the realm of theory. But after my experience in the lab, I see that, in a practical sense, the best way to solve problems or figure something out is under the paradigm of the scientific method. This paradigm first involves asking a question. My question was, 'How can a needle insertion device be built that is accurate and safe?'

On the 18th floor of a building almost adjacent to Boston Children’s Hospital, I can look over almost the entire city. I’m entering my senior year, and consequently I’ve had to start thinking about college – and even after college. I’ve been asked a million times where I’m going to college, what I want to study, even what do I want to do after college. In response, I've said everything from clown school to Harvard.

Before coming to the SIM lab, I had no idea what I wanted to be. I’m still clueless in most regards; I just know the direction I want to go in now for sure. This internship has not only allowed me to observe doctors and nurses, but also PAs, child life specialists, nurses, hospitalists, respiratory therapists, engineers, researchers and other various members of the hospital community. It's showed me there is a more diverse medical field than my first, superficial impression. I had the opportunity to talk to so many people and hear their experiences in the world of healthcare.