My Internship
Internship Site
Learning and Skills
The Workplace
I will be working with Sheryl Lynch, RN, CCRC and her team doing clinical pharmacology research.
This internship will allow me to go outside of my comfort zone and meet many new people. I will be able to network and build on my teamwork, communication, dedication, and professionalism.
Working with many professionals, I have witnessed a lot of different aspects of professional life. Emails, phone calls and the weekly pit meetings are a great insight into the professional world. I would say respecting one another, working well with each other, and civil communication are all things I have learned.
My Work
While working with Sheryl Lynch and her team, I have learned a lot about clinical pharmacology. The simple way to describe clinical pharmacology is the relationship between the medication and patient. It takes into account all aspects of the medication and the patient.
I am most excited about learning more about the field and how what I've learned can contribute to my education. This internship opportunity has brought to light many of my favorite things in medicine. The patients, and the science behind modern medicine. I am planning to become a psychiatrist and as a professional if I had access to a simple blood test to find what medication would fit my patient and their symptoms; this would dramatically effect the way I would practice medicine.
Adopt Study Summary
The ADOPT study I am working on currently takes into account pharmacogenomics. This is the study of personalized medicine based on a persons genome or DNA. The study sequences the DNA to cross reference it with the genotype CYP2D6 that tell how a patient metabolizes their medication. In chronic and acute pain, they can see which types of opioids would be more affective to the patient. The patient will have a range of metabolism depending on the medication given and with this study it gives insight on how fast or slow the patient will metabolize the medication. With the depression study, they find which medications would work better to treat the patients symptoms. The genotype used is CYP2D6 or CYP2C19. The study does the same for these patients as the pain arm of the study. They look and see if how slow or fast the patient will metabolize thier medication.
Fall and Spring Reflection
The fall semester taught me a lot about a professional medical space. I attend meetings, talked to everyone on the floor, and learned how to portray myself in a professional setting. I attended the weekly pit call meetings which entailed all of the IU School of Mediceines parters that were workign on the study as well. These gave me insight on how the field is making an impact on medicine.
The spring semester I did more of the office work on the floor. I learned about the consent process and how patients are actually enrolled in the study. Many patients have to meet the requirements of the study and the medications we are looking for. I listened to a few calls about enrollment. It was a great experience overall and I learned a lot about the field.
Success and Challenges while working
I have never interred anywhere so I was very apprehensive about an internship. I knew I wanted to have one but I also had no idea what it would entail. I had many success while at my internship. All of the skills I have learned about a professional setting is a big success for myself. My track is to go to medical school, so meeting all of the people in the office and learning the professional skills are very valuable. I will use all of these skills going into my professional life. I also had praise form many people I worked with on how well I picked up on tasks presented to me. I work well independently as well as on a team and this internship definitely helped me strengthen these skills. My success at my internship has taught many skills and experiences I can take with me in my life.
Challenges I faced at my internship were very few. It took me some time to figure out med sheets for patients coming in for the study and how to write them correctly. I made mistakes through out my time at my intership but everyone I worked with is forgiving and helped me along the way. This intership has helped me more than discouraged me. I know I am on the right track for medical school and what I want to do with my life.
Overall
Overall, I learned a lot at my internship about clinical pharmacology. The skills I gained for a professional setting will definitely help me in my professional career and in my life. These skills are just as valuable as the connections I made while at my internship. The skills and etiquette I learned in a professional setting is the one of the most beneficial skill sets I have obtained now from this internship.