Internship

Fractures that do not heal without medical intervention and have impaired union can lead to disabilities and mobility issues in patients. This can add to an economic burden of several million dollars annually. Patient’s quality of life is also affected due to reduced mobility and pain. Another major concern is the use of opioids in treating the pain associated with fractures. Due to their addictive nature, opioids have caused  problems in patients needing long term pain relief. Kacena lab investigates potential therapies to address the impaired fracture healing due to advanced age, underlying conditions such as Alzheimer’s disease and obesity, and alleviate the associated pain with non-opioid alternatives. Kacena lab uses pre-clinical mouse models to study these objectives. My role in the lab was to participate in mouse fracture surgeries, x-ray imaging of the fractured femurs, and help with the treatments to induce mutations in study mice. My time in Kacena lab has helped me understand how a research lab works. I have begun to appreciate the process of translational research where the bench-side research eventually leads to bedside medicine to benefit patients.

One of the skills that has helped me the most so far is fine motor control with lab materials, specifically with mouse handling and pipette skills. This is a skill I have worked on since late high school through my coursework. My lab works with mice, which are quite small, so having a steady hand when working with them or their small levels of fluids, it is crucial to work with a steady hand.

Time management is another important skill in laboratory work. Often, there are parts of an experiment where you have to wait for the components to fully react before moving on to the next step. To maximize this time, other pieces of an experiment can be performed. Short-term planning and time management is a skill I have developed since my early childhood, as I was a busy kid with a lot of involved extracurriculars. When you don't have a lot of free time, you get very good at finding small pockets of time to complete assignments or tasks.

Another important skill in this lab is communication. This is a skill that I have worked on my entire life through day-to-day interactions, group projects, volunteer opportunities, and many more. My lab highly encourages open communication, and requires it to function at an optimal level. Having communication skills will allow me to present my thoughts clearly and efficiently, send emails to others in my lab when needed, and ask for help when I need it for a task.

Time management is another important skill in laboratory work. Often, there are parts of an experiment where you have to wait for the components to fully react before moving on to the next step. To maximize this time, other pieces of an experiment can be performed. Short-term planning and time management is a skill I have developed since my early childhood, as I was a busy kid with a lot of involved extracurriculars. When you don't have a lot of free time, you get very good at finding small pockets of time to complete assignments or tasks.

My role in the lab was quite interesting and changed throughout my time in the lab. Entering into the Kacena Lab, I was one of two undergraduate students amongst many MD and PhD students. From the very beginning, many of them took me in as a mentee, giving me all of the tips and tricks for lab work, as well as life in the medical field (which I was deeply grateful for). Over time, I gained the reputation of being a quick learner and reliable. I was trusted with more individual tasks, which was very exciting as it meant that I was trusted. Earning the trust of those that I had looked up to and aspired to become inspired me to work even harder. By the end of the internship, I had begun training a few new lab members in simple tasks that I had learned myself a few months prior. That full circle moment was the most satisfying of all, going from the taught to the teacher.

Many of my tasks were relatively routine, many of which involved assisting in maintaining the mouse colonies. From x-rays to changing water bottles, my tasks were important to our projects as without any mice or observation, there would be no project. Outside of that, I was often given tasks to make the jobs of others easier. For example, during collection of tissue, I was occasionally tasked with serum collection and blood analysis while other lab members finished the collection. This gave my teammates more time to complete additional tasks, and me more experience with a variety of wet-lab tasks.

My overall experience in my internship site so far has been amazing with many personal victories. One of my first big victories in the lab was being recognized for having good pipette skills. On the very first day in the lab, I helped one of my supervisors run genotyping, which involves pipetting very small amounts of liquid into tubes. I didn't know this at the time, but she had asked for my help so that she could see how comfortable I was with laboratory equipment. Fortunately I did well, and because of that I have been allowed to independently take on additional lab tasks!

One of the most notable victories I have had so far was being told that I was "a quick learner" and "doing very well" in my check-in by my supervisors. My future career goal is to become an orthopedic surgeon, and I was fortunate to be placed in an orthopedic surgery research lab with experts that I could learn from. From the start, I wanted to make a good impression by taking notes on lab processes to become independent more quickly, showing up for recommended 7:30am Monday meetings, and always putting 110% into presenting my best work. Hearing that my hard work was noticed in the meeting really meant a lot, and motivates me to continue putting the work in!

Fortunately there have not been many major challenges so far in my internship journey. One difficulty I had at the beginning was getting all of my paperwork and training completed so that I could do lab tasks, specifically with mice. In my first few weeks of LHSI, I had spent hours working through these requirements, and just when I thought they were finished, there were a few more. While the paperwork took a bit to straighten out, we were able to figure it out with open communication and patience.

A smaller goal that I am currently working towards is becoming more comfortable with handling the mice. During my first training, I was unfortunately bitten, breaking two pairs of gloves and skin (all proper measures were taken afterwards). Since then, I've been a bit nervous to handle the mice while they're awake, and I particularly struggle to scruff them as I don't like getting my hands that close to their teeth. To help solve this issue, I have been practicing handling the mice when I don't have other tasks and discussing different techniques with lab members to see what techniques help them and try them myself.