Author: Sabira Ullah

NYU School of Medicine Journey Comes to An End

August 2 was the last day of my summer at NYU School of Medicine where we presented our research analysis studies. While I am upset my internship has come to an end, I have gained a vast amount of knowledge beneficial for my future endeavors. Before my internship, I had goals to expand on my research data analysis skills and I have done so as an intern,  a member of the Database for Research on Education in Academic Medicine (DREAM) Team. 

In the DREAM Team, I collaborated with a multidisciplinary research team on education of physicians and healthcare professionals. I also analyzed quantitative datasets of patient surveys between a patient’s first visit vs. the second visit with residents in the USP Program using SPSS and R. The USP Program evaluates providers in Bellevue Hospital Center and Gouveneur Health from the perspective of a patient. Actors portray as a standardized patient with a certain medical concern and fill out a checklist evaluating the provider’s performance, patient experience, and functionality of the medical team. The conditions that are reviewed are: asthma, back pain, fatigue, hepatitis B, shoulder & knee pain, well visit. Often providers receive the same case twice over the time period they are with NYU Bellevue and Gouveneur. Actors evaluate their experience with the provider and at the Hospital Clinic. The goal is to see an improvement in performance from the provider and the clinic between the first visit and the second visit. My project was to analyze the USP data per case for providers who received two visits for certain domains: Communication, Patient Activation, Patient Satisfaction.

One additional project I worked on was evaluating OBGYN residents’ performance on Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE) by conducting statistical analysis via R and SPSS. OSCE’s are an examination in the Simulation Center (NYSIM) between a learner and a standardized patient (typically an actor) The learner is assessed on their performance and the learner receives feedback via performance-based assessments. OSCE cases cover a variety of situations providers face in the hospital daily. I conducted data abstraction, cleaning, restructuring, merging various datasets, developing infrastructure within the database and calculated summary scores of communication domain. 

Throughout my experience at PrMEIR Scholar Summer Intensive Program, I have developed strong research skills in the field of medicine using my programming knowledge. I have also built a strong network of peers and mentors at NYU School of Medicine. As I embark on my last year of university, I have gained a lot of advice and skills on how to go about finding a career within my interests of Medicine and Computer Science. Working at NYU School of Medicine, I enjoyed the work environment and would love to seek an opportunity in Software Engineering Research in the Department of Medicine. 

If I were to advise students commencing on an internship, I would say to try to find an internship you know integrates your passions and interests. You should work in an environment that allows you to showcase your skills, but also teaches you new techniques in your field of study useful for your future career interests. Also, it is important to make connections in your internship, so you have mentors to help you with your future goals. My summer at NYU School of Medicine PrMEIR Program has come to an end; however, the knowledge and mentors I have attained during my time at this program will stay with me.

Innovating Medical Education and Research

A lot of pre-medical students are eager to delve into the life of a doctor. I have had my share of experiences where I worked and volunteered in hospital environments alongside doctors to understand the daily life of various physicians. However, I was always eager to learn about the process students and physicians have to undergo to be where there are. While, I have heard from many doctors and current students about their experiences in medical school, there are many aspects of medical school I was unaware of until I began my internship at New York University School of Medicine. My internship at PrMEIR Scholars Summer Intensive Program (PSSIP) has allowed me to witness the operations and management behind how medical schools run. I have learned about the array of people required from various backgrounds and the years of research that the Medical School puts into ensuring their students receive the best medical education. I am grateful to have an opportunity to observe and work within the department that oversees the faculty, residents, and medical students to provide them the best medical education to become the best physicians.

The night before my internship, I was nervous and anxious because I had a brief idea of the program I was a part of; however, I was unaware of the vast knowledge I would attain from just the mere first few days of my internship. The first few days I was introduced to the department and team I would be working with. The team is composed of people that have studied research, business, public health, computer science, statistics and many other specialties. I have also met my fellow interns who are from various universities and study different things. We learned that all of our backgrounds are an essential asset to the workings of the PrMEIR program.

Like many medical schools, New York University School of Medicine has a Program for Medical Education Innovations and Research (PrMEIR). This department’s mission is to institute the best practices of medicine for the students to create a hospital environment best for patients and workers. The research the department conducts helps strengthen the tie between healthcare providers and patients’ well-being. The PrMEIR program is composed of many departments; I am specifically a member of the Database for Research on Education in Academic Medicine Team (DREAM). With my academic background in Biology and Computer Science, the DREAM Team has allowed me to showcase my knowledge and skills from both of my fields of studies, but also learn a lot of skills useful in medical education research.

My role in the DREAM Team has been to assist my co-workers with data cleaning and programming to analyze results from research studies conducted on residents and medical students. These studies are known as the Objective Structured Clinical Examination where residents are tested on how they treat and care for patients medically and socially. Moreover, my role is to assist with analyzing medical records by residents who have had a patient that was meant to be an anonymous actor. The interns also are required to speak with patients to understand their experience with residents and attendees. Overall, my favorite part of the experience is being able to apply my knowledge in coding, but also learn about coding in the medical education environment.

I am amazed by the intensive studies and organization the PrMEIR program does to ensure the students are receiving not only one of the best medical education, but to learn how to grow as a person and to be aware of their role as a physician in society. I look forward to the immense opportunities this internship has to offer me to learn about my passion for medicine and computer science. I hope to learn of careers and departments in this program that allows me to intertwine my two fields of interests.

 

5 Week Journey: Running A Hospital

This blog marks 5 weeks into my internship journey where I have fully immersed myself into the experience as a New York University Medical School employee. Throughout my experience thus far, I have learned an abundance of crucial skills important in a work environment. Moreover, I have learned insights into the process of hospital medical school operations. 

We have many weekly meetings at my internship and during these meetings I learn about how research and operations in a medical school works. I have always been aware that medical school is a hard journey; however throughout this experience I have concluded that running a medical school may be quite harder. There are various teams and leaders from diverse backgrounds required to come together to ensure a medical school and hospital runs smoothly. Running a big operation like a hospital requires everyone to pay attention to the small details.

As for my specific role, the intern team has different skills and assets, therefore we are assigned different projects. My projects specifically are correlated with research and data analysis. I conduct a lot of data cleaning and statistical analysis on large datasets using R, SPSS, and STATA. I always work efficiently and quickly to provide my results at every meeting and to demonstrate my strong work ethic. 

As an intern and part of this team, I am often jumping around to various locations. I usually work at Bellevue Hospital Center or NYU Langone Tisch Hospital. Since the majority of my work requires me to be on a computer coding I am often sitting at a cubicle or out on the balcony at a desk. 

As someone who has been working since I was 16 years old, I have always had a strong work ethic. However, since my internship has been a 5 days a week 9:00am-5:00pm job, I have begun to understand the lifestyle of a full-time working adult. I enjoy having a routine schedule where I work efficiently for 8 hours a day and then I have my evening to relax or catch up on other responsibilities. 

One of the best aspects of my internship is that every week we meet different members of different teams in the hospital to understand their role. We witness people from different backgrounds working on completely different projects in the hospital; however, they are all an important part of helping the hospital run efficiently. I believe these events allow the interns to make connections with people working in different fields. Personally, I have enjoyed meeting all these people and making connections. I learn about so many different careers essential in a hospital. 

During the remainder time at my internship, I will continue to work diligently to complete all of my projects and be prepared to present the results of my projects in the end. Moreover, I will continue to make great friendships and connections during my time at NYU Medical School and in New York City.