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.