Week 6 - 09/17/2015
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| Student Intern at U Penn AIDS Clinical Trial Unit :) |
Time flies really fast. I have been in Philadelphia for a month. I have been able to adjust myself well with the city, classes and two internships. I am happy with my internship placements ,and I am very proud to be a part of think tank at Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. Working in the clinical trial setting gives me different perspectives about medical research and clinical practice. In the biomedical research world, thousands of scientists and researchers are working really hard in the laboratory to find new discoveries and treatments to cure diseases for homo sapiens by studying on animals and human. The treatment for diseases including Hepatitis C, HIV and cancer comes from the animal or human studies in the laboratory. AIDS clinical trial unit at U Penn is a place where the discovery from the lab is delivered to the patients with HIV by improving the quality of their lives. I am currently involving in the gene therapy study for HIV patients ,and I was extremely fascinated by the science behind the gene therapy treatment. When I was reading the protocol of the study, I was very excited about the usage of autologous genetically-modified T-cells in the study. It was fascinating to see all of the materials that I learned from science classes are applicable in this study. I felt the pure happiness on that day , and I tried harder to understand the mechanisms in details before I shadowed my supervisor to see the patient who would be receiving the first gene therapy treatment. My perspectives about medical research has changed on the day I saw the patient. The gene-therapy treatment may appear to the patient as a clear liquid solution in a small bag. When she was asking questions about the study, I was speaking science language in my head ( it’s a really amazing study in which your own white blood cells’ separated via leukapheresis are genetically engineered by using zinc finger nuclease which will help resulting in knocking off CCR5 receptors, preventing from entering HIV to enter the immune cells). While I was thinking of the science inside the small bag in front of me, my supervisor spoke human language and gave her simplest explanation about the study. He made sure that the patient understood the procedure and provided the best professional and personal care. I learned more about the patient’s life and situations from the conversation between my supervisor and patient. I learned the importance of patient interaction and learned how to put myself in their shoe and try to see the patient's’ side. I realized that the study was more than investigating science. Sometimes, some scientists tend to forget the fact that the studies are dealing with human subjects. Sometimes, they are very excited about science and they forget to pay enough attention to patient’s life, resulting in unnecessary miscommunication and misunderstanding. Working at U Penn AIDS clinical trial widen my horizons and open my eyes. Being an intern, I get a chance to see the unit from outsider perspective. Being a science student, I get to put myself in scientist’s shoe and feel the science. Being an observer, I get to learn more about patient's’ life and their perspectives on the studies. This experience of putting myself in three different types of shoe enlighten me about clinical practice and medical research.
To sum up, I have been very busy with two internships, two classes and one job. I am happy with my busy schedule. I turned 21 on Oct 4 ( I am so legal now) and my supervisor from PHMC took me out for dinner and surprised me with BD cake. I am very glad that all of my supervisors are treating very nice to me. I wish I can stop the time so that I can enjoy the city as much as I want.
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