Week Four: A New Lab..

It’s my fourth week in New York City, and I find myself in a new lab. Unfortunately, my time with the Pediatric Mood and Anxiety Disorders lab was cut short when the Post-Doctoral student unexpectedly decided to leave the lab. Though I was disappointed, I got in touch with some faculty and found another lab for my remaining weeks in New York. I am now working in the Pediatric Allergy and Immunology Lab with a psychiatrist who is the Chief of the Division of Behavioral and Developmental Health in the Department of Pediatrics. This lab studies mental health issues that children with allergies and their families face. that surround the bullying that frequently dominates the lives of kids with food allergies. In doing so, they offer an incredibly unique perspective, but a great one nonetheless.

Though much of my time was consumed by meetings with faculty this past week, I was thrilled with a couple great experiences I had.  On Monday, I sat in on the lab’s meeting with Graham Windam, a foster care program for children in New York City. This meeting was a preliminary meeting, which established ideas for a study that will examine the mental health of kids in foster care and thus the overall effectiveness of the program. On Tuesday, Dr. Shemesh took me to an IRB (Institutional Review Board) meeting! An integral part of the oversight of ethical research, the IRB is composed of some of the best researchers and clinicians at the institution as well as one or two highly-educated individuals who are not in the healthcare field who can offer unbiased opinions of research proposals. Though this meeting was long, I loved listening to their review of several protocol and the discussions that followed. Incredibly interesting!!

Moving forward, I have developed a great plan to develop research as well as clinical experience during my last four weeks in New York. I will shadow many different people throughout the week, which will include a psychiatrist, a developmental pediatrician, a clinical psychologist, and a graduate student. I look forward to not only the clinical experience, but also the opportunity to develop a greater understanding of the many critical pieces of healthcare. When I am not shadowing, I will work on the data analysis for the lab. Having met with my new colleagues, I am impressed by the close relationships that are indicative of great mentorship.    

Because I couldn't snap pictures during my meetings with physicians and psychologists, I included a picture of our website!