BioMedical Research and Mentoring Program (RaMP)
During the spring 2015-2016 semester, I participated in the Biomedical Research and Mentoring Program as a pre-approved honors experience. RaMP is a program that allows undergraduates to be mentored by graduate students and post-doctoral fellows in their labs to learn more about research. I was paired with Mariana Stevens, a graduate student studying developmental biology in the Zorn lab at Cincinnati Children's Hospital. During my stay, I ran experiments on frog embryo's to determine how manipulating different pathways affected the expression of certain genes. I learned about the development of frog embryo's, gene expression, specifics of protein synthesis, lab techniques and protocols, the importance of keeping detailed notes, and the sad truth that experiments do not always go as planned.
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At the end of the semester, each student participating in RaMP presented their project and what they learned in front of their peers, mentors, and faculty involved with the program. I have attached the power point that I presented under this reflection as a sample of my work.
My time in the Zorn lab will help me in the future in many ways. Not only do I now have a deeper understanding of embryology, signaling pathways, and certain protocols, I also have a more general understanding of laboratory science, a better method of dealing with failure, a tighter grasp on reading and understanding scientific literature, and a stronger self confidence in my abilities. These skills will help me not only in my future science career, but my life as well.
After my semester of research, I applied to the Women in Science and Engineering program to continue my work in the lab over the summer as a full time job.
My time in the Zorn lab will help me in the future in many ways. Not only do I now have a deeper understanding of embryology, signaling pathways, and certain protocols, I also have a more general understanding of laboratory science, a better method of dealing with failure, a tighter grasp on reading and understanding scientific literature, and a stronger self confidence in my abilities. These skills will help me not only in my future science career, but my life as well.
After my semester of research, I applied to the Women in Science and Engineering program to continue my work in the lab over the summer as a full time job.
ramppresentation.pptx | |
File Size: | 1623 kb |
File Type: | pptx |
Experiential Learning in the Health Professions
During the spring 2015-2016 semester, I participated in the Experiential Learning in the Health Professions as a two-credit hour pre-approved honors experience through the ProPEL program. Through this program, I interned at CincySmiles Dental Clinic in downtown Cincinnati to help the assistants collect and enter patient history, clean and sterilize rooms and equipment, help patients fill out any paperwork they have trouble with, and any other tasks needed. For the class, I had to complete reflections and record my progress through an online database and through a website I was required to create. I have attached a link to that website as a sample of my work under this reflection.
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The skills that I learned while at CincySmiles will help me in my future as a physician. CincySmiles serves patients who are homeless, do not have insurance, have to go on payment plans in order to afford treatment, or patients who have not seen a dentist or physician for practically their whole lives. This helped give me a different perspective on patient groups and to understand what they are going through better. This will help me serve my patients in a helpful and understanding manner. I also learned the "backstage" work of healthcare. Although filing patient histories and sterilizing rooms is not very glamorous, it will help me to appreciate and understand it in the future.
Although my experience at the dental clinic was informative, I also learned that I do not want to work in the dental field. This helped narrow down my future career options to only medical school, which will save time and worry when applying to graduate school.
http://macdonaldmelissa.weebly.com/
Although my experience at the dental clinic was informative, I also learned that I do not want to work in the dental field. This helped narrow down my future career options to only medical school, which will save time and worry when applying to graduate school.
http://macdonaldmelissa.weebly.com/
Women in Science and Engineering
During the Summer of 2016, I participated in UC's WiSE program. The WiSE program seeks to encourage undergraduate women to continue pursuing science and engineering by holding weekly workshops where the students get to know each other and hear from inspiring women involved in STEM fields. This program required attendance at these weekly meetings along with an oral presentation, a scientific poster, and a written report. The program had two significant impacts on me: I became more comfortable in public speaking and I saw many facets of science I did not know existed. To prepare for our oral presentation, we had two practice presentations with the group and my mentor had me present to her weekly. My lab had weekly meetings where I
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presented the work I had accomplished and I also had the opportunity to present at a larger lab meeting with members from my whole division. At first, I got nervous with every talk and often stumbled over my words or had to look to my mentor for guidance. As time went on, I got more comfortable with the material I was presenting and with myself. By the end of the summer, I was actually excited to give my oral presentation for the whole WiSE class and their mentors. The second impact was the exploration. Many of the other women participating in this program were in engineering majors-- their projects consisted of topics like astrophysics, particle physics, astronomy, and production. Although some were difficult to understand, it was cool to see how many ways science can be applied to research to help make life easier.
Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship
During the Summer of 2016, I also participated in the Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship through Cincinnati Children's Hospital. For this program, I stayed in Dr. Zorn's lab in the division of Developmental Biology and my research focused on two signalling pathways that are involved in the correct formation of digestive system organs. The program had workshops and meet-and-greets to encourage collaboration and professionalism. There were even fun activities, such as a luau and a zoo day, for the undergraduate students to get to know each other better. At the end of the program, there is a poster symposium where all ~200 students present the research they accomplished over the past few months. With the help of my mentor and lab-mates, I was awarded second place at this competition. My work from that summer also earned me an
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authorship on my mentor's paper, which was published in Development (link here). This successful summer solidified my love for research and made me realize that I would like to continue participating in the making of new discoveries throughout my life. It made me begin to think more seriously about pursuing an MD/PhD.