2nd Week

This week has been extremely busy. On Monday, I finished the excel worksheet I had been working on for three days straight. It was an extreme relief to finally fill in the last box, as I was ready to move on to the tracing program I would be using to get the left ventricular dimensions. However, this was also where the frustration began. On Tuesday, I was set up on the wrong drawing program and no MRI file would load. At the end of the day I was set up on the correct program and on Wednesday, I thought I would be able to start. When I got onto the correct program Wednesday, to my surprise the files would still not load. The whole day was spent trying to correct the problem. By Thursday, the problem was still not fixed. I asked Dr. Hamilton to try to convert the files, which he did. However, they still did not work. Needless to say this week has been extremely busy and frustrating, but next week I should be able to start my work.

First Week

This week has been extremely enjoyable for me. On Monday during orientation, I was first a bit intimidated by the safety precautions that we had to go through, but I realized that most of the hazards were relevant to my workplace. My mentors have been nothing but helpful. The experiment I am currently doing is a study that has been continuing on for about eight years, and I am helping with the final study group. The people in the study had MRI's of their heart in normal conditions and under stress. What I am doing is measuring and making calculations of the left ventricle, seeing if increased size results in heart problems or death in later years. I am also calling patients, along with Sokun, so we can get all needed data for them.