Interventional Radiology Cornell BME Immersion Term Week 2 (JD/Dr.Pua)

This week I was on my own as my mentor, Dr. Bradley Pua, attended the annual Society of Interventional Radiology conference. He was so excited to participate in and present at this conference, so I look forward to next week when we discuss what he learned, his connections, and his conversations on his work. 

I started each morning by attending the interventional radiology rounds. Here doctors meet up and do quick debriefs on the cases (procedures) happening that day. This meeting also doubles as a learning experience for the first-year residents. Each resident explains why a process needs to take place, identifies areas of interest in patient images, and defines the operational method. I feel more confident in noticing abnormalities in images after Dr. Martin Prince's presentation to the cohort at our Tuesday weekly meeting. He advised us that when viewing photos, start with and cycle through what you know; the iterative process will lead you to identify obstructions. Applying this technique to the images presented at morning rounds has allowed me to follow along slightly better. 

After rounds, I enjoy watching clinicians conduct minimally invasive image-guided surgeries. For instance, I watched Dr. Benjamin May deliver a chemotherapeutic to a tumor locally. To do this, Dr. May used x-ray images to drive him to the artery supplying the tumor with blood supply. Once he directed his delivery tube into these arteries, he flowed in the TheraSphere high-dose radiation treatment. While in the control room, I chatted with Jeff Gallo, a TheraSphere consultant from Boston Scientific. He explained that the product TheraSphere is a glass microsphere that, during synthesis, is bombarded with neutrons to create a core made of Yttrium-90, a radiation therapeutic. Since my Ph.D. project is on drug delivery, I asked him what was the mechanism of escape for the Yttrium-90 out of the glass sphere. He responded with, "Man, I'm just in sales," he then proceeded to give me his card so he could put me in contact with the right people to answer my question. Seeing Dr. May perform a targeted drug delivery procedure and talking with Jeff about the product was a pleasure. 

Next, I entered the operating room and watched Dr. Adam Talenfeld and first-year resident Nate Yohannes perform a breast tumor biopsy. A biopsy is simply a procedure where one collects a tissue sample analyzed in a lab for further quantification. The doctor and resident used ultrasound to ensure the biopsy was of the tissue of interest. The software could take the ultrasound images in real-time and color the tumor location. Ultrasound images expedited the procedure allowing the collection of six samples in minutes. This entire procedure did not utilize any incisions into the patient. With just one needle, the biopsy was performed, showing the benefits of image-guided methods. After the process, Nate and I went to the hospital's basement for lunch. For the price, the food was pretty good! We ate lunch while attending the Friday Resident Conference. Here residents are shown images and asked to identify the abnormalities. Spending time with the residents was a great experience as they are knowledgeable, friendly, and fun.

I look forward to further developing relationships with clinicians and residents in the short term. I also look forward to meeting with Dr. Prince next week to learn more about his past and hear any advice he'd like to give me. Furthermore, since my career goals are to intertwine my passions for business and science, I hope to sit down with Dr. Robert Min to learn what it takes to lead a medical organization in the coming weeks.