I spent the summer of 2015 interning under Dr. Mary Allen Staat at the International Adoption Center of Cincinnati Children's Hospital (CCHMC). My internship experience included approximately 80 hours of shadowing along with about 80 hours involving participation in a combination of activities including seminars, Infectious Disease Grand Rounds, researching refugee data trends, and compiling patient data in a comprehensive database.

​As is seen in the PowerPoint attached above, I was able to shadow Dr. Staat on pre-adoption referrals, initial visits, and follow-up visits. In these, I was also able to shadow occupational therapists, social workers, and registered nurses. I also observed in the Travel Clinic, which serves staff and patients interested in traveling abroad. Through each of these, my desire and love to serve others through medicine grew. I also learned a considerable amount about different cultures and their physical and mental health practices and beliefs. It was a very enlightening experience which, when looking back, widened my perception of medicine and served to heighten my desire to travel.

Additionally, I shadowed Drs. Melton and Monangi in the NICU, and Dr. Raj Basu in the PICU. I was able to see many interestng and impactful cases, but more importantly, I enjoyed the environment and collaboration of the medical professionals. For example, during the morning rounds of the PICU, it was incredible to see physicians, fellows, interns, medical students, nurses, CNAs, respiratory therapists, pharmacists, dieticians, and the families all involved in planning the care of the patient of interest. The collaboration among each field of professionals, especially from different departments, as well as the discussion of beneficience versus detriment, intrigued me to the point that I asked to shadow again and again in this department. I am very grateful for the initial opportunity offered to me by my internship at CCHMC.

​In addition to shadowing, I also attended educational lunches and grand rounds. Both of these facilitated my professional character by presenting me with various ways to pursue research, plan for medical school, and contribute to the growth and development medicine. Furthermore, I worked closely throughout the summer with another student intern to develop a comprehensive database of all patient files. The International Adoption Clinic had records of their patient files since they first opened in 1999. They have seen over 3,000 patients from 49 countries, each with unique medical histories. It was our hope that the development of this database would facilitate retrospective research. I was personally able to learn a great deal about immunizations and baseline laboratory tests for immunological antibodies. The majority of my efforts focused on the data extraction and organization of the fields demographics, immunizations, HIV, serology, and hemoglobin.

​Finally, I spent a portion of my summer developing a brief presentation and analysis of refugee data trends since 1970. These trends focused on national, state (Ohio), and local (Hamilton County) refugees and were characterized by a number of demographic factors. It was my intention that this refugee data would assist Dr. Staat in determining areas of future research.