Gift of Life and Me

                           

Hi! My name is Rachael Triglia and I will intern for 10 weeks at the Gift of Life Institute in Philadelphia, PA (June 5-August 11, 2023). 

    The Gift of Life Donor program is a non-profit organ procurement organization headquartered in Philadelphia, PA. The Gift of Life Institute works with 128 small care hospitals and 14 transplant centers, serving 11.3 million people in the eastern half of Pennsylvania, Southern New Jersey, and Delaware. For over a decade, the Gift of Life Donor Program has coordinated the most organ donors in the United States. Its annual donation rate is amongst the highest in the world with its most recent 62 organ donors per million population. During my ten weeks at the Gift of Life Institute, I will participate in and observe a range of different departments on a rotational schedule (1-2 weeks in each department). These experiences include organ donor assessment and management, observing the organ allocation system, organ transplant, and tissue recovery at local transplant centers in addition to participating in information call center activities, having conversations with families to obtain authorizations, laboratory donor testing, and partaking in a research project directly related to Gift of Life and their goals. At the end of this post will be a more detailed list of the activities I will partake in and observe. 

    I spent the first portion of my life in Western Nevada before moving to Northern California after the 2008 economic crash. I live on a farm with my father, his girlfriend, and my two younger siblings (pictured above). I absolutely love my siblings and would do anything for them. I hope to forge a path for them as a first-generation college student coming from a poor community so that they too can realize their potential and become successful in whatever they desire. Living on a farm has exposed me to a number of medical emergencies (primarily involving animals) such as assisting goats in giving birth, draining abscesses, wrapping broken bones, and administering antibiotics. I have wanted to be a doctor my entire life and a surgeon since I was nine. I have worked toward this goal since high school and as a result, I graduated with two associate of science degrees and transferred to Juniata College with 69 credits. Because of these efforts, I will be graduating with a Bachelors of Science degree in Neuroscience on the pre-med track a year earlier than my intended graduating class. 

  In addition to studying at Juniata College, I also work with Science in Motion which provides Chemistry labs to high schools in the Huntingdon area, PALS tutoring at Huntingdon Area High School, serve at Hoss's Steak and Sea, and am secretary to the Juniata College Poetry Club. I also partake in research on the effects of Parkinson-like symptoms in Drosophila Melanogaster (Fruit flies) under the guidance of Dr. Kathryn Jewett. The picture in the above-right is of me pipetting our fly food into population vials and the photo below is a photo of me presenting my research at the most recent Liberal Arts Symposium. 

     Being granted the Gift of Life internship has been a huge turning point in my career. With the opportunities provided by the Gift of Life Institute, I will be immersed in all of the different positions required for organ procurement and transfer to be successful. I believe that all doctors should have respect and an appreciation for what the administration, nurses, lab technicians, and everyone else involved does in order to help the hospital run smoothly and provide the best care possible to their patients. Being a part of the entire organ donation process will provide me with the opportunity to be involved in each of the different positions and understand all aspects so I can further understand the responsibility others have, rather than just focusing on the medical side of things. This opportunity will also assist in my progression toward medical school and beyond because I will have a variety of incredible experiences to take with me and teach to others. I am extremely excited to take part in this opportunity and thank Mr. Nathan Howard, Ms. Laura Robinson, and everyone else involved in fostering this opportunity for myself and other future medical professionals. 

As promised, here is the list of activities/opportunities I will partake in over my ten-week internship 

Organ Donor Assessment and Management • Organ Allocation System/Organ Imports Organ Donor Surgical Recovery • Organ Preservation/Kidney Pumping • Organ Transplant Surgery at Local Transplant Centers • Tissue Donor Surgical Recovery • Tour of a Tissue Bank Processing Facility • Transplant Information Call Center Activities • Referral Intake Calls from Hospitals • Conversations with Families to Obtain Authorization • Hospital In-Services and Transplant Center Rounds • Eye Bank Activities • Laboratory Donor Testing • Transplant Coordinator Case Review Meetings • Educational Learning Sessions For Nurses • Donor and Recipient Family Support Activities • Public Relations and Community Outreach Activities • Transplant Pregnancy Registry International Overview • Gift of Life Institute Offerings • Gift of Life Family House Activities 

Have a wonderful day! 

~Rachael Triglia

I will be updating my blog weekly once my internship begins on June 5. Thank you!