Week 5 GOL (July 3- July 7)

 Hi friends, I am back with another update on my incredible internship! This blog post will be much shorter than the previous one as it was a holiday week. Speaking of which, I hope you all had a happy Fourth of July! Below is the outline of my week! 

Monday (July 3): Today I went into the office and worked on my project for a couple hours. I attained more data and expanded on my PowerPoint. I also read our packets on Essential Donor Testing and TC Family communication in preparation for our Didactic training with the Transplant coordinators this week. Next week I am going into the field with transplant coordinators to observe the entire process of obtaining authorization, collecting background information, and recovery of life-saving gifts!

Tuesday (July 4): Happy Fourth of July! Today I spent the morning catching up with family via phone and updating them on my amazing experiences. I then followed those conversations by reading my packet on Brain Death, what it is, and how to explain brain death to other people. Previously, I knew that brain death was different from a coma however, this reading really helped me expand on my knowledge and what actually causes brain death. I will attach photos that helped me understand what brain death was but  in short, brain death is caused by the lack of blood flow from going beyond the brain stem. You're brain stem is divided into three portions (the midbrain, medulla, and pons). The medulla portion of your brain stem is what controls respiration (breathing), so when blood flow stops then your brain cannot complete the processes that create meaningful life. 

Wednesday (July 5): Today I attended an all day course on brain death. The didactic was taught by Jennifer Timar, an Advanced Practice Coordinator (Transplant coordinator). I learned a lot of what I synopsized in my Tuesday portion, but it was a very informative class that I will be able to apply to my future as a neurosurgeon and explaining brain death to families. After the didactic, I joined a quick zoom call with Brittany Lyons, another Advanced Practice Coordinator. She will be dispatching us next week to the hospitals and Transplant Coordinators. She assisted us with questions on proper work atire for the hospitals, food, and outline of what we will be observing. 

Thursday (July 6): Today we met with Mr. Howard Nathan and were able to answer questions and get advice on what we might be able to look at for our project. We also were able to tell him everything we've done and explain our trip to MTF (Musculoskeletal Transplant Foundation) and the experiences we've had. After, we had a check-in with Sharon West, the senior director of DATA in order to get help with our project and also expand on ideas for our project. After, I sat in a didactic for the rest of the day which went over Essential donor testing and the importance of ensuring proper steps have been taken so that harmful diseases might not be transferred to a recipient or at least the transplant recipient and surgeon can be made aware of possible diseases that could be transferred to the recipient. I learned a lot about the serology testing processes and the procedures in which everyone takes to ensure overall safety for everyone. It was an extremely interesting didactic. 

Friday (July 7): Today I attended an all day didactic about TC Family Communiction and Dual Advocacy with Victoria Burns, an extremely seasoned transplant coordinator. I learned a lot from Victoria and this course. She went over ways of communication and how to talk to grieving families,  physicians/attanedings, and how to ensure the process of caring for donor families goes as timely and smoothly as possible. She really helped ease the nerves I had about sitting in on family conversations and I felt like I could understand every tip and word of advice she offered. I really enjoyed this didactic. After the didactic, I met with Carol Cowan, the Senior Accountant of Finance. She went over some transport cost data I was looking for to add to my project about allocation of heart and liver. She also helped answer questions that can frame my project into a more specific field and not be so broad. 

This week was pretty short and sweet, but overall I am extremely excited for this upcoming week with the Transplant Coordinators!!! 


Have a great week! 

-Rachael Triglia 

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