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Our second year students (Class of 2011) recently returned from their summer break. Many times prospective students ask us what our students do during the summer between their first and second year. We thought you'd find it more interesting to hear from them "what they did on their summer vacation." - Tristan Through a primary care physician at Metro Health Hospital, I went to Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic to do funded diabetes research and work in a poor urban clinic. Along with three other Case Western Reserve medical students I saw the many levels of the medical infrastructure from the most rudimentary clinics to the elite private hospitals. We worked closely with a number of local doctors and participated in free health care drives serving poor communities. It was a fascinating experience that helped us gain perspective regarding everything from community medicine to tropical diseases.
- Liz The last summer of my life could only be spent doing a 3 week road trip from San Francisco to Cleveland and traveling to Costa Rica for a bioethics independent study. I enjoyed driving along Big Sur, gambling in Las Vegas and hiking to the bottom of the Grand Canyon. In Costa Rica I stayed with a physician who allowed me to shadow him in several hospitals and small clinics in San Jose and rural coastal communities. Of course I made some time for a little R&R at an all-inclusive resort, a fellow classmate joined me to explore the wonders of active volcanoes and hot springs!
- Julieta I spent 4 weeks doing a clinical rotation at the University of Buenos Aires in Argentina. Most of my time was spent in Primary Care, but the hospital I worked in is specialized in trauma medicine, and I was able to spend a few days in the Emergency Department riding the ambulances. On Tuesdays, we would go to small satellite clinics in impoverished areas-- once, we provided care to patients in an old abandoned church! I also took a public health course, where I learned about the primarily socialized health care system that is currently in place in Argentina.
- Carey I stayed in Cleveland this summer and did research at the Cleveland Clinic's Center for Pediatric and Congenital Heart Defects. My research focused on pediatric heart transplants and immunosuppression therapies, and my physician mentor also encouraged me to shadow him and attend transplant meetings. I was even called for a pediatric heart transplant one night! Cleveland is great in the summer--my friends and I went to baseball games, to the beach in Mentor, to the art museum--and the weather was really beautiful. I also had time to travel to see my family and friends and to attend a few weddings. - Megan I got married! My husband and I met our freshman year of undergrad, and moved to Cleveland together for graduate school. We were very fortunate to both get into Case Western, for two different programs - he is now a second year dental student. That made this past summer the last real break for both of us, so we decided to take advantage of it. We got married in late June and traveled for the remaining 6 weeks of the summer - to Jamaica for our honeymoon, to the Outer Banks on a family vacation, and to California to visit our best friend. It was a wonderful summer!
- Joey Instead of a more traditional summer spent doing research, I decided to spend this past summer travelling. I travelled through Italy for 2 weeks with a friend, and then visited family in Switzerland. I also went to California for 9 days with family, as well as went to Ocean City, MD for a few days with some friends. While home in Silver Spring, MD, I worked for four weeks at a local bank to help pay some of my travel expenses, and volunteered at a fire department riding as officer on an ambulance (including on July 4th; see picture). In the accompany picture, Natalie, another second year, rode along on the ambulance on July 4th. In the other picture, I am standing in front of the Leaning Tower of Pisa.
- Alex For my last free summer I traveled to Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic for a research experience funded by an NIH grant with three other medical students. We had the opportunity to see a variety of patient care settings throughout the DR, and worked in community interventions called "operativos" to provide some health care to more rural communities. We also had the opportunity to relax in Punta Cana for a few days. Upon returning to Cleveland I taught for Kaplan's MCAT class, and also shadowed several doctors--a pulmonologist, cardiologist, OB/GYN and pediatric neurologist. Finally, I went to Michigan with my family for a long weekend to take advantage of beautiful Lake Michigan and have a relaxing weekend before starting class again.
- Stephanie This summer my best friend from college got married! Not only did I go to the wedding, but I got to be one of the bridesmaids---the first time I was in a wedding since I was a young child. It was a beautiful ceremony and I was grateful to have the opportunity to go. For the rest of the summer, I worked in Dr. Marc Penn's lab at the Cleveland Clinic studying the use of mesenchymal stem cells in treating myocardial infarctions (heart attacks) in rats. The work was very interesting and will probably lead to my thesis. Additionally, the other students in the lab were a lot of fun and made work a blast. In the pictures below, you can see me all done up in my bridesmaid dress with my boyfriend David, a fellow M2. In the other picture I am with some of the other students in Dr. Penn's lab on my last day of official summer work.
- Katie A classmate and I spent 3 weeks learning Spanish, living with a host family in Honduras, and traveling in Guatemala and El Salvador. I then spent 6 weeks in Fort Lauderdale participating in an AMSA fellowship focused on hospice. I learned more about all aspects of end-of-life care, including symptom and pain management, psychosocial and ethical issues surrounding dying and hospice, and how to communicate with patients and families. In addition to classroom time, we spent 3 days a week shadowing various members of the interdisciplinary team (physicians, nurses, social workers, and chaplains). It was a tremendous privilege to be allowed to witness such personal exchanges at the end of a person's life--an emotional experience, but also very rewarding.
- Jenn I received a summer research fellowship from Case and spent the summer doing research in Kisumu, Kenya and Kampala, Uganda. My project, which I plan to continue during my four-month research block, is an epidemiologic study of Burkitt Lymphoma, the most prevalent pediatric cancer in equatorial Africa. I spent the majority of my time at the provincial general hospital in Kisumu, which meant I was also able to attend pediatric and internal medicine rounds. Fortunately, I had my weekends free to explore these beautiful countries. I went boating on Lake Victoria, hiking in Kakamega Forest, and white water rafting on the Nile. It was a wonderful summer!
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