Before going to Barretos, I was warned that time would go by too fast. And although I did my best to savor every moment, I’m left wishing I could have stayed two more months.
I began this internship hoping to understand how a hospital runs, practice needs finding, become more knowledgeable about cancer and global health issues and solutions, and learn about Brazilian culture. Additionally, I was looking forward to presenting our devices from Rice and participating in projects that would have a positive impact on the hospital. In retrospect, I feel that Shravya and I were successful in achieving these objectives.
What we accomplished
The prototypes we brought from Rice were well received. All the doctors in AME and in the Prevention unit were full of praise for the Rice design teams and excited about the impact that the devices will have. We left six retinopathy glasses kits with Dr. Guilherme at AME who will use the glasses to teach patients as well as hospital staff on his weekly trips to primary clinics in the region. We also left the breast cancer education model with Dr. Idam at the Prevention unit. The model will be used to train medical students. Additionally, Shravya and I gathered a list of several interesting projects that we will be taking back to Rice, including a mammogram breast positioning training model.
Handing off the Breast Cancer Education Model to Dr. Idam (left).
For most our internship, Shravya and I worked at the Prevention unit with Dra. Silvia, Renato, Bruno, and Dr. Thiago. Our goal was to create a low-cost, realistic breast phantom which can be used to train medical students how to conduct mammograms, fine needle aspirations, and biopsies. After several weeks of testing, we created Sammy (our mammogram model) and UltraSammy (our ultrasound model). Both models are cheap, made with accessible materials, durable, and fit the training criteria. Before leaving Barretos, we made a prototype for each model that will be used in a training this week. Working on this project was one of the highlights of my experience because it was extremely fulfilling to see that we developed a tangible solution that is already being used to educate and improve the quality of training.
Presenting Sammy and UltraSammy to Dr. Edmundo. Pictured from left to right are Bruno, Renato, Dra. Silvia, Shravya, and Dr. Edmundo.
The People
It’s common knowledge that Brazilians are some of the most fun people in the world. My experience in Barretos confirmed this. The human dimension of this internship was by far one of my favorite aspects of this trip. Everyone was extremely welcoming, caring, intelligent, funny, and overall a pleasure to be around. I met truly amazing doctors, mentors, and friends that I hope to be able to visit very soon. Shravya and I are already thinking about when we could come back.
I’m extremely grateful for having had this opportunity as it has been the most impactful summers of my life. I absolutely loved every aspect of this internship and I’m hope future interns will have a similar experience. Barretos, until soon!.