Microvascular Reasearch for Summer 2012

Before I go into details of the research I am doing for this summer, I just want to say this.  Why, why, why did you make the layout of the input of text more user-unfriendly for bloggers?  Ugh, oh well..

Anyway, let's go into details.  First off, thanks to one of my UCLA friends, Kaitlyn, I finally got back to blogging.  And yes, I realize that I haven't used this site for what, at least 5 months or so?  Anyway, enough of this digressing, now the details of my research!

If you guys missed my status about me getting a research assistant position for the summer, well, you're in luck in that you get to hear it via my blog post!  This research project I am on involves utilizing retrospective medical record review, subject recruitment and screening, and research database management that I use to study breast reconstruction, patient reported qualitative outcomes, micro-vascular reconstruction techniques, and aesthetic outcomes analysis.  I know you guys have heard me say that I am not doing pre-med.  Still, this doesn't mean I won't do that.  In fact, when I went to the presentation just before my interview, I was fascinated by the techniques used for the breast reconstruction!


Why we do breast reconstruction?  Well, simply put, we do that due to people suffering from breast cancer especially.  Since I'm obviously still trying to get familiar with the scope of the lab, there can be other reasons why we do reconstruction that I might not know yet.


Among some of the methods that UCLA medical staff utilize includes usage of implants or flaps that take over where the old breast was at.  If you are confused by what I mean by flaps, well that procedure uses the skin from other parts of the body to cover up that spot.  This is because your body has so much skin that you can subsequently use that to make up for the loss of the breast.  Implants, I'm sure you're all familiar with since that involves enlarging the breast or decreasing it.


I do acknowledge that I might not be completely clear about the details of the research project.  You can attribute that to the fact that I, along with 3 others who got into this lab, are only barely familiar with these details of the lab.  Once I do the research, I promise I will definitely be more clear about the main details of my research.


Anyway, I can't wait to start this research this summer!  I can't believe I will be doing this at the UCLA medical plaza!  I am thrilled for a new challenge that's now ahead of me!  This will definitely be a big plus on my resume, even if it's not chemical engineering!  I am glad I took the advice of my orientation counselor from last year to search for research labs in other departments that are related or close to my major!