Pediatric Orthopedics Reflective Essay

I had the opportunity to intern with Texas Scottish Rite Hospital for Children. While there, I had the opportunity to work with a variety of doctors, from different sub specialties of pediatric orthopedics as well as attend conferences and interact and learn from pediatric orthopedist from around the world. I also got to see and work with children who have rare bone deformities, quite often and understand conditions and diseases some practitioners may never get to see. When observing in the operating room, the experiences were very detailed, and student friendly. The doctors would explain what they were doing at each step, and work to clarify confusion if I had questions. The doctors treated me as a competent student and would allow me to observe from alongside them as they worked. This personal explanation style was the same in all the clinics, from club foot to sports. The doctors were all very diligent about teaching and explaining each case as well as the ramifications of not treating a condition, or the benefits to waiting for intervention.

Amy McIntosh presented me with the opportunity to work on her studies, and help write up the manuscripts on three papers, one in which I have 3rd, 2nd, and 1st authorship on. After completion and rigorous review, the research coordinators will submit the papers to the Journal of Pediatric Orthopedics for publication at the end of the summer. Dr. McIntosh also submitted the abstracts for presentation, and I will present one of the studies at the Mid-American Orthopedics Conference in San Antonio during the spring of 2018. I wanted to express this experience as it did not come to fruition before my primary application submission, but I felt it was a step in my journey that opened my eyes to capabilities I did not realize I had. As a result, I think it is something to take into consideration during my