Guess what?! I finally, FINALLY, have a working prototype for the Dermatology project in Barretos. It’s got crappy low quality 3d print ridges, it’s held together by duct tape and white foam, and its bright green (I’ve so dubbed it Hulk—because it smashes cancer!! Or maybe just because it’s green and I watch too much Marvel) but it’s been built and it can magnify lesions! Also, I soldered stuff without blowing up more than one LED (RIP little light bulb…). So, that’s cool too.
There are still a few things that I will need to address before I held to Brazil again in four weeks but it seems technology is finally on my side. I would like to give a quick shout out to Dr. Kelly Nelson, from MD Anderson Cancer Hospital (no relation), who has been helping me with the finer points of being a dermatologist and looking for skin cancer. Anyway, just wanted to prove to you all that I’m still making progress. Next blog you’ll hear from me will be about the Brazil Trip! Hopefully I’ll have some pictures to go along with it.
But onto the more important stuff, Team Sprints!
So, if you’ve been following the blogs by now you’re well aware of how the sprint process works and how its been implemented into our curriculum and I have to say…I really like it. When you have so many projects flying around (TruVent, Personal Project, Team Project, Classes…) it’s difficult to feel as if you’re accomplishing anything. With the sprint methodology it’s easy to visualize what each week is going to look like and what will be accomplished. I feel like we are making a lot of progress.
We just finished our first “real” (there was a mini one) Sprint for our team project down in Costa Rica and, with the help of my amazing team (seriously, they are the best. Super proud to have them around), we turned an unclear, jumbled mess into a clear path forward. Hopefully with the trip Michael and Luis are taking this weekend we will make even more progress into defining what areas we want to tackle. Peritoneal Dialysis is complicated and has a lot of room for improvement, I believe we chose the right need to tackle despite the challenges of working in a developing community.
Anyway, short blog post this week. Michael will have a lot more to say upon his return from Costa Rica!
Later gators,
Jeannette