Did that title get your attention? Good! I got it off a random word generator.
As I’m sitting on my couch writing this blog, I’ve had a lot to reminisce about the month of October. I went to Brazil and met the doctors and nurses who will be using my app, and received valuable feedback as I move forward with the finishing steps. I also went to two engineering conferences- BMES in Phoenix, Arizona and Society of Women Engineers in Austin, Texas. Both conferences were great networking opportunities, and I got valuable advice on how to be a more competitive applicant for jobs (applications will pick up starting in January/February, since I graduate in May). In addition to 3 weeks of traveling, I had a Matlab biostatistics midterm that I completed in a hotel lobby!
I traveled to Brazil to collaborate with Rice University’s global partner, the Barretos Cancer Hospital, to get some feedback on my app. Before I arrived, I created an hourly-breakdown schedule, interview guide, and a visual survey to make better use of the clinical feedback session (which was essentially a clinical trial minus the things that require IRB approval). After managing my first “Almost-Clinical Trial” I learned that people are busy, things can get confusing, and more structure isn’t always best! I planned the feedback session to be in 3 phases of “learning, doing, and surveying”. However, nurses have busy schedules- and I rolled with the changes. Instead, nurses learned and used the app while giving feedback simultaneously. I learned my Instruction Guide was extremely tedious- nobody wanted to read 7 pages of words and look at all the pictures! I wouldn’t have known this if I hadn’t visited the hospital in person, and I’m currently redesigning the instruction guide into a quick, slide show-esque video.
One significant struggle I encountered while designing the app was the automatic email function. Ideally, when a nurse completes a record it will notify the doctor, and vice versa when a doctor completes a diagnosis. This is easier said than done! I did my best to address the problem on my own- I watched instructional videos, consulted Google forums, and met with Rice REDCap specialists. But sadly, I wasn’t able to resolve this problem before the trial in Brazil.
At this point it was time to bring in the experts. During my time in Brazil, I was able to meet with the Barretos REDCap director and lead biostatistician of MD Anderson in person, and Skyped in additional specialists. During our meeting, they identified two possible areas affecting the automatic email function. I’m extremely appreciative of their help and for the Barretos IT team, who is currently working on updating and installing plug-ins into the REDCap system. I don’t think I’ll be saying this about emails again, but I’m looking forward to writing and receiving some REDCap emails!
Thanks for reading, and I’m excited to share my progress with you in a month. Time to enjoy all things pumpkin-spiced and get back to work!
Pictured below: A Brazilian sunrise, a Brazilian breakfast, a Brazilian dinner (delicious!!!), a tour of a Barretos Cancer Hospital educational mobile unit, and the Costa Rica soccer team for Halloween!
