Surviving October

The month of October was quite the experience. Halloween wasn’t even the scariest part of the month, the amount of logistical planning that went into our trips and projects were enough to get the blood flowing.

Reflection of Barretos Trip

Our trip to Barretos, Brazil could best be summed up in three words–tiring, perspiring and inspiring. It was nearly 40 hours of travel roundtrip from Houston to Barretos. Dr. Richardson, Anna, Ryan and I were able to work alongside our project mentors and walk through the process of teledermatology and palliative care. I was expecting  a little break from the Texas heat, but Barretos had other plans. It was hot outside, but that wasn’t bothersome because we were so enamored with what Barretos vision as a hospital is. The emphasis they put on taking care of the less fortunate and preventative care is a gold standard in my opinion. They are the largest cancer hospital in Latin America for good reason. The staff at the hospital were very hospitable and organized, and that allowed us to get some great feedback for our projects.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ride-Along

As a part of our observations, we were given the chance to ride on a 12-hour ambulance shift with a Harris County unit. I was able to tag along on a Friday morning shift with the M92 unit and get some really good needs from the experience. While it wasn’t an especially eventful day (which I guess is a good thing), it was a good just to experience the EMS workflow and just how much of a fast-reacting job it is. The ability to respond with a calm demeanor in high stress situations was an amazing thing to witness.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Texas Children’s Hospital

A major issue within today’s healthcare system is the lack of pediatric medical devices. While companies flock to larger adult markets, the small market size of pediatrics is often not worthwhile for companies to operate within. Sadly, this leaves physicians with only the option of using adult-purposed medical devices on children. I was able to observe and talk to Dr. Chester Koh of Texas Children’s Hospital to better understand the needs that the pediatric space may need. While most of my observations consisted of circumcisions (which is the most common pediatric procedure), I was able to get some useful insights from our discussions.

Business Pitch

For our healthcare and innovation class, our group was able to compile a business pitch for our product. Of course, our product is still very much in a conceptual stage, but it was great practice to be able to develop a business model and value proposition for our product and try to expand on what makes our solution unique and innovative. Our team did a good job on the pitch, and we received great feedback on how to improve. It will be fun to see how this project progresses. We are at a junction in which we have to solidify our business model (to make sure we are catching the important streams of revenue). From a team dynamic standpoint, I do believe that each member contributed their fair share, and it was especially interesting to see the medical device industry from a business perspective.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Project Update

I am beginning cycle 2 of my teledermatology project. The main goals will be to develop a potential LBM for our device and also to carry out ordering and testing of sub-components. I looked at all the design feedback we received and will continue to brainstorm and CAD potential solutions to these problems.

 

 

 

 

 

Congratulations

GMI has definitely been a little bit more stressful over the last few weeks, but we were able to compensate for that by watching the Astros bring home a championship. Although I’m a diehard Texas Rangers fan, the city of Houston has been through so much these last few months and there was a little voice (deep within the chasms of my brain) that was kind of rooting for them to win. Plus, it is always great to see Chandler get mad when his Dodgers lose.