These past few days at BSC, Carolyne and I have deviated from our normal tasks to help another PD team test multiple batches of guidewires. We started by doing rotation tests, which involve placing the guidewire in a simulated gastrointestinal tract (a thin tube surrounded by 37°C water), having a motor rotate one end of the guidewire three times, and using a laser and photosensors to detect if the other end rotated simultaneously. This test is important because doctors performing any kind of invasive procedure with a guidewire must have confidence that they’re moving and rotating properly. The next tests we did were bend deformation tests, which involve cutting off part of the guidewire, looping it through a fixture, pulling the loop with 40lbs of force using the Instron, and measuring the guidewire’s deformation angle. This test is necessary because it validates the guidewire’s material properties. Sidenote: as someone whose undergraduate curriculum focused very little on materials science, I am curious to learn more about biomaterials and tests like the bend deformation test!
Carolyne and me doing rotation tests on guidewires
This week, I’ll continue helping test the guidewires, and I’ll also wrap up the other tasks I’ve been involved with. It’s strange to think that my two-month internship is already coming to a close. Recently, I’ve started writing in a journal every night, and one thing that I try to always incorporate are three things I’m grateful for. In the spirit of reflecting on my time in Costa Rica and keeping up my journal habits, I am going to attempt the same in this blog post.
1. The connections I’ve made within Rice and Costa Rica
At the end of the day, nothing is more important to me than the relationships I’ve developed throughout my life, both personal and professional. With that said, I am incredibly grateful for the ten wonderful friendships I’ve formed with my GMI classmates. We’ve been together through thick and thin this summer, and I know we’ll remain close once we’re back in Houston. Besides my classmates, I am thankful for the faculty and staff at Rice, my coworkers at BSC, the staff at Don Francisco, our bus drivers, and everyone else who has made this experience so safe, productive, insightful, and fun.
2. My internship experience at Boston Scientific
Before coming to BSC, I had pretty much zero knowledge of how medical devices are manufactured. Now, after two months of working in Coyol, I’ve had the opportunity to observe and analyze manufacturing processes for multiple types of devices. In addition to the manufacturing processes and other engineering knowledge I’ve gained, I’ve learned so much simply about how to navigate myself within a large multinational company. With the plethora of departments, the multitude of product process flows, the weekly meetings, and more, there was much more to learn than I had imagined! I am grateful for my time at BSC and feel confident it has prepared me for the future.
Obligatory post-internship pic
3. The experience of being immersed in a Latin American country
Since high school, when I started learning Spanish and my Cuban and Colombian teachers told stories of their families’ backgrounds, I’ve felt drawn to Latin America. As an undergraduate, my interests in the region expanded through classes and through living and working in El Salvador and Nicaragua. At this point in my life, I am fairly certain that I want to focus my career on improving healthcare in Latin America, so every opportunity I have to immerse myself in a country there is precious to me. Costa Rica has impressed so much onto me, with its universal healthcare system (the “CAJA”), its multi-faceted public hospital system, and its presence as an emerging medtech producer. I’m quite sure that everything I’ve learned about these topics will help me somewhere down the line in my career, and I am incredibly thankful for that.
Well, all good things must come to an end, I suppose. I will always look back on my time in Costa Rica with fondness, and I hope to return some day. Until then, I am excited to move forward into the fall semester of GMI. And as they say here in Costa Rica: Pura vida!
Jacó beach, where a few of us spent the day during our last full weekend here