We’re already three weeks into our last semester, but it still hasn’t quite kicked in that we will be done with the GMI program in just a few short months. This semester will be focused around our projects and the job search—which is a project all in itself.
For our implementation projects (mine being Truvent), we are using a different structure this semester. Each week, we will run a sprint, in which one of the team members is the lead, and we focus on answering a few specific questions for that person’s project. The idea behind this method is to put a lot of effort towards a specific focus in order to make significant progress in a short time. I led the first sprint for my team with Chandler and Sanjana this past week. As a reminder, Truvent is a project focused on creating a sensory feedback system to help improve BVM ventilation for EMTs and paramedics. This week, we focused on creating a system to gather force data on different points of the mask, determining a method to identify breaks in the seal, obtaining IRB approval to run a clinical study with Rice EMS, and deciding what method of feedback we want to incorporate in our system. Overall, it was a successful week, and I’m excited to continue pushing this project forward for the rest of this semester.
In addition to my implementation project, I will also be working on another project with Tasha and Chandler. The goal of this project is to establish a virtual reality capability (VR) for the GMI program. VR has become a huge phenomenon, especially in gaming. If you’ve never had the chance to try it out, I would highly recommend it! We went to a VR arcade here in Houston to experience their system, and it was a ton of fun. We played fruit ninja and explored various places on Google Earth. VR gives you the ability to be fully immersed in your environment and can be a huge tool for educational purposes. For the GMI program, we want to create a system that can be used for virtual ethnography, which is essentially giving us the ability to watch medical procedures in VR without needing to actually be in the operating room. This will be a great asset for this program, because it will allow the students to be completely immersed in the clinical environment but from a fly on the wall type perspective. In addition to virtual ethnography, this system could be beneficial for students to visualize anatomy and 3D designs in the future.
This semester I am also taking a strategic thinking course as my professional development elective. In this course, we will learn techniques to solve complex problems, and we get to apply what we learn to an individual project of our choosing. For my project, I will be developing a post-FDA approval strategy for the company that I am interning with, Multisensor Diagnostics. I will be focusing on the manufacturing and distribution process for the company. This will be a great opportunity to learn new problem solving skills and contribute to a company that is providing a beneficial service to patients with chronic diseases.
Needless to say, this is going to be a busy semester that will be over before we know it. Although I am sad to see it coming to an end, I want to enjoy every minute of this semester before it’s over. Let the sprinting begin!