Right after ending the Needs Finding short course we started the Medical Innovation Bootcamp (MIB) and it was just as I remember when I first took it in 2020. That 2020 bootcamp was what introduced me to Rice and encouraged me to apply, so I think it’s great that I saw so many more Costa Rican students this time than when I first did the bootcamp. After an introduction of what the bootcamp is about and presentations with pitches for tentative projects for the three days of work we were assigned to teams based on our project choices. I was assigned to a team with three ticas ( Kerlyn, Valeria and Eimy) so we just spoke Spanish the whole time. We slowly started warming up and figure out how to work together immediately after getting introduced to one another. It was interesting to experience the bootcamp for a second time, knowing how it was gonna go but this time working on a different project with a clearer view of what we should be doing. We ended up with a project for better optometry for patients with Parkinson’s. We also participated in a Bajaj race and I really liked the tuktuk we ended up building even if we didn’t make it far into the race.
Following the weekend after the MIB ended we started doing our internships. Me and Sarah were assigned to Clínica Bíblica, but we were without luck on Monday as our mentor wasn’t able to see us even though we went with Dr. Wettergreen. On Tuesday we still didn’t see our mentor but it still went a little better as we were told to go to the OR and make observations on the surgeries and procedures going on there. We continued making observations in the OR the rest of the week and got some very good notes but I’m looking froward to watching other departments and getting to see Diagnosis machines and less involved equipment for consult appropriate procedures.
