School NameReid Mangels Fellows
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2017 Reid Mangels Fellowship Recipient: Danielle Morgan '18
What did you do for your Fellowship?
For my fellowship, I was lucky to have the opportunity to shadow an anesthesiologist and Branson alumnus, Dr. Steven Younger, in the operating room at CPMC for two weeks. I watched a wide variety of surgeries--from open-heart procedures, to kidney transplants, to craniotomies--as the surgical staff generously explained their work step-by-step. Following my time observing in the OR, I attended Camp Cardiac at UCSF to continue learning about medicine in a very hands-on manner. I had the chance to attend lectures by UCSF professors, learn skills such as CPR and suturing, and get a feel for the “day in the life” of a medical school student. I also wrote a blog about my experiences and what I learned. I was exposed to both the professional and learning side of medicine and got to fully immerse myself in the field I am hoping to one day enter.What was your inspiration?
Teachers have a big impact on which subjects you enjoy and I loved taking Chemistry with Kathy Soave, AP Chemistry with Alicia Taylor, and Italian with Gisella Petrone. With this internship, I saw the chance speak Italian, write, use math and scientific skills, and study art—all at the same time.
WHAT WAS YOUR INSPIRATION?
To be perfectly honest, my aspirations to become a doctor were initially fueled by an obsession with Grey’s Anatomy when I was about 10 years-old! While I know now that being a real doctor involves much more medicine and a bit less drama, I have remained confident that I would like to head down this path. I was lucky enough to talk with a variety of different Branson teachers to help construct my plan for this fellowship, and am very grateful for our alumni network in connecting me with Dr. Younger.
What was an unexpected lesson?
In addition to learning more than I ever thought possible about medicine, I learned the importance of remaining calm under pressure, independence, and how useful our Branson curriculum truly is in the real world. Doctors must always keep their cool in incredibly high stakes situations. Dr. Younger explained to me that they “hope for the best, yet prepare for the worst.”
Navigating a maze-like OR floor to find the correct room and introducing myself as a student observer to other doctors required that I exercise my independence and the self-advocacy that I learned at Branson. I also found a new appreciation for our science curriculum, as I loved being familiar with and understanding the topics discussed in the OR.
2016 REID MANGELS FELLOWSHIP RECIPIENT: ANNE DORIS '17
WHAT DID YOU DO FOR YOUR FELLOWSHIP?
I interned at the CSGI (Center for Colloid Surface Science) at the University of Florence, where I worked with a group develops nanochemical techniques for the cleaning of frescoes, paintings, and other works of art.
I worked with a particular PVA-PVA gel that, several months earlier, was used to restore a Jackson Pollock painting. These gels, loaded with a particular solvent, target and remove grime, aged varnishes/polymers, or other undesirable substances from the surface of a painting. My main job was with to analyze the relationship between this PVA-PVA gel and various solvents.
WHAT WAS YOUR INSPIRATION?
Teachers have a big impact on which subjects you enjoy and I loved taking Chemistry with Kathy Soave, AP Chemistry with Alicia Taylor, and Italian with Gisella Petrone. With this internship, I saw the chance speak Italian, write, use math and scientific skills, and study art—all at the same time.
WHAT WAS AN UNEXPECTED LESSON?
After greeting me, my internship coordinator told me to feel free to go work with anyone. The building was massive, maybe 1,000 rooms/labs. I just started knocking on doors and asking, “Can I help you?” That’s how I began working with the researchers on gels. I learned not to be afraid to ask.
2015 REID MANGELS FELLOWSHIP RECIPIENT: KENTARO HIROSE '16
WHAT DID YOU DO FOR YOUR FELLOWSHIP?
I attended a pre-medical program in Boston, Massachusetts, hosted by Brandeis University, and then I interned in the Campus Surgery Department at UCSF. AT Brandeis, I listened to health-care pioneers present on fascinating topics such as face-transplantation, stem cell regeneration, global healthcare, pharmaceutical companies, and much more. On my visits to Tufts Medical Center and Harvard Medical School, I had the opportunity to talk with medical students, residents, doctors, and hospital CEOs.
At UCSF, I helped the transplant department with a research paper. One of the complications of a liver transplant is narrowing of the hepatic artery, called hepatic artery stenosis. The research was on two treatment techniques: 1) hepatic artery stenosis stent placements, which involves placing a small, mesh tube within the artery to reinforce it, or 2) a plastic balloon angioplasty, which involves a balloon that is inflated within the artery to widen it. The paper analyzes which technique is used more often and the success rate of both. It required a large sample size, so I did a lot of retrospective chart review during my internship. To wrap up my internship, I observed two operations: a liver transplant and a living-donor kidney transplant. Then I followed up on those patients by going on rounds with attending doctors and their residents.
WHAT WAS YOUR INSPIRATION?
I’ve wanted to have a career in medicine for a long time. The pre-med program gave me a firsthand view of what it’s like to have a medical career. After spending weeks reviewing charts at UCSF, I found that going to the operating room was the highlight of my internship.
WHAT WAS AN UNEXPECTED LESSON?
Boston is not only home to the best sports teams in America, but it is also a great city with top-notch medical schools, hospitals, research institutions, and some of the brightest minds in medicine.