Happy February!

This is my view every morning while
waiting for the bus. Only sometimes
the road is not quite so plowed.

Remember when a few weeks ago when I came back to school, all I did was watch movies? Well, things kicked into high gear shortly after that, and now I am positively in a proverbial and literal snow storm.


I decided to explore my options for the summer, and felt compelled to apply for the medical student summer research fellowship. The project that most interested me happened to be in ophthalmology. The first (and only) doctor that I reached out to took a glimpse of my CV and emailed me back, "Guzheng? My adopted Chinese daughter wants to play that!" Never underestimate the power of seemingly frivolous interests. She happens to be the director of the pediatric electroretinogram program (did you know that the University of Iowa's ophthalmology program ranks in the top 10 in the US? Now you do!), and is pretty accomplished in the medical world. Maybe not as much as Boss Doctor, but still.


We hit it off and I've been working intently on a research proposal for the last two weeks. We've decided to incorporate both basic science research (things like gene manipulation, PCR--things that people imagine are done with lab goggles on a bench with chemicals) and clinical research (going through patient charts and finding associations and perhaps administering treatments) into one super project. Most med students do one or the other, so I may regret this later, but my PI seems to think it's a fantastic idea. My friends are all doing research projects that apparently have far lower expectations and while that sounds like a leisurely way to spend the summer, I am actually going to be in the lab or clinic pretty much all the time. It is exciting to think that we might actually find a treatment for something.


So there you have it, two things I said I'd never revisit--research, and ophthalmology. I think my entire life has been a struggle against what I think I want, and what's best for me. That, or God really likes to fling me out of my comfort zone. The research fellowship is handsomely compensated, but the duration is roughly 12 weeks. Twelve weeks of my thirteen-week last. summer. ever. My mother was upset that I chose to do this but I honestly think that staying here for summer research will be a huge benefit to my career and to the patient population that we are investigating. I tell myself that I'd rather spend a summer in Iowa than the rest of my life here..


Anyways, my proposal is being wrung through its third draft, and I need to finish it up. If it gets accepted, you'll know where to find me in the summer!