This week was crazy both inside and outside of class! It was a hectic week of midterms and projects, and I was also trying to plan for a smooth transition into spring break! On top of that, there was another animal study in my research lab on Tuesday – more on that later in the blog!
Class-wise, I had a project on clinical trials due to start off the week. We are learning how to calculate how many people are needed for a clinical trial based on the existing “gold standard” of the device we wish to create. This was really cool for me because my research lab’s next step in the product development process will be clinical trials. Once I finished this project, I finished off my three-week long organic chemistry lab. We synthesized Lidocaine, a common local anesthetic, and I finally got the desired product after a long three weeks. Unfortunately, my yield was not the best, but I still thought it was cool that I created a small amount of one of the most common anesthetics used in medicine and dentistry! To end the week, I had a midterm in my Medical Electronics class. It was on biotransducers, pn diodes, diode rectifiers, Zener diodes, and Bipolar Junction Transistors. This class is pretty electrical engineering-heavy, but I’m really enjoying it so far. I think the midterm went well, so this wasn’t a bad way to end the last week of class before spring break!
Like I mentioned earlier, work was also crazy because there was an animal study on Tuesday. Luckily, the animal study went extremely well! The pacemaker was implanted successfully, and it began capturing the sheep’s heart rate. Earlier today, I received an email saying that everything is still functioning properly, so that’s really exciting!
As a break from class and work, I was also planning for spring break! I am going to London to visit my roommates from last semester who are now there studying abroad. I cannot wait to go back to London!! It has only been eight months since I was there studying abroad, but I feel like it has been so much longer. I have been planning out my week in London with my roommates, making sure that we can fit in a time to go to afternoon tea, Borough Market, and Harrod’s. Another big thing that we still have yet to decide is where we are going to go on St. Patrick’s Day! I completely forgot that St. Patrick’s Day is a much bigger holiday there than it is in America, and I think there are a few parades and big celebrations that are happening within London that we’ll try to go to. My next post will likely be all about my week in London, so stay tuned! I will see you in a week, LA!
Hi! I’m curious about what class the project on clinical trials is for. Also, are you pursuing an electrical emphasis within biomedical engineering? Is this your first organic chemistry course or is it a higher level?