Zoe: Summer Research with CHOP and the Penn Museum

Hello GlobeMed!

If you’ve ever heard from anyone that staying around campus over the summer is boring - don’t listen! This summer I’ve met a lot of great people, explored Philly more than ever, and have consumed record amounts of Franklin Fountain ice cream.

In terms of work, I’m lucky to be able to dig into a few different things this summer. Primarily, I’m working on a qualitative research project at the Emergency Department at CHOP. We are interested in emergency care of children of medical complexity, or kids that have complex chronic disorders, technology dependencies, and overall require a lot more healthcare than other kids their age. I am constantly hanging around CHOP to interview both Pediatric Emergency Medicine physicians and families of medically complex children to learn about their experiences with emergency care and ultimately find areas to improve quality of care. As an Anthropology major, I love that qualitative methods are being used at CHOP to investigate the culture of care - and a greater culture of medicine and healthcare delivery - that these families are living with daily.

When I’m not at CHOP, I can be found across the street at the Penn Museum working at the Biocultural Anthropology Methods Lab (or BAM Lab). Here, I’m helping one of my professors, Dr. Hoke, with analysis of anthropometric data from a community in Nuñoa, Peru. Fun fact: Nuñoa is on the opposite side of the country from Piura, where our partner CHOICE Humanitarian operates! The lab is involved in a lot of cool projects about biocultural markers of health and disease in mothers and infants, and the data I am working with illustrate trends in population biometrics over 50 years.

More than anything, this summer I’ve learned that you find the most rewarding work when you get involved in projects that match your interests. Early in college I felt a lot of pressure to do wet lab or bench research, because it felt like that was what everyone else was doing. But take it from me - if you aren’t as interested in “traditional” lab work, Penn has so many opportunities to get involved in other areas and to make your summer experience your own. Plus, Philadelphia is the only place with Franklin Fountain ice cream, so it’s worth sticking around! :)

I hope everyone is having restful and enjoyable summers, and I can’t wait to see you all in the Fall!