Weeks 9 and 10 at Rhode Island Hospital

For my last two weeks at the program, my rotation was to observe the chief psychiatrist, Dr. Zimmerman. Watching him interact with his patients as opposed to how he interacts with coworkers was very interesting. I think he has a good idea of how to act around different types of people, as well as when to be serious and pragmatic, and when to be light and funny. I was able to ask questions after each patient and feel like I learned a lot. Each day, myself and one or two PA students were observing Dr. Zimmerman’s visits. I really appreciated him and his patients allowing this, it is rare for a psychiatrist to do so. It is evident he has a passion for teaching and furthering the science of psychiatry.

These past two weeks I have also been working hard on my research project. I am the first author of our poster, so I submitted our abstract to the New England Psychological Association, and recently found out it has been accepted. I will be presenting a poster at their conference in November, which I am very excited about. I have been learning more about SPSS and research methods in general, which I know will be useful this school year for my thesis project.

Finally, I was able to work with one of my supervisors on my resume and CV, which was extremely helpful, as I am thinking of applying here to be a clinical research assistant after graduation.  This internship has been more than I could have asked for, and I am excited to stay in touch with my supervisors and Dr. Zimmerman.