Second week

I finally got my ID today. I got up so early just so I could get the ID in time to go into surgery, only to find out afterwards that an ID card is not enough. I also need "authorization" from the one in charge of the program. It is so much harder for me to get into the OR than some of you guys. While some of you come into the OR with only a Cornell student ID, I cannot even get in with a Weill ID. I also still do not have access to my clinician's lab. I need someone to let me in.
Today was an aggravating day. After I get my ID, I head towards my clinician's office where he said to meet between 8:30 and 9:00. But I cannot get into his lab because my card has no swipe access. I dial 3 different lab phone numbers and nobody picks up. I go to the clinical office, only to find that my clinician's nurse practioner is busy with a patient. Some people at the desk helped me out by paging him and calling his cell phone, but he didn't pick up. Finally his nurse shows up and that's when I find out I need authorization. I thought an ID was authorization.
In the mean time, I am writing a research protocol for a clinical trial on deep brain stimulation as a treatment for cocaine addiction. The thing is, writing the protocol is supposed to take up most of my time here, so I won't be able to see the experiment be executed. Yesterday I found out that another undergraduate from Cornell also is shadowing my clinician, so now I have to "share" him. She wants to go to the OR too. She is really interesting though. She studies the interface between biology and religion. I won't get too much into it since this blog entry is already too long.