Workshops, Waterfalls, and Bootcamps, oh my!

Monday!

My first day in Costa Rica was nothing short of crazy – I was a girl on the go. After leaving my house at 4 AM, driving an hour to the airport, and taking a 5 hour flight, I finally arrived in San José! After waiting an hour and a half for Izzie, Sumin, and Charlie to make it through the world’s slowest immigration line, we were on our way to Selina. At this point, I got my first taste of the Costa Rican climate, as it was pouring rain the entire drive to the hostel.

Upon arrival at the hostel, I quickly changed into my business attire because I had to meet up with my group for my first clinical observation. I met up with GMI students Travis, Ravi, and Sarah and TEC student Kathy at a nearby cafe. After some brief introductions, we began our trek to the hospital: Clínica Bíblica.

At Clínica Bíblica, we observed the happenings of the ER of a private hospital. While we were not allowed to observe provider-patient interactions (:/), we were able to observe the waiting room, the nurses’ station, and the ER hallway. I gained a lot of insight by talking to one of the nurses, and I learned about some of the inefficiencies in their system (slow patient database, broken machinery).

After my observation, I went back to Selina and ate my first meal in 16 hours. Those chicken tenders and fries were nothing short of absolutely scrumptious.

 

Tuesday!

Another day, another clinical observation. This observation occurred at Hospital CIMA. While more of a tour than an observation, we received a tour from the chief biomedical engineer at CIMA. It was really interesting to hear about the workings of the hospital from the perspective of an engineer, and it was cool to see all the super expensive medical devices. The most interesting part of this observation was watching the first 15 minutes of an MRI of a woman’s quad muscles. I do not have much background in medical imaging nor have I ever had an MRI, so this was a completely novel experience for me.

After the observation, my group went to City Mall Alajuela for lunch. We went to Spoon for lunch, and I tried the traditional Costa Rican dish chifrijo for the first time; it’s made of rice, red beans, pico de gallo, chicharrón (pork), avocado, and patacones (fried plantains).

 

Wednesday!

The last clinical observation! This observation was at Hospital del Trauma, and Professor Howard joined us for the observation. This observation was also more of a tour than an observation, but we were able to interact with patients for the first time (!!!). Most of the surgeries and treatment at this hospital were orthopedic in nature, and I saw external bone fixators for the first time. Our physician guide noted that it was very difficult to rotate patients with external bone fixators, and everyone in my group noted that problem as a potential need that could be addressed at our upcoming Needs Finding Workshop.

Speaking of the Needs Finding Workshop, after a quick lunch at the UCR cafeteria, every group attended the Needs Finding Workshop which was run by Professor Howard. There we learned how to craft needs statements and reflected on the observations from our clinical observations. Based on the skills learned from this workshop, each group practiced writing two needs statements and then picked one of them to create a project pitch for the following day, the first day of the Medical Innovation Bootcamp.

Thursday!

The first day of the Medical Innovation Bootcamp! The project I matched with involved modifying negative pressure wound therapy to apply to necrotic tissue cases. I met my team for the next 3 days, which were all seniors from UCR. This was a little scary for me at first because I had to work with people who I’ve never met before and who spoke a different language. My fears were quickly squashed once I realized that they were all very nice and were proficient in English.

The first day of the bootcamp was spent researching our topics and conducting a market analysis. This is probably my favorite part of the engineering design process because it presents an opportunity to learn about a new topic. Since my project contained a biological component, I had to make sure I understood to the best of my ability the physiological mechanism by which wound healing occurs in order to generate based brainstorming solutions further down the line.

Lunch at the UCR cafeteria was delicious. The hearty meal of rice, beans, salad, chicken, fruit, and sweet plantains really hit the spot (Siebel servery could NEVER). 

For dinner, we went to El Jardín de Lolita, which is an outdoor dining venue with restaurants from different cuisines. I had chicken and grilled pineapple tacos, while others got sushi, pizza, and burgers.

That night, I was peer pressured into joining the Selina latin dance class, and Charlie, Madison, Izzie, and I refined our dance skills.

Friday!

The second day of the Medical Innovation Bootcamp! On this day, we defined our design criteria, brainstormed solutions, made a Pugh screening matrix, and began prototyping our design (crazy day, I know). My group’s design was a polyurethane sponge with a collagenase enzyme ointment applied to the bottom of it in a grid pattern. This design scored best in our Pugh screening matrix because it was safer, cost less, and differentiated between healthy and necrotic tissue better than the current standard of care of surgical debridement combined with negative pressure wound therapy with a polyurethane sponge.

After the bootcamp, Travis and Benji led a brutal ab workout: 30 minutes of core work in what felt like 100% humidity. Erin, Charlie, Leo, and I were their semi-willing participants.

On this day, I realized there was a large discrepancy between the rest of my group and I in terms of engagement and productivity during the bootcamp, so I spent my entire evening in the coworking space with Travis trying to iron out the technical details and logistical concerns of our design.

 

Saturday!

The last day of the Medical Innovation Bootcamp! After one of our group members conveniently called in sick then stopped responding to messages, stress levels were significantly higher. It was a mad dash to finish the project, and one member (guess who!) had to put all of the content in the slides while the other members volunteered to make the slides look pretty (*sigh*). I then resorted to asking Benji and GMI student Ravi for feedback on my slides and content, and I am immensely grateful for their help and advice.

For lunch, most of the undergrads, GMI students, and one UCR student went to a burger place called Cheesus. Every burger bun had sesame seeds on it which was deflating considering I have a sesame seed allergy. However, they did have a burger with patacones in place of buns, and it was so tasty. However, lunch was anything but relaxing because it took an hour and a half for our food to come out, and we made it back from lunch with one minute to spare before the poster session.

I felt prepared and enthusiastic to present our design. I was proud of what we accomplished in three days, and it was exciting to present our project to Rice and GMI faculty.

For dinner, I volunteered to cook chicken quesadillas for everyone. I enjoy cooking, but I did not realize how much of a commitment it is to cook a meal for 10 people. The quesadillas seemed to be a hit, so I’ll count it as a win in my book.

At a celebration for all of our hard work, a bunch of GMI students and Rice undergrads went to a club in La California, a street with lots of bars and clubs. This was one of the coolest venues I have ever been to, with aesthetic neon lights, empty Jägermeister bottles and vines decorating the ceiling, and amazing DJs. There were also fans blasting cool air at the dance floor which was a game changer.

 

Sunday!

Not having to wake up at 6:40 AM for the first time all week was so refreshing. I was able to sleep in until 8 AM (still early in my book) before I had to get ready for a hike to a waterfall! We took an hour-long Uber ride to Los Chorros, where we took a 20 minute hike to the most beautiful waterfall I’ve ever seen. We were able to swim in the waterfall, and we were also able to walk through a small river to see a second hidden waterfall.

 

I loved my first week in Costa Rica, and I’m looking forward to all the adventures and learning to come in the next 3 weeks.

– Victoria