"I worked as a research assistant in Dr. Borum’s lab and learned more in a year of experience than I could in other positions.
Dr. Borum gives students the amazing opportunity of being involved in the care of patients, while also helping conduct work in the research lab. I was able to truly help others by working on the precision ketogenic therapy (PKT) with other lab members; it is a group effort. The lab members work with one another to help patients and improve the productivity and efficiency of the lab.
I, specifically, worked in the lab with updating and adding to the nutritional database, researching ketoacidosis and how it influences this therapy, and creating recipes for PKT patients. I also was able to join patient calls with Dr. Borum to document their progress, their experience, and their requests for recipes. I learned how important it is as a provider to listen to the patient and how important it is to communicate with others when providing requests for the patients. By weekly lab meetings, lab members, Dr. Borum, and I were able to hear the progress and stay updated on the work in the lab. We also conducted weekly coffee chats to keep connected during the pandemic and talk about our interests for any topics we found fitting. This created an extremely positive and supportive community with the lab members and Dr. Borum. I am very thankful for this experience and the valuable lessons I have learned, which I will take with me as I continue on with my pre-health career."
-- Shelby Myers, Research Assistant, 2020