A New Project

Since I am now done with both school and residency interviews, I found myself with nothing very demanding on my schedule.

But if you know me, you know it was too good to last.

I just signed up to be a student research assistant for a project with my school's Department of Anesthesiology. Nothing exciting really, just chart reviews. But considering I somehow fanangled my way out of doing any research during medical school, I figured this was a good time to start.

It's nothing too demanding, just a few weeks worth of input. But an incredibly valuable experience.

Unfortunately, it comes with its requirements, such as IRB training. (IRB stands for "Investigation Review Board, which is a panel that makes sure the research people are doing about people is safe and humane, etc, etc.) The training up to this point has entailed of at least 6 hours of reading thrilling passages such as:

"If an IRB has been given the responsibility to consider HIPAA in research issues and if the research potentially falls under the purview of HIPAA, an IRB will be applying not only the 45 CFR 46 exemption categories but also determining if HIPAA applies."

If anyone knows what this means, please let me know.