Abby Smith, a Boston native, returned to the city this summer after spending four years…
SIX QUESTIONS FOR FIRST-YEAR RESEARCH ASSISTANTS: PAUL OH
Hailing from Korea, a Southern California Harvey-Mudd College graduate, and now working at OrACORe in Boston, first-year Paul Oh is our requisite world-traveler. In fact, Paul tells us that he has visited ten different countries, although interestingly has yet to set foot in Europe! Along this journey, Paul completed a joint BS degree in Biology and Chemistry, which he plans to put to good use in the field of medicine. At OrACORe, Paul is involved with our modeling projects FraPol and OAPol, as well as participant-facing projects such as TOPS and COSMIC.
What about this research position attracted you to it?
Overall, the sense of community at OrACORe left a strong impression on me. I love that there are multiple research assistants on each project with whom I can work with closely. Throughout the interview process, I detected a warm atmosphere in OrACORe while speaking with current research assistants, as well as Faith, Elena, and Jeff. I also appreciated the mix of projects OrACORe offered, including modeling and participant-facing projects. My college encouraged “interdisciplinary” coursework because students with a diverse knowledge base are better equipped to understand the holistic impact they can impart on society. This same value system is present at OrACORe, where I have learned diverse methods by which physicians can improve patient outcomes – ranging from treating individual patients to conducting large-scale research that affects entire communities.
I was drawn to orthopedic research because I have been an acid athlete since high school and as an enthusiastic volleyball player I am no stranger to knee problems. In addition, I was inspired by a terrific shadowing experience with an orthopedic surgeon last year who showed me the interdisciplinary nature of the work. All of this contributed to why the orthopedic field has been an interest of mine since college, and OrACORe seemed like the perfect opportunity for me to gain experience in this discipline while working within a community of talented researchers.
What do you enjoy most about working at OrACORe?
The people I work with everyday are what I enjoy most about working at OrACORe. It is amazing to be able to talk so comfortably with other research assistants both about our work and what is going on in our lives outside of the office. It has also been incredibly rewarding to learn from our expert mentors at OrACORe. When I am stuck with a problem, I know I can always ask them for advice. Lastly, interacting with the study participants has been a huge joy – you can hear their life stories and what motivates them to participate in our projects.
What is one piece of advice/wisdom you would offer to someone considering applying to a research position at OrACORe?
Be comfortable with learning new skills and be open to navigating unexpected problems – and always remember that there are people around to help!
What does a day in the life at OrACORe look like for you? What is your favorite project that you are working on and why?
Each day looks different, but a typical day can be boiled down to a combination of participant contacts and data manipulations. For COSMIC, I reach out to eligible participants with the goal of having them complete questionnaires that evaluate their preferences for potential knee treatments. We are assessing how many patients would be interested in participating in a hypothetical randomized clinical trial if offered today. I have also been spending a significant amount of time training to use our cost-effectiveness-based computer simulation models (OAPol and FraPol). Lastly, I am part of the TOPS study team where I conduct study visits to determine eligibility. This involves explaining the study, consenting the participants, and reviewing the questionnaires for completion. This is my favorite part of my work because I get to interact with so many people from the Boston area and beyond – they are all incredibly kind and bring so much meaning to my work.
What have your first few months in Boston looked like?
It’s been about three months since I moved to Boston. The weather is one thing that stands out as a big change for me. It is definitely colder than California! Density and city life are also big changes for me from college, but I am excited to explore everything that the city has to offer. Overall, I am adjusting well and enjoying Boston. Walking around Fenway, trying out new restaurants and ice cream shops with friends, and studying at cafes are a few things I have experienced outside of work. Once I fully recover from my wrist injury, I plan to find a volleyball community.
What skills acquired from this position are you anticipating being most useful in your future endeavors?
Like much of my cohort, I plan on attending medical school after my time at OrACORe. I am not certain which specialty I will ultimately pursue, but orthopedic surgery is my top choice right now. As a physician, I would also love to continue to be involved in clinical research. Specifically, I want to conduct clinical research focusing on outcomes research, much like the work I have been introduced to at OrACORe. In our projects, we describe various aspects of studies (purpose, potential benefits, risks, etc.) to study participants. I have started to develop the critical skill of describing the projects concisely and accurately to the participants. As a physician, I imagine such a skill will be critical when explaining diagnoses or treatment options with patients.
Furthermore, I anticipate that working with big health data and data mining will be useful for my research career. Many hospitals like Brigham have data warehouses that store health data for researchers to use in large-scale outcomes research. As part of the OAPol Total Knee Replacement project, I am responsible for IRB approval, processing and creating usable datasets, and analyzing this data. Having dealt with such a wide-range of research-related processes will be pivotal to my future as a clinical researcher.
