From the Ice to the Operating Room: Grace Markey Shares her Summer Internship Experiences
7/26/2019 11:34:00 AM | Women's Ice Hockey
Markey '21 Spends her Summer at Michigan Medicine as Research Assistant
HAMDEN, Conn. – Junior biology major Grace Markey of the Quinnipiac women's ice hockey team traded the ice for the operating room this summer.
The West Bloomfield, Mich., native received the opportunity to work at Michigan Medicine: University of Michigan Hospital as a research assistant/intern.
Working in the cardiac surgery department, Markey was part of a team that consisted of one graduate student, one medical student and three general surgical residents. Dr. Steven Bolling led the research team through multiple projects in the cardiac surgery field. Dr. Bolling is also a professor at Michigan Medicine and specializes in Mitral Valve Surgery and Thoracic Surgery.
Markey had the opportunity to assist on the continuation of 18 research projects under the guidance of Dr. Bolling, and she had the opportunity to take on some of her own projects.
"One of the projects I began working on at the start of my internship was researching cases of patients who Dr. Bolling operated on," Markey explained. "This included cases of patients who had mitral valve prolapse and had a sudden cardiac death incident but were resuscitated."
Markey explained that there are always questions in cardiology about why patients who have mitral valve prolapse die suddenly.
"My research has been to evaluate each of these patients' charts in depth to find similarities," Markey said. "I have discovered a few leads that I am currently verifying with comparisons to other studies and patients who have mitral valve prolapse but did not have a sudden cardiac death incident."
The junior also shadowed Dr. Bolling in the operating room and saw her first open-heart surgery, which she said was one of her most memorable experiences of the whole summer. In one case, she examined the anatomy of the heart and the abnormalities of the mitral valve.
"When the surgery was almost done, Dr. Bolling was in the process of restarting the heart, and he invited me up to the table while he placed the internal defibrillators around the heart," Markey said. "Before he administered the shock, the heart restarted on its own!"
Having a summer full of educational and exciting experiences at Michigan Medicine has reconfirmed Markey's dream of being a doctor. Quinnipiac gave Markey this opportunity through a mentoring program set up by the biology department.
"My mentor, Shannon Murray, had the same research position that I am in now and told me that I should reach out to Dr. Bolling," Markey said. "I had an informal interview with him in December and he accepted me for the summer internship."
Having the opportunity to work for Dr. Bolling gave Markey the chance to learn about what it takes to be a doctor. From patient care to research and clinical trial procedures, Markey learned so much from her mentor, Dr. Bolling.
"I have always been drawn to the patient care aspect and this experience has reinforced my desire to become a doctor," Markey said.
To stay up-to-date on new surrounding Quinnipiac women's ice hockey, follow on social media @QU_WIH.
The West Bloomfield, Mich., native received the opportunity to work at Michigan Medicine: University of Michigan Hospital as a research assistant/intern.
Working in the cardiac surgery department, Markey was part of a team that consisted of one graduate student, one medical student and three general surgical residents. Dr. Steven Bolling led the research team through multiple projects in the cardiac surgery field. Dr. Bolling is also a professor at Michigan Medicine and specializes in Mitral Valve Surgery and Thoracic Surgery.
Markey had the opportunity to assist on the continuation of 18 research projects under the guidance of Dr. Bolling, and she had the opportunity to take on some of her own projects.
"One of the projects I began working on at the start of my internship was researching cases of patients who Dr. Bolling operated on," Markey explained. "This included cases of patients who had mitral valve prolapse and had a sudden cardiac death incident but were resuscitated."
Markey explained that there are always questions in cardiology about why patients who have mitral valve prolapse die suddenly.
"My research has been to evaluate each of these patients' charts in depth to find similarities," Markey said. "I have discovered a few leads that I am currently verifying with comparisons to other studies and patients who have mitral valve prolapse but did not have a sudden cardiac death incident."
The junior also shadowed Dr. Bolling in the operating room and saw her first open-heart surgery, which she said was one of her most memorable experiences of the whole summer. In one case, she examined the anatomy of the heart and the abnormalities of the mitral valve.
"When the surgery was almost done, Dr. Bolling was in the process of restarting the heart, and he invited me up to the table while he placed the internal defibrillators around the heart," Markey said. "Before he administered the shock, the heart restarted on its own!"
Having a summer full of educational and exciting experiences at Michigan Medicine has reconfirmed Markey's dream of being a doctor. Quinnipiac gave Markey this opportunity through a mentoring program set up by the biology department.
"My mentor, Shannon Murray, had the same research position that I am in now and told me that I should reach out to Dr. Bolling," Markey said. "I had an informal interview with him in December and he accepted me for the summer internship."
Having the opportunity to work for Dr. Bolling gave Markey the chance to learn about what it takes to be a doctor. From patient care to research and clinical trial procedures, Markey learned so much from her mentor, Dr. Bolling.
"I have always been drawn to the patient care aspect and this experience has reinforced my desire to become a doctor," Markey said.
To stay up-to-date on new surrounding Quinnipiac women's ice hockey, follow on social media @QU_WIH.
Players Mentioned
Forward
/ Women's Ice HockeySaturday, September 23
Wednesday, June 03
Wednesday, June 03
Wednesday, June 03
