Hello! My name is Riley Gorden, and I am an undergraduate biology major at IUPUI. I work in Dr. Kacena’s lab as an undergraduate researcher through my participation in the Life and Health Sciences Internship program. Even though I am only a sophomore, I am always thinking of how I can apply my current experiences to my career goal of being an emergency room physician. Dr. Kacena’s research in bone healing, especially with traumatic bone injuries, represents injuries I likely could see in an emergency room. Who knows, maybe someday I could be treating those injuries with an experimental bone healing drug tested right here in our own lab!
Something I have found particularly insightful from my internship is seeing the process of research from start to finish. In my science courses, often the textbooks overlook the realities of experimental design, such as labeling test tubes or preparing reagents for an experiment. These overlooked things are easily done, but if not organized logically and efficiently they can break an experiment. I have learned to appreciate this aspect of the research process more and more, because science that is meticulously performed makes the entire process of data gathering, analysis, and writing for publication exponentially smoother. And that’s something every field, whether it be orthopaedic researcher or emergency room physician can appreciate.
