Anza Connaughton: Spinal Rehabilitation at the Frazier Rehab Institute, Week 1

Hello! My name is Anza Connaughton and I’m a pintern from Ridgway High School in Ridgway, Colorado. My internship this summer is at the Frazier Rehab and Neuroscience Center in Louisville, Kentucky. Coming into this internship, I didn’t really have a lot of expectations. Based on what I’ve seen in Greys Anatomy, being an intern in a medical setting is all about getting coffee and trying to be one of the lucky few who get to observe surgeries. This week I found out that I’ve seen on TV isn’t even close to reality (surprising, I know).

Day one of my internship was pretty exciting. At Frazier, the ANR (Adult Neuro Recovery) team has to wear a specific uniform every day. So, I woke up early and put on my khakis and polo for the first time.

Looking fresh in my uniform

Once on the bus, the commute downtown is about 15 minutes. Elena (the other pintern at Frazier and my roommate) and I then walk from the bus stop to Frazier which is about a block away.

Frazier, as seen from my bus stop

On day one I was shown around the center. I spend most of my time here on the 9th floor. As I mentioned before, I’m working in Adult Neuro Recovery. All of the patients that we see come to the 9th floor for their treatment or to participate in studies. Unfortunately, there is only one person that is allowed to take photos in the gym so I’m working on getting photos that I’ll be able to use in the coming weeks.

The patients that we see at Frazier are primarily those that have suffered from SCIs (spinal cord injuries) to their lower spinal chord. These injuries occur primarily in the thoracic, lumbar, and sacral vertebrae and nerves. Injuries to these parts of the spine can cause a loss of motor function in the lower half of the body. This means that the patients we see are primarily in wheelchairs.

Most of the patients we see have injuries that are below their cervical vertebrae and nerves

The work that I have been doing at Frazier deals with the ability of activity-based therapies to be able to help recover body function that is lost after an SCI. The hope is that through the use of physical activities and electrical stimulation of muscles over time, patients will be able to see an increase of function in the affected areas. In other words, we stimulate muscles that have lost their ability to function on their own to see if it will help them regain some voluntary motor function. Sessions can consist of a patient standing with the support of a metal frame and gym techs and going through exercises like static standing and squats.

In the gym, I work with techs who assist physical therapists and occupational therapists on their research and clinic work. These duties include running the computer and tablet software, prepping the gym, prepping the patients, and actually physically supporting the patients as they guide their bodies through the exercises during each session. Over time, I hope that I’ll get to see the progress made by the patients and the effects that the research has on them.

This week was only week one but I still got to learn how to run some of the software that we use during the research and start to help in the collection of data during these sessions. We track things like how long a patient has been standing on the frame and what kind of supports are helping them stand. Being able to actually get to start and stop electrical stimulation of the muscles and watch what was happening first-hand was incredible. This was already way more than I had expected to be doing as an intern.

Outside of the center, I also spent the week adjusting to eastern time and to my new lifestyle. Coming from a small town, I was really excited to get to be spending some time actually living in a big city this summer because I get to do all sorts of things that I wouldn’t do at home. I might travel a decent amount but some experiences only come from living in the city. For example, I get to take the public bus to my internship every day and experience the stress of trying to feed my bills into the meter without delaying a whole bus full of people on their way to work.

I met my host parents, Mandy and Robby, and their three sons Oak, Ronin, and Griffin. I also met my roommate Elena and we spent the week checking out the Highlands neighborhood where we live. We got amazing ice cream, coffee, and stopped by a few local farmers’ markets to buy fruit and veggies.

Fresh peaches on Bardstown Road

So far, I’m loving my internship. The work I’m doing is important and I can’t wait to see what will happen in the coming weeks! In the meantime, I’ll be working on getting a bus pass so I can avoid the stress of paying cash in the mornings.