Content warning: My project deals with pediatric sexual abuse. Please take care of yourself and feel free to forgo reading any parts of this blog.
As I went to bed the night before my internship began, I was definitely filled with some first day jitters. Unsure of what to expect, I was both excited and nervous. Excited for the impactful projects we would work on and amazing people we would meet, but nervous that I wasn’t prepared or skilled enough to succeed. Walking into the Oshman Engineering Design Kitchen (OEDK) Monday morning, my nerves quickly subsided. Dr. Taylor and her staff were incredibly welcoming, and I soon recognized many faces. As we navigated through orientation, my excitement augmented as we neared the project reveal time.
Choosing a project was tough! Each and every project has such an opportunity for impact, and they all have amazing clients and collaborators. Finally, after much deliberation, I settled on the pediatric pelvic model. The goal of this project is to design a model that will aid in training nurses on how to conduct pelvic examinations for pediatric sexual abuse survivors. While I knew this project would be challenging due to the heavy subject matter, I am up for the challenge, as I believe this project has the potential for huge impact. Additionally, I like the idea of starting a project from the ground up, allowing my team to develop what we believe to be the best model.
After the project reveal, we had the opportunity to get to know our team. My team quickly decided on a name: Team PIPER, which stands for Pediatric Instructional Pelvic Examination Resource. The members of my team are Elise from Rice University, Shivani from Rice University, and Alex from The University of Texas at Austin. Our TAs are Magdah and Sana, both from Rice University. Our team quickly bonded, and we continued to get to know each other throughout the week during workshops, project work times, and lunch. Additionally, we went to Rice village on Thursday night for team bonding in the form of burgers and boba- yum! We also had an epic Just Dance battle during our break on Friday. I’ve really enjoyed getting to know my team, and I’m excited to continue to work with them throughout the remainder of the summer.
As far as project progress goes, my team focused on our initial client meeting and research this week. We created interview questions for our client, Ms. Nancy Harris. Bright and early Thursday morning, we met with Ms. Harris to hear more of her vision for our project and get some of our clarifying questions answered. I found Ms. Harris to be incredibly passionate and informed on this topic, and her enthusiasm for our team and project shined through. After this meeting, we dove into research. Initially, we found it difficult to locate reputable sources on this topic. However, once we got started, we were able to find numerous sources through library databases and Google Scholar. We focused our research on background information about child sexual abuse and pelvic examinations, exploration of any existing pelvic examination teaching models, and materials research. At the conclusion of this week, we have compiled many sources and have learned loads of useful information that will aid in the development of our model.
Outside of project time, I had the opportunity to participate in numerous workshops from various offices at Rice and abroad. Workshops covered a wide variety of topics, from engineering design to interpersonal skills. My favorites were the hand tools workshop and the time management workshop. In the hand tools workshop, we learned about the basic hand tools in the OEDK while creating a bat house. Even though I had previously participated in this workshop in ENGI 120 (Introduction to Engineering Design- a class I took last semester), I found it to be a great refresher on tools that could come in handy when prototyping our model. The time management workshop was presented by the Wellbeing & Counseling Center. I found the workshop to be very engaging, and time management tips are always beneficial for busy college students.
Overall, I had a wonderful first week in this internship. I love that the program combines both project time and professional development workshops, as this gives interns holistic development in both hands-on design and interpersonal skills. I’ve also enjoyed getting to know my team and the other interns. Everyone brings such unique perspectives and skills, and I know we will continue to make memories throughout the rest of the summer. As we move into week two, the engineer in me is excited to begin focusing on design details and development of our pediatric pelvic model. After a great first week, I am excited to see the impactful work that my team and others will produce this summer.
See y’all soon,
Shannon
These are the lovely interns and TAs I’ve gotten to meet and interact with this week!