Research in Residents’ Sleep Patterns
Rediscovering a Passion for Research: Research in Residents' Sleep Patterns
By Emily Georgitis, MS 4
Emily Georgitis
I had decided my career in research had ended. I thought I had given it a fair chance having done nine months of bench research in college and decided it wasn’t for me. It’s not the only thing that I was wrong about when I walked through the doors of Pritzker on my first day of medical school.
The pressure to plan the most perfect “last summer” came at me fast that first year. As I heard more about the Summer Research Program and talked to upperclassmen, I realized that maybe it was a little premature to close the door on research completely. Knowing that the most important part of any project is who is on your team, I was lucky to find my way to Dr. Vineet Arora, Assistant Professor of Medicine, well known to my classmates as a leader on the internal medicine service.
Our project focused on examining resident sleep hours to see if an educational intervention that teaches residents the importance of sleep would affect how many hours they slept. I worked with Dr. Arora throughout the summer, meeting a few times a week to iron out problems as they arose. By the end of the summer I felt I had really accomplished something and was excited to present my research, unsure of whether it would mark the end of my work on the project.
Throughout my second year I had the chance to revise my work with Dr. Arora and was thrilled when she let me know we would be submitting the paper to be published. Third year came and I forgot about my research in the hustle of the many rotations. But then, as light broke through the darkness at the end of the third-year tunnel and I was able to see beyond clinical rotations again, I received the exciting news that my paper would be published in Archives of Internal Medicine.
I’m now going through the interview trail for residency and I’ve had the opportunity to reflect on my research experience at Pritzker. I’m not sure that the experience guided my decision of which subspecialty to choose, but I am sure that it has provided me the confidence and support to find a great residency program. Dr. Arora has been both my advisor and my advocate as I’ve navigated the application process. I proudly discuss my research and our success during interviews and find interest and enthusiasm from many of my interviewers. I feel lucky to have been awarded the Calvin Fentress Fellowship for research and am continuing to work with Dr. Arora throughout this year. While all of this has been extremely helpful for me in taking the next step in my career, I’m most excited that I’ve rediscovered a passion for research. I now enthusiastically describe my future career as one that includes research and credit much of that to the Summer Research Program.
