After collecting data on various people using a motion capture lab, we were able to create simulations for further analysis. Via the analysis of human movement, biomechanics helps us quantify human movement. Analyzing and putting numbers to movement allows us researchers to gain a different perspective on how people move with common orthopedic conditions.
From my perspective, I thought research was easy to get into, and you started right away. That is NOT the case. It takes a lot of time and effort to get a research project going, and even if it is set up properly, the methods can have many bumps along the way. Patience and persistence goes a long way in research, and those characteristics are needed when working with human subjects. It is also difficult to get human subjects to participate in research. Research is not all rainbows and butterflies!
The training in order to do research with human test subjects took me over a week to complete. It took around 25 hours for me to even step foot in the lab. Once I got into the lab, data collection had not started yet, therefore I was tasked with critically analyzing similar research articles in order to find ways to critique or improve our methods. Biomechanical research is extremely difficult to understand, especially the statistics and figures. I found myself asking for help and looking things up on the internet way more than I anticipated.
The overarching goal of this research was to quantify human movement and compare before and after total knee replacement surgery. Luckily, this lab was already partnered with a surgeon to help bring us patients. That does not mean that getting patients was easy! It means that we had less of a barrier. Scheduling times that worked with the lab space, the patient, and the researchers was difficult.
Being a student at Ohio State, there are numerous opportunities presented for research. It is 100% worth it to find a lab that you feel valued in and passionate about the research. As an aspiring orthopedic surgeon, biomechanical research plays a huge role in how we understand the human body, and can prove that certain adjustments to procedures are needed or unnecessary.
As stated above, I am an aspiring surgeon. During medical school, the power of simulation is utilized a ton. Simulations allow you to qualitatively and quantitatively analyze things that would be unethical to experiment with in a live human. Therefore, a lot of medical schools use surgical and clinical simulation services. This along with understanding how to critically analyze complex research papers, while teaching me patience and persistence was a great experience that will aid in my journey to becoming a surgeon.