Personal Narrative: My Experience With The Gator Team

InvestiGators is a research team at the University of Florida that allows students to experience clinical and translational research through direct patient contact and laboratory work involving data analysis. I was a member of the Gator Team, which assessed growth and development of patients exposed to HIV and providing education on living a healthy lifestyle. My duties included creating metabolic assessments, preparing chart rounds for clinic visits, and entering and auditing patient data. I presented a poster at the University of Florida Research Symposium on HIV+ pediatric nutrition management. In addition to my Gator Team duties, I also supervised HIPPA policies and training for members within the lab. My experience with InvestiGators was a time of internal reflection and professional development. Research assistants were required to work 20 hours per week year round. This large time commitment allowed me to become fully …show more content…
The Gator team would meet with patients weekly to provide nutritional consultations, take skinfold measurements, and obtain a diet recall. We would present to the patient custom education based on their diet recalls from the previous visit. We coached our patients in proper nutrition and encouraged them to meet their goals. I created a “Convenience Food Database” which provided detailed nutrient breakdowns of common snack items to assist in the creation of diet recommendation documents for patients. This experience gave me the opportunity to empower individuals to make independent choices related to health and nutrition. It taught me how to create an atmosphere of trust with patients and foster an engaging healthcare experience. In addition, it allowed me to break through the stigma associated with HIV. Since individuals with HIV are often marginalized, my concern and dedication to them inspired hope for their future health care