Chris Devine and Amy Yu, first-year M.D. candidates at Harvard Medical School, have been awarded the Rheumatology Research Foundation’s Medical Student Preceptorship, a prestigious, competitive award to advance their research conducted during the Operation Walk Boston 2015 mission.
Devine and Yu work under the guidance of Dr. Jeffrey N Katz, Operation Walk Boston Director of Outcomes Research and Director of the Orthopaedic and Arthritis Center for Outcomes Research (OrACORe) at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. Devine and Yu are leading qualitative research projects to understand cross-cultural differences in clinicians’ pain management practices and patients’ perception of pain.
During the 2015 mission, Devine and Yu traveled with the team to Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, conducting interviews with physicians and nurses to investigate approaches to pain management following total joint replacement. Patients with advanced arthritis were also interviewed to understand their pain tolerance, and habits of self-care and care-seeking behaviors. The award will provide Devine and Yu with the opportunity to immerse themselves in rheumatology and orthopaedics research this summer, and attend the American College of Rheumatology Annual Meeting in San Francisco this November.
Devine and Yu are among many Harvard Medical Students who have joined Operation Walk Boston since 2008. Their work has made great contributions to orthopedic global healthcare delivery. Their work is supported by our clinical and administrative colleagues at Hospital General Plaza de La Salud who have partnered with Operation Walk Boston since 2008.