ECU Honors College Students Intern With Robotic Surgery Team | Eastern North Carolina Now

    Publisher's note: The author of this post, Jessica Nottingham, is a contributor to ECU News Services.

    After spending more than 40 hours a week shadowing East Carolina University's world-renowned robotic heart surgeons, two Honors College students embark on the new semester with lasting impressions and connections.

    Emily Downs and Zoe Hinton, recipients of the 2016 East Carolina Heart Institute (ECHI) Robotic Surgery Internship, spent six weeks working alongside top heart surgeons at ECU's Robotic Surgery Center for Training and Education.


    Downs and Hinton, who are both EC Scholars, rotated between the clinic where they witnessed surgeons develop relationships with patients and the operating room where they observed robotic, open heart and minimally invasive procedures.

    "I learned a lot about cardiology," said Zoe Hinton, a rising senior and multidisciplinary studies major with a focus in neuroscience. "So much goes into the decision-making process (of the treatment plan). Every aspect of a patient's medical history is important."

    From morning huddles and trainings with international surgical teams, to procedure demonstrations using a vegetable, the interns experienced the full range of expertise required of a great surgeon.

    "I witnessed innovation in heart surgery in action, and how it's developing," said Downs, a sophomore public health studies major. "We also got to see (the surgeons') brains working on how to better treat patients and reduce recovery time-they were practicing a new procedure on a cabbage one day."

    At the conclusion of the internship, students are required to complete a case study to the ECHI robotic surgical team that includes an analysis of a patient's condition, medical history, treatment plan and post-operative care.

    Dr. Mark D. Iannettoni, chair of the Department of Cardiovascular Sciences, said that "this is one of the best I've seen since I've been here" following the students' case study presentation, which examined a patient who needed multiple valve repair, a cryomaze for atrial fibrillation and a patent foramen ovale (PFO) closure.

    Surgical teams from all over the world visit the center to practice with new technologies and training techniques. Downs and Hinton saw the impact of cultural influences on medicine and realize just how accomplished this surgical team is in the industry.

    "I enjoyed seeing how they trained surgical teams. It's putting Greenville on the map," said Downs. "Three surgeons from different countries with different perspectives had to learn different ways of training. It was really awesome."

    Beyond career development, the one-on-one attention from internationally-recognized surgeons, who happen to be in their back yard, is rare for undergraduates.

    "The world can begin to seem quite small once you zero in on a certain passion," said Hinton as she recounted meeting a surgeon from a Mexico City hospital during the ECHI internship who not only shared similar interests in art and medicine, but that they both had also visited the same hospital in Barcelona.

    The ECHI internship provides a similar experience for undergraduate students as medical school provides to doctor in medicine students, according to Susan Bewick, robotic training educator. "It helps students make sure that they want to pursue it as a career."

    "The surgeons work directly with the students," she said. "I can't imagine the doors it opens for these (students). They are already being approached about internships abroad. And, they're Honors College students, so we're getting the best and brightest."

    Two ECU Honors College students and two N.C. State Park Scholars are selected to participate in the internship that includes a $1,000 stipend.

    Emily Downs, from Greenville, is the daughter of Todd and Paula Downs. Hinton is from Louisburg, North Carolina and is the daughter of Will and Pat Hinton.