I am an Honours psychology student minoring in science. My goal is to conduct advanced clinical research to help solve ongoing issues in mental health.
I completed my internship at the “Institut du Cerveau et de la Moelle épinère” (ICM), Brain and Spinal Cord Institute, a non-profit international research center conducting basic and clinical research mainly focused on neurological and psychiatric disorders. Such as depression, Alzheimer’s disease, autism, schizophrenia, etc. The ICM values scientific excellence, best care for patients, openness and sharing of knowledge. Its goals are to conduct research at an international level, to create advanced technology platforms and to improve the medical care of patients by reuniting both researchers, doctors and academics in the same center. The ICM’s mission statement is to use research in order to prevent the manifestation of a disease or disorder and to cure or treat its evolution through treatment or therapy
From this internship, I hoped to foster the tools to excel further in conducting research and better understand its organization and principles. I also wanted the opportunity to apply the knowledge I’ve gathered throughout my undergraduate studies to a professional setting. I am not receiving academic credit for this internship.
During the first month of my internship, I spent most of my time with the ICM’s “Unité Neuro-psychiatrique compartmental” (UNPC), Behavioral Neuropsychiatric Unit. In this unit, the research concerns patients with apathy, disinhibition and eating disorders. Their current research project focused on apathy and motivation. This unit received patients for many purposes such as diagnosis and treatment but also to determine if they could be eligible for ongoing and future studies as well as provide insight for further research leads. Patients would spend the week (Monday-Friday) there, undergo different neurological exams (PET scans, MRI, EEGs) and consult neurologists, psychiatrists and neuropsychologists.
At the beginning of my internship, my main responsibility was to read the patients’ files beforehand to prepare a pitch for the neuropsychologist, listing the most important points for her to prepare relevant questions for the interview with the patient. I also observed her perform neurological tests and their corresponding assessments. She would explain to me how to interpret and score the different tests and draw conclusions from their results.
At the end of the week, I would attend the staff meetings between professors and doctors discussing the research projects and patients. Throughout my internship, I also went to different conferences on ongoing research projects at the ICM. For example, in the psychiatric department, there was very promising research supporting the efficiency of using ketamine as a treatment for depression.
On the third week, I began conducting some neuropsychological tests myself, under the supervision of the neuropsychologist training me. I was responsible for writing drafts of the assessments and interpreting the results. The neuropsychologist would give me feedback to help me improve.
Then, during the second month of my internship, I spent most of my time with the ICM’s affiliate institute, “Institut de la mémoire et de la maladie d’Alzheimer” (Im2a). Their research focused mainly on memory disorders and Alzheimer’s disease. This institute had a wider set of research projects. The one I worked on involved medication and other forms of therapy to prevent and/or treat Alzheimer’s disease. There, I also assisted with EEG preparation, installation and cleaning for specific research protocols. I would then compare neuropsychologic and EEG results to previous ones to assess if they were statically significant.
Beyond research, my supervisor let me follow doctors (interns, neurologists, psychiatrists), nurses and social workers on their routines. This included medical visits in which they performed checkups and small medical procedures such as blood tests and lumbar punctures.
Among the challenges I encountered, I found it difficult to watch patients struggle with memory losses or movement impairments. This hardship was a source of motivation throughout my internship, as I hoped we could find solutions to their distress as we had for other patients coming to the institute.
Overall, this internship had a tremendous impact on my university experience. I now have a new approach and greater understanding of what I learned during my years at McGill, I feel considerably more mature and it has allowed me to better shape my goals for the future.
I cannot thank Dre. France Bellisle enough for giving me the opportunity to have this enriching experience and investing in my future. Receiving the Ithaca Arts Internship Award was an immense honor and its financial support enabled me to fully focus on my internship.
