Cael Nesheim

Responsibilities

I was responsible for covering surgeries and instructing nurses and scrub techs how to use our instruments and use verbal communication, and things like laser pointers (can’t touch sterile items), to have the equipment ready for the surgeon. I was also responsible for cleaning and organizing instrument trays so that they were ready and prepared to be put to use. I was in charge of organizing a town hall event with one of our Iowa Ortho surgeons, Dr.Craig Mahoney. In this event, we had over 35 people from the community come out to learn about our Velys Robotic Knee surgeries. It was my duty to organize the space and create health promotion slides about ways to battle knee arthritis and the benefits of robotics! I was also in charge of creating schedules to ensure we had proper coverage and all of our doctors had a team member there during surgeries. I also attending team meetings and being an active team member during these meetings. I led some portions of the meetings towards the end of my internship

Accomplishments

My greatest accomplishment was the confidence I gained in my internship. I was very nervous at first and wanted to put my best foot forward but looking back on my growth over this time period and how comfortable I was towards the end was a big accomplishment for me.

Learning experience

Ask questions! You are not expected to know everything right away, so ask! It shows you are eager to learn and that you care.

What advice would you give?

Try everything, Iowa State offers so much and this is the time to dip your feet into as much as you can and find what you love.