Meet our Interns - Anna Godlewska

Please briefly describe yourself and what you do.

My name is Anna Godlewska, I am 26 years old, I am a medical student and I study at Karolinska Institutet.

Please describe why did you want to do an internship at the Karolinska ALS Clinical Research Group.

I am interested in neurology as a field and wanted to get some experience in clinical research, since my thesis was strictly preclinical. I also believe that ALS is one of the most devastating diseases and it is important to have comprehensive research targeting it.

How long did your intership at the Karolinska ALS Clinical Research Group last?

Through August 2021, so 1 month.

Please describe your internship project, research questions, documents used (ex : TakeCare, ALS/MND Registry, data-base, etc...).

I focused on staging the patients with ALS at the time of their diagnosis using the El Escorial staging system as well as King’s score. I went through their medical documentation (TakeCare) to extract the information, which I later filled in in the ALS registry. I also noted whether the patients presented with the Babinskis sign at the time of diagnosis.

What did you learn during your internship at the Karolinska ALS Clinical Research Group?

I learned a lot about ALS itself through by reading the medical documentation, as well as the importance of good documentation in the physician’s work so that it later can be used for research. I also learned a lot about the work behind the registries.

What challenges did you face during your internship at the Karolinska ALS Clinical Research Group?

Some of the findings noted down in the medical documentation were up for interpretation. While King’s staging system is very easy to use, El Escorial posed more of a challenge.

Are you satisfied with your overall experience at the Karolinska ALS Clinical Research Group? If yes, please share with us what you enjoyed the most during your internship. If not, please share what did not meet your expectations so we can improve ourselves.

Yeah, I am very satisfied. The team was very nice and welcoming, and easy to get in touch with.

Please share with us what is the key information or learning experience you will keep from this internship.

Oh, it is a hard one. Maybe the lesson about being thorough when it comes to documentation in my future work as a physician.

Would you recomment the Karolinska ALS Clinical Research Group to a friend or colleague?

Yes, absolutely.