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This past summer I had the opportunity to work within a tight-knit team researching the impact of exercise prescriptions on inactive breast cancer patients. Our project is a component of a larger multipart study with the overarching goal of designing an effective exercise prescription program for individuals that have finished breast cancer treatment and need help beginning exercise post treatment. Many patients who have gone through breast cancer treatment do not feel they are at the same activity levels as they were pre-treatment and/or feel more compelled to focus on their physical wellbeing but are not sure where and how to start. The need for activity in breast cancer survivors is undeniable as it decreases treatment related symptoms both physically and mentally (ex. Cancer-related fatigue, bone health, physical functioning, depression, anxiety, etc.).
I spent most of my time helping to recruit participants and analyzing/processing data. With a limited population size, due to the specific parameters required for the study, recruitment was essential and involved improving our flyer to better appeal to potential participants and reaching out to participants to inform them of the study. I analyzed the data using SPSS and a self-generated excel sheet where I could input data to create easy to read graphs. These charts were then used during study check point meetings to talk with participants about their exercise prescriptions. Additionally, I helped process qualitative data through interview transcriptions and categorization of the responses.
In all, this experience was very meaningful, giving me great insight to the positions within a research team, and further developing my own data analysis and psychological research skills. I’d like to thank St. Lawrence University for funding my experience and Dr. Courtney Stevens at Dartmouth Hitchcock for her mentorship and guidance.