Personal Narrative: A Day In The Life: Researcher Elena Flowers

Day in the Life: Researcher Elena Flowers

Elena Flowers, PhD, RN, Physiological Nursing, came to UCSF as a research assistant at Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital and Trauma Center (ZSFGH) after her undergraduate education at UC Davis. After completing her Master of Science in Nursing and Doctor of Philosophy degrees, she transitioned into another role as a faculty member. “While I am a ‘newer’ faculty member, my familiarity with UCSF began as a student,” Flowers said. “This is an advantage, but also an adjustment. It will take years to recreate my identity from student to faculty member.”
In addition to being a researcher and assistant professor, Dr. Flowers is a mom. Photos of her two, young daughters and their painted handprint
“I appreciate that my job allows me the scheduling flexibility to do that.” While her job allows for flexibility, her schedule is anything but slow. It usually requires several hours of work on a Friday night to keep up with her responsibilities. Dr. Flowers is coming up on five years at UCSF. Having just finished an interview for a video project, she explains that since 10 a.m. she has had something scheduled every hour. “One of the things we talk about in the School of Nursing is this idea that faculty have to be successful at teaching, research, service, and have a personal life, which is basically an impossible order,” Flowers said. “It is a challenge to wear many hats and wear them well.” One thing that helps her adjust to life as a faculty member is the Clinical and Translational Science Institute (CTSI)’s K Scholars Program, which supports career development and the formation of professional relationships with other junior faculty. This program is just one of her many weekly
For example, her article questioned whether sequencing a newborn’s genome without their consent is ethical. Although Flowers wrestled with these questions, she decided to have her own genome sequenced, in order to better equip the advance practice nursing students she instructs. Flowers is sharing her experience with her students as they learn about the role of genomic technologies in their clinical practice.
“Before I didn’t know what to expect or how I would feel on the other side of it,” Flowers said. “I now know it is a worthwhile endeavor. It has been enlightening and incredibly informing to go through this whole experience.” Flowers recently received her sequencing test results back and while there are no alarming results or surprises, it allows her to have a much deeper meaning of the “Pandora’s box,” that is one’s DNA identity. She also hopes this helps her students think about how to deal with future interactions with patients undergoing genome sequencing. “My hope is that we can have a lot of conversations around genomic information,” Flowers said. “I don’t think we know yet how to prepare healthcare providers for this massive onslaught of genomic information, or how to integrate it into our genomic practice, but my goal was just to start the dialogue and start moving the path forward.”

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