When Simrat Kaur attended the Annual American Burn Association Conference in Orlando this spring, she brought with her not only original research, but a deeply personal understanding of recovery after life-changing injury.
Kaur, a medical student at the UW School of Medicine, is currently completing a research year with the Northwest Regional Burn Model System team at Harborview Medical Center between her third and fourth year of the MD program. At the conference, she presented an oral abstract on mental and social health recovery after major burn injuries.
“My research focuses on long-term psychosocial recovery after major burn injury, including depression, anxiety, social participation, and community integration,” Kaur said.
She became involved in the project through her interest in physical medicine and rehabilitation (PM&R) and outcomes research, but the work also carries personal significance.
“I was drawn to the work that the HMC burn team does to look beyond survival and ask how people rebuild their lives after serious injury,” she said. “This work also connects deeply to my own personal journey recovering from a spinal cord injury, which shapes the way I think about rehabilitation, resilience, and the importance of long-term support after life-changing injury.”
Kaur said she hopes to continue studying how post-acute recovery affects quality of life, identity, mental health and social participation, while helping improve care systems that support patients long after discharge.
“I hope to continue exploring how care can better support patients beyond discharge,” she said.
