Pediatric Neurosurgery

Regarding my mentorship, this past week has been mainly a waiting period. Between emailing my mentor and taking care of other logistical matters, I am in the process of setting up my first mentor visit. It is interesting because we spend the first few months talking about getting a mentor but it always seemed to be a thing of the future but now that it is actually happening, I am quite excited.

Earlier on this week, I had decided that I was going to wait to ask for a mentorship until I had heard from a pediatric neurosurgeon that had just recently reached out to me. However, it is safe to say that patience is not my forte. By the time Wednesday rolled around, I was getting anxious as I had still not heard a reply. I already had in mind a doctor that I wanted to ask to be my mentor and I realized that the longer I waited, the harder it would be to ask for a mentorship. So, on Thursday I decided to go ahead and send the mentorship request email. To be quite honest, I put my expectations low. It is not uncommon for students to have one or two rejections before finding their mentor; in fact, it is quite uncommon for the first person a student asks to be their mentor to say yes. Considering all this and the fact that pediatric neurosurgeons are extremely busy, I was not entirely optimistic.
I sent the email Thursday afternoon around 3 PM, and was not expecting a reply until next week. However, much to my surprise, I received an email Friday morning. Now, when the notification for the email popped up all I could see was "I'm sorry I am unable to..." Immediately my heart dropped and I was crushed. However, after I actually opened up my email I realized that the full message read "I'm sorry I am unable to make it on December 16th, but I would love to be your mentor." I received this email in the middle of my history class and I can say, without shame, that I started doing a little dance. Considering the fact that I was expecting a no, actually receiving a yes was extremely exciting. As of now, my mentor and I are still working out the details concerning what I will be able to do and experience. Nonetheless, I cannot wait for all that is yet to come.

This past week, I gave a 10 minute speech regarding what I have accomplished these past 10 weeks in ISM. For me, this was a huge learning experience. Typically, I am not that uncomfortable speaking in front of people...so long as I know exactly what I am talking about. However, with this particular speech, I had difficulty in organizing my thoughts in a cohesive and comprehendible manner. There was such a vast amount of information I needed to cover and no clear way in which to connect them all in a logical manner. Looking back upon how I spoke, there are some evident issues that I plan on fixing. For starters, I need to have a better understanding of what I am going to say and how I am going to convey that message to the audience. I realized that often times, the people who I am talking to may not be interested in my topic of study or simple not understand what I am trying to say. Because of that, I need to be able to speak in an engaging and simplistic manner that both captivates and informs listeners. Another thing I need to work on is endurance. Although I started off my speech with a good energy and eye contact, as time progressed, I visibly lost enthusiasm and connection with the audience. For future speeches, I hope to be able to maintain a good energy so as to keep the attention of all those listening. 

I had the privilege of interviewing Dr. Bradley Weprin. To read more about my interview with him, click here.

Conjoined twins are two babies that are born physically connected to one another as a result of an early embryo partially separating to form two individuals.

To read my analysis about the surgical procedure that separates craniopagus twins, click here.

As many interviews that I have gone on, I can confidently say that those with actual pediatric neurosurgeons were the most fulfilling. That is not to say that those with neurosurgeons or pediatric neurologists were bad. However, to finally be able to talk with a doctor that fit what my specific topic of study is just reignited my passion for the field. This past week I had two interviews, both of whom were pediatric neurosurgeons.
My first interview took place at Children's Health and was with the director of pediatric neurosurgery, Dr. Brad Weprin.  One of the most interesting things about this interview dealt with what I was able to learn about the most common pediatric neurological disorder - hydrocephalus, the build of cerebral spinal fluid. About 5 minutes into our discussion about hydrocephalus and the possible treatment plans, Dr. Weprin arose from his desk physically handed me an actual shunt that is used in surgeries and was able to lead me through a basic overview of what occurs during the surgical procedure that fixes this disorder. For me personally this was a very unique learning experience because instead of just hearing the word "shunt," I was able to tangibly understand and visualize it.
My second interview was at Cook's Childrens with Dr. Donahue who has been in practice for well over 30 years. Being a sage and wise individual, my interview with him was very informative. He initially inquired about me and how I became interested in the specific career of pediatric neurosurgery. He then relayed to me his own personal story of how he was drawn to this particular field. More so than what he was able to tell me, I was drawn to his affectionate and charismatic personality. As we were walking to our interview location, he introduced me to many other employees and I could immediately tell that he was a well-known and respected individual in the hospital. In this way, he seemed like a very grandfatherly person who would potentially be a very influential mentor.
This upcoming week, I hope to further reflect upon my interviews and formally ask one of three pediatric neurosurgeons to be my mentor for the upcoming year. In addition, I am going to give a 10 to 12 minute presentation that will summarize all that I have accomplished and learned in the past 9 weeks of ISM.