Pediatric Neurosurgery

Last Tuesday, I had the privilege of going to visit Dr. Weprin and from our conversation, I am so excited for the upcoming year. When I initially went in, Dr. Weprin actually offered for me to stay the entire day and shadow him and as much as I wanted to say yes, I had to say no -- but the thought of me being able to spend part of the next few months at Children's and shadowing doctors and seeing surgeries made me extremely happy. We talked a little bit about my upcoming projects for the year and some of the possibilities include researching the growth of tumors, something that has been down in adults but never in pediatrics. Dr. Weprin also is going to help get me interviews with other doctors such as orthopedic surgeons and plastic surgeons. From our brief visit, I am quite motivated to get back into the practice of going on weekly mentor visits and being able to once again experience what it is like to be working in the medical field. A huge part of these past few months were spent repeating things that I had done last year and in some regards, it was quite discouraging to go through it all again. But from my visit, I have remember why we do everything that we do - because it is all preparing us for this mentorship that is truly incredible.

It is so easy to get overwhelmed by the business of life. This past week was extremely busy for me from having 2 interviews to the Teacher Appreciation Breakfast to running a blood drive to catching up on make-up work. If there is one thing I have learned in ISM is that managing time efficiently is the difference between succeeded in life and falling way behind. This past week served as a friendly reminder that I really need to make sure that I do not wait till the last second to get things done but that I make a schedule and stick to it. I would be kidding myself if I thought that things were going to get easier from here on out. If anything, it is going to get even more busy and I had better figure a system out quickly before I drive myself to the point of insanity.
This coming week, we will be working on our display boards. I am considering changing my board from last year but the thought of having to remake it entirely is also quite daunting. In addition to that, we are beginning to prepare for our Research Speeches and writing up our Original Work proposals. I am actually meeting with Dr. Weprin tomorrow and we will be discussing what projects I will tackle this coming year.

Pediatric rheumatologists, a subspecialty of rheumatologists, diagnose and treat childhood arthritis, juvenile rheumatoid arthritis, and other rheumatic diseases of the joints, soft tissue, and connective tissue. To read more of my summary of pediatric rheumatology, click here.

And now comes the time when things really start going by quickly in ISM. This past Friday was Business Symposium - a huge networking opportunity for many ISM students. Essentially this an event where all the ISM students come together and are able to interact and talk with about 90+ professionals from various career paths. This is the event that we start preparing for from day one. From learning how to shake a hand to creating a resume - almost everything we have done in ISM has been directly or indirectly preparing us for this particular day. However, after going through this twice, I will say that there are some students who benefit from this far more than others. Personally speaking, I am not sure that I was able to get a lot of useful contacts within my fields. Other students however were able to get a lot of contacts. At first this was a little disheartening but I soon realized that though I might not have been able to find that many medical professionals, I still gained invaluable experience. I had been able to practice interviewing skills, get critiques regarding my resume, and even meet ISM students from other schools. At the same time, I know that things are about to start flying by. Topic Proposals. Original Work. Display Boards. Research Showcase. Interviews. Mentor Visits. All of it is coming up within the next few months and needless to say, I am beyond excited.

My first interview as this past Friday and I feel like my motivation to get back into the swing of things is increasing exponentially. Because of last year, I knew in my head what interviews were like - ask questions, get answers, takes notes, write an assessment. To some extent, it was a pretty redundant and repetitive thing. But, what I had forgotten was the fun that came along with that. There is something about having a conversation with a professional about something that you're truly passionate about that is engaging and intriguing and exciting, all at the same time. I had the privilege of interviewing Dr. Shah, who is a pediatric otolaryngologist. It is always interesting to me to make comparisons across subspecialties, to make note of those similarities and differences. I have a few more interviews lined up in the following weeks and I have a feeling that once I get started, I will find myself enjoying the whole process more.

This is  a big week in ISM in that Business Symposium is this Friday. Everything we have learned thus far from how to shake a hand to carrying conversations to dressing professionally has been in preparation for this event. I remember that this was a time in which I actually forced myself to go and talk to professionals and other adults who I did not know whatsoever. It is crazy for me to think that I ever did something like this, especially considering that I am typically not a very outgoing or social person (not to say I can't carry a conversation; I'm just not the type that will go out of my way to strike up a conversation with someone I don't know). As a personal goal/challenge, I want to push myself to interact with twice as many people as I did last time. I do not think that I took advantage of the networking opportunity this provided me last year and I want to make it a point that I do not make the same mistake again. Though I am a little bit nervous, I am also very excited and I cannot wait to see how the event unfolds.