This internship helped me realize what it take to get to my goal career and be successful. I was able to talk to med students and residents as well which helped me understand my path and some tips too. Just being in high school I have a long way to go, but I think if I continue on the path I am now by trying to get ahead of the game I will be successful. Obviously I will be needing to do a lot more when I am on my path so I need to prepare for the obstacles I will soon face.
My mentor is a Pathologist so she has been through everything needed to become a doctor. She has gone through undergrad, med school, and residency. She has helped me realize that the path is going to be very challenging but it's worth it because in the end you will be doing something you love. Overall, internship has helped me so much in guiding my path and it has given me a great advantage so I can prepare early.
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My final product is a portfolio of 5 different cases that I followed throughout my time at internship. Creating this was difficult because in order to understand what I was looking at, I had to basically learn a new language. I had to work with multiple doctors to complete this portfolio too. I had to learn step by step of how cases get diagnosed and how they should be written up. It was a long process but very worth it. This is important because since I want to go into the medical field I got a head start in the basics of medicine and the basics of helping patients. I got to see every aspect, every type of doctor or job, and how long it takes to solve every case. This will help me in my future in med school, residency, and the rest of my career. Part 1:
My work as an intern was very meaningful to my education because I was able to put together what I learned into a portfolio. I didn't just learn about these cases, I learned how these cases get resolved and the different doctors and tools that go into solving them. I want to be in medicine for a career and this really advanced my knowledge in that area. I never knew how many people it took to see if one person has cancer and how long and hard the work is. The people who are doing it, (pathologist, cytologist, grossers...etc.) are so intelligent, I aspire to be like them. At first, my mentor and I couldn't think of a project I could do but when I was shadowing another Pathologist we got inspired. The Pathologist I was shadowing is really into photography, this help us come up with the idea of creating a portfolio of pictures of different cases I worked on. After coming up with that idea, he gave me more ideas that would make the portfolio more professional. He said using photoshop to clean up the pictures would look good as well as having good background information on the patient. From my own work, I learned the process of diagnosing patients from the Clinical side to the Pathological side. I learned the different parts of the lab and what their job is like the Gross room, Pathology, and Cytology. I learned how all of the jobs connect and everyone working in a hospital is a team and everyone needs each other to help a patient. It’s never one doctor working on one patient at a time. Part 2: My view beyond high school has expanded. Of course before doing this internship I knew that things would not come easy and you would have no one to hold your hand every step of the way. I knew that most of the time there are no room for mistakes and no exceptions especially in medicine. With being here, it made me have the realization of how hard working in medicine and the world of work actually is. There are so many steps to take to get to where you want to go no matter what you want to do. It makes me nervous thinking about what I am going to have to do to get to where I want to be but im so happy that I got to see this first hand so that I am more prepared for the obstacles. I always knew that I wanted to go to med school but I wasn't sure what area I would like to pursue and specialize in. Emergency Medicine has always been in the back of my mind but I wanted to see more of it. I have been with multiple kinds of doctors like Pathologists, Surgeons, Cytologists, Grossers, Pediatrics and many more. As soon as I stepped into the ER I knew that that is where I wanted to be. I love the excitement and the rush. I also loved being in the OR with the surgeons and watching all of the different surgeries. I want to incorporate both of those things so for right now, I am set on being a Trauma Surgeon. Internship has HIGHLY influenced the direction I want to take and I’m so lucky that I was able to have this opportunity. My internship is working in a hospital shadowing multiple doctors of different areas. Obviously I have never been to medical school so I don't know a lot of the stuff they are teaching me. I advocate for myself by asking many clarifying questions so I can get a better understanding of what each of these doctors do as well as what we are looking at. For example, when I am with the Pathologists, we look at many different specimens under the microscope and I am constantly asking “What is that cell?”, “What is the function of that cell?” When I am with surgeons I ask about the tools they are using and why. When looking at x-rays I ask what is the normal supposed to be like when there is something abnormal showing up. Since my project is putting together a portfolio of multiple cases, I have to ask for a lot of guidance when trying to do formal short summaries of the case since the doctors I am with do it everyday.
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