Time for Some Learning

This week was a true testament to my mental stamina with various class assignments all due on the same days. I felt as though I was almost stretched too thin for me to do so many things at once, even though it was only a four-day week. However, I have decided without complaining about what I have done, I am going to use it to fuel myself to work harder the next week. In the coming weeks, I will be progressively learning more and more about my topic and advancing my professional skills with my resume. From my research about cardiothoracic surgery, I learned so much about the importance of medicine in general. Being the healers of society, surgeons and physicians increasing in demand with a rising world population and diseases from various interactions. However, one fact I found quite interesting was that due to the increase in the advances in technology, such as catheterizations and x-ray improvements, some believe that cardiothoracic surgery may be decreasing in job outlook. Last year in ISM I, I was studying cardiology, which is a study of the heart with more diagnostic practices with patients, and such new innovations in technology generally impacts the job outlook for cardiologists in a positive way. This is because cardiologist utilize the new technology for a living. When I have a mentor, I will be asking them about their thoughts on the future generation of cardiothoracic surgeons as there are various sides to the argument.

Additionally, advancing my professional skills was essential in the week too because I was able to begin my digital portfolio or website, create a list of professionals whom I am going to contact to begin the interview process, and formulate interview questions to ask the professionals. Having these fundamental steps out of the way in such a small time frame is very beneficial because this means I may be able to get a mentor soon. My goal for the next week is to call some of the people on my list and go on interviews. It has been a very long time since I cold called professionals, but this is vital for all the relationships I will be making throughout the year. Once I have completed my resume, this will be a good addition to my portfolio for my to provide my interviewers when I get the chance to meet them. Overall, regardless of the “miniscule” stress from school work, this week really served as a wake up call to get moving on my work and keep gathering knowledge to my experiences in ISM II.

Best Regards,

Anuja Jayachandran