Time to Learn About Learning

Over the past week, I was successful in completing all my work on time and learning a lot about my topic. For example, I researched a lot about the educational aspect about cardiothoracic surgeons and included an example of a famous surgeon, Dr. Nina Braunwald. In addition, I created my topic proposal about my passion for medicine. It was interesting to see that my passion of medicine has not faltered from the previous year in ISM 1.

In my research assessment, I found out that Dr. Nina Braunwald was the first female that performed cardiothoracic surgery and left a great legacy for other women aspiring to be in the medical field. It is unfortunate that females are late in the game to perform cardiac surgery; however, better late than never to make history. I could only imagine the hard conditions her educational life would have entailed, so I am grateful to be in a society that encourages young men and women to pursue such careers. In addition, regarding the rigor of the medical profession, the educational requirement is simple put, a lot. This includes undergraduate, medical school, residency, and fellowship programs. In addition, there are various examinations that ensure that you are not behind. Therefore, there is always going to be a stressful time with school, even more than high school, so it is important for me to enjoy what I am doing and learn as much as I can.

Also, with my topic proposal I was able to culminate all of my reasons to pursue medicine and study cardiothoracic surgery this year. For example, my experiences at a government hospital in India and my mentor visits last year truly reinforced my passion. I understand the demanding nature of the career thoroughly now, so all that is left is simply starting.

For next week, I am calling more people, going on my first interview this year with Dr. Tauriainen, and completing my interview assessment. All in all, the week is going to be based on mainly the interview part which correlates with my SMART goals to find a mentor. The more interviews I go on, the more I will be certain of who my mentor will be, which then will provide me with the best experiences of cardiothoracic surgery.

Best Regards,

Anuja Jayachandran