Time for Carpe Diem

Over this past week, I was able to complete most of my goals of the previous week, which was to schedule my first mentor visit, talk to my mentor about my original work at the visit, schedule more interviews, update my website, and get prepared for research showcase. My mentor status is still at the background check phase, so after that is completed, I will be able to schedule my mentor visit to talk to Dr. Hutcheson regarding my original work. In addition, I went on an interview with Dr. Eric Chang, who was able to provide me with the good, bad, and the ugly about what medicine has to offer. It was one of the most honest interviews I have had in ISM as a whole because he was able to provide me the inside look of how his life was shaped by cardiothoracic surgery. For example, our interview was pretty much started by briskly walking to a cath lab to drop things off. Nevertheless, I was able to complete my third interview with a cardiothoracic surgeon, which was something I had been working very hard for. Also, my digital portfolio is published, and honestly, I believe that my website quality has increased exponentially from last year because I created it via Wix and put in more effort in making it look as appealing and professional as possible. All of this adds up to progress for research showcase, which is fastly approaching.

For my research this week, I tried to dive deeper into my original work topic and figure out some way to pitch it to my mentor officially after the background check and initial quarks are sorted out. I researched in depth about the lifestyle that patient’s independently inflict upon themselves and how that converts to more heart conditions, more healthcare assistance, and more money to spend at hospital visits. Also, I studied the family history aspect of the reason for heart conditions, which deals with the mutations in even one DNA sequence, meaning my original work combines medicine with microbiology as well to analyze the genetic disposition that cause heart conditions. This research allowed me to have a better idea about my original study that I plan to do using anonymous patient records.

All in all, for the coming week and winter break, I plan to have my display board completed, invitations ordered, mentor and original work situation organized. I know that my goals will be completed because I will seize my opportunities and remain focused.

Best Regards,

Anuja Jayachandran