Even though it seems as if the school year just started, it is already time to start working on Original Work: a culmination of our first semester research and interview assessments. When the process of brainstorming began, the only thing that I was sure of was my desire to help others and directly apply my acquired knowledge. Moreover, there was ample confusion because I could see myself going into a variety of fields within neurology.
However, during my visit with Dr. Dike last Friday, he suggested a project that would not only meet both of my desires, but also help expand my knowledge in the field of neurology. Dr. Dike said that it would be interesting for me to conduct multiple case studies and use different tests to formulate a diagnosis for each patient on my own. I could then write an article over my findings and compare the different diagnoses. Finally, Dr. Dike mentioned that he could help me get my article published in an academic journal! I absolutely fell in love with this idea because it gave me the chance to explore life as a neurologist: something that not all aspiring physicians get a chance to do early on. In fact, I have already began preparing for my original work by researching different types of medical technologies, and this past week, MRI brain sequences were the topic of interest. The future holds ample excitement!
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This year’s ISM journey has been quite different from my ISM journey from last year. For one, finding professionals who are willing to meet up for informational interviews has been quite difficult. Nonetheless, I persevered through, and it has paid off!
On Friday, I met with Dr. Dike to discuss the ISM program in-depth and see if this would be something he is interested in. Dr. Dike was quite excited to be a part of a mentorship program, and he said that it reminded him of his years as Chief Resident in medical school where he would teach younger medical students about disorders. During the meeting, Dr. Dike also briefly covered his background in medicine, and explained that his interest in neurology sparked when he had the opportunity to attain hands-on experience by working in a clinic. This was quite interesting given that I decided to study neurology in ISM because of my experience shadowing Dr. Dike in his clinic over the summer, so hopefully I will go on to become a neurologist in the future as well! Overall, I am quite happy that Dr. Dike will be my mentor for this year because he has ample experience and most of all, we have worked well together in the past: he is able to put difficult concepts in laymen’s terms and also make learning fun. This past week was a nice break from the usual hectic schedule of school. Along with a four-day weekend, there was also a half-day on my birthday (yay!), so there was a lot of time to relax. In addition, this also allowed me to spend some more time on my topic researching and scheduling interviews.
Luckily, I was able to finally get in touch with Dr. Dike, the neurologist that I shadowed during the summer, and he was really interested in the ISM program. Thus, we will be meeting on Friday to discuss the program more in-depth and hopefully formalize the mentorship. In addition, as the year progresses, it is time to think about Original Work. Through past research assessments and interview assessments, it has become apparent that Alzheimer’s Disease is caused by a lack of intellectual stimulation during old age, so it would be interesting to research this correlation more in-depth. In fact, since I have volunteered and worked at many different Nursing Homes, I could use these connections to even conduct a small-scale research study. However, before progressing with this idea, I would like to get feedback from Dr. Dike. In the meantime, I will continue to explore different diseases of neurology in order to see if there is a specific aspect that interests me and could possibly turn into my Original Work and Final Product. Last Wednesday, all ISM students went to Business Symposium in order to network and get advice from professionals on their soft skills. Meeting different people from across the district was quite fun, and I was able to bond with fellow students across the district who were studying neurology and were also having a hard time finding professionals willing to interview. In addition, one girl personally knew a neurologist, and she shared the professional’s contact with me, so there is ample hope for the future!
During the symposium, I was interviewed by Mr. Bloch, and talking with him was quite enlightening. Mr. Bloch’s father was in the medical field, and he brought up a question regarding medical ethics: how does one decide between treating a rich patient and a patient with no money and how does the government indirectly control this decision? This question has no right or wrong answer, and it is quite hard to answer, but it has made me more interested in researching the American healthcare system in depth. Through current events and past projects, I have a foundational understanding on the healthcare system in the United States, but it would be interesting to compare and contrast this system with other countries for a future assessment. Overall, the Business Symposium was quite an enriching experience, and I can’t wait to follow up with the students I met to see how their ISM journey is progressing. |