This Friday, I was able to go on my first observation visit at Dr. Dike’s office; an experience that I had been looking forward to for quite some time. Instead of just staying for simply an hour, I shadowed Dr. Dike for over four hours, and the time spent was worthwhile because his patients had a variety of different conditions and diseases.
During the visit, Dr. Dike showed me different EEG and MRI scans, and being able to apply the knowledge that I had accumulated from doing research assessments showed me this cumbersome assessment’s true benefit. Dr. Dike described how during the EEG, the frequency of eye blinks can show how anxious the patient is, and I found this quite interesting because these scans were able to reveal not only neurological disorders but also emotions. However, perhaps the most interesting case that I came across was the last patient that I saw: she was suffering from both an unknown neurological disorder and many different mental illnesses. As the patient recounted her past history and trauma, I came to realize that neurologists also have to be well-adept in dealing with mental illnesses and providing psychiatric help. As second semester progresses, I am looking forward to having more of these hands-on learning experiences!
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With the grind for original work and research showcase finally over, there is now ample downtime in ISM for students to focus on their mentorship. Thus, I am looking forward to gaining more hands-on experiences in the medical field. One of the classes that I miss most from last year is Health Science Clinicals, so it will be nice to be in the clinical setting interacting with patients at Dr. Dike’s office once again. Since I have a mentor visit scheduled for Friday, I am excited to see what interesting cases the day will hold for me.
Furthermore, previously at mentor visits, Dr. Dike had expressed that he is thinking about starting a new research project with a fellow psychologist, and he would love to have me on his research team. I hope to find out more about this project at the mentor visit, and see whether this is something I could work on for my final product or if it is a summer project. Regardless of the time frame, this is an exciting opportunity because I can conduct research with professionals and make an impact on the neurological community! As the this final stretch of high school rolls around, I am glad that I can start dedicating more time and energy to ISM and my mentorship. This week was amazing. On Wednesday, all of the ISM students headed over to the Ford Center at The Star for Research Showcase. Setting up in time and making sure my board didn’t fall as it had in the past was stressful, but the overall experience was totally worth it.
Before the Showcase officially began, I had some time to check out other students’ projects, and it was amazing to hear about they were studying. In fact, I happened to set up my board right next to a student who was studying Neuropsychology, so I was able to talk to her mentor and learn more about what exactly that field entailed and how it differed from Neurology. When my mentor, Dr. Dike, arrived at the Showcase, he was quite impressed with the ISM program, and he was so excited that his three daughters would be in FISD because they would have all of these opportunities as well. As the showcase started, I was able to talk to a variety of different students, parents, teachers of the past and present, and even neurologists. Many doctors came up to my board because they knew Dr. Dike, and it made me realize how lucky I was to be working with such a renowned doctor. My favorite visitors, however, were a group of sophomores who were genuinely interested in neurology. They were so fascinated with the case studies that I had written over the Anti-GQ1b Antibody Syndromes, and it made me happy that I was able to help others find their passion as well. Research Showcase is my favorite night of the ISM program, and I am so glad that it went so well. With the deadline for original work right around the corner, this week consisted of more mentor visits than I had been able to go on last year. Because of winter break, Dr. Dike was able to find time in his schedule to meet, and I was able to get his guidance on my project. When I first began my project, it was quite confusing to navigate through all the academic sources that explained how to write a case study, but after writing two case studies, I feel confident in my ability to write them in the future.
In addition to writing case studies, I also made an infographic over the different types of Anti-GQ1b Antibody Syndromes. Since both of my case studies had to do with patients that suffered from different variants of this disease, I thought that it would be helpful to create a visual aid that Dr. Dike could hang up at his clinic. After getting the infographic printed and laminated on a bigger piece of paper, a feeling of relief came over me: my original work was almost complete. In addition to original work, going on mentor visits has been quite enriching because I always get to learn something new from Dr. Dike. As original work comes to an end, I am looking forward to shadowing Dr. Dike and getting more hands-on with neurology. This week truly opened my eyes to the intense world of neurology. In late October, my grandfather in India suffered a hemorrhagic stroke, and he had been in the Intensive Care Unit ever since. Nonetheless, there was ample hope because my grandfather had started to slowly regain his cognitive and motor functions. Recently, however, my grandfather suffered an ischemic stroke and developed sepsis at the hospital, so his conditions worsened drastically. As a result, my family and I took an emergency trip to India to unfortunately see my grandfather one last time.
From a medical perspective, it was quite shocking to see the differences in standards of care in India versus the United States. While in the Health Science Clinicals Program, I had seen how many safety precautions are taken in the United States before entering the ICU, such as putting on gloves, masks, shoe covers, and gowns. However, in India, there was simply a bottle of hand sanitizer to prevent the spread of infection. It made me think back to my interview with Dr. Aiyagari, who had immigrated to the United States because of the better technology, and I realized that the quality of healthcare is often dictated by not only socioeconomic standards but also by location. While in India, I talked to my grandfather’s neurologist, and due to the knowledge that I had gathered from ISM, I was able to understand everything he said and even explain it to my relatives in layman's terms. After having such a personal encounter with neurology, I am even more motivated to become a neurologist. Not only do I want to help prevent such injuries, but I also want to improve the standard of care in developing countries. As a result, I will try to integrate this into my original work and final product. Just as I thought that I would have to start over and look for another mentor for ISM, Dr. Dike responded to my messages and said that he still has time to work with me over the course of the year. Thus, the journey into neurology with Dr. Dike continues!
As the end of the semester draws closer, so does the due date of original work, and there is still an ample amount of work that needs to be done, especially since I have been unable to meet with Dr. Dike for quite a while. Thus, over winter break, I plan to start the actual case study portion of my original work so that it can be done before school starts back up next year. In the meantime, I have been conducting research for my original work by looking into different types of technology. Since the differences between CT scans and MRI scans have always been confusing to me, that is my topic of research for this week. The pharmaceutical aspect of neurology is also quite interesting, and when I was shadowing Dr. Dike over the summer, I was able to write down the names of some of the medicines that he prescribed to his patients. As a result, for a future assessment, I also plan on looking into the different types of drugs that are prescribed to patients and their side effects. Overall, I am quite excited to see how my original work will turn out. One of the most difficult, yet rewarding parts of ISM is the obstacles that we face along the journey. Although Dr. Dike had previously agreed to be my mentor, he will unfortunately not be able to help me in my ISM journey due to his busy schedule, so it is time to start looking for a mentor again.
At first, I felt quite discouraged because I was looking forward to moving on to the actual mentorship part of ISM and working on my original work, but now I realize that there is ample opportunity to benefit from the knowledge of other neurologists in the area. As a result, I have begun the process of cold-calling once again. So far, I have already called five more neurologists and this time, my focus is on the Allen and McKinney area since I have already called and been denied an interview at multiple clinics in Frisco and Plano. Neurologists are quite busy, and going into ISM this year, it become evident early on that finding professionals in the area willing to meet with me would be difficult, but I am hopeful that my persistence will pay off. My ultimate goal is to have a mentor secured before winter break! This past week in ISM was quite enjoyable and a break from the norm because I got to spend my class time watching and grading other students’ research presentations. Many of the presentations were about a variety of topics, ranging from Optometry to Data Science, and seeing how different areas of study overlap was quite eye-opening. For example, during one of the presentations over Data Science, I was able to note how this field is quite prominent in medicine as well, and it would be interesting to research how Data Science specifically relates to neurology.
Furthemore, since no assessments are due in ISM for some time, there is an ample amount of free time available. Thus, this lull creates the perfect time to get ahead with college applications and work on my original work. I am determined to not procrastinate, and I am hoping with Thanksgiving Break coming up, I can further maximize my time. Looking ahead, I am hoping to schedule a mentor visit with Dr. Dike soon. It has been difficult to get a hold of him given that he is quite busy in the clinical setting, but I am excited to be a part of his busy workday once he fills out the necessary paperwork. After doing ample research on different aspects of neurology, it was once again time for the activity that I used to dread the most but now have come to love: giving speeches. As a result, this past weekend was spent on narrowing down my research to just the most significant parts and creating slides to reflect my learning. The creation of slides are perhaps my favorite part of preparing for a presentation; after all, it give my inner creativity a chance to shine.
In terms of my actual presentation, it went pretty well, and it is evident that I have improved as a public speaker from last year to this year. Most of all, I was quite happy that the research I presented to the class was easy to follow and even thought-provoking because it showed me that knowledge is always appreciated by someone. In addition to my presentation, it was also interesting to learn about what some of my classmates have been doing in ISM. The progress that we have all made towards our respective topics is astounding, and watching these presentations was incredibly humbling because it unveiled the vast breadth of knowledge that is available to mankind. In the upcoming weeks, I am looking forward to going on my first official mentor visit with Dr. Dike and officially kicking off my mentorship. 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! |