Higher Standards

"Set your goals high and don't stop till you get there"

Weekly Report 8/27/18 to 9/02/18

Each and every person sets standards for themselves, and there is absolutely no sorrow in setting high standards. People say life is a competition, but in reality it is just each person’s opportunity to embark on their own separate journeys and only time will tell where that can take them.

ISM 1 was all about research, putting my inquisitive nature to the test, and getting acquainted with a specialty in the field of medicine. The depth of each research paper provided a new insight into the realm of pediatric neurosurgery on a level that has not been explored before. However, this year my personal goal is to set high standards and make every effort to ambitiously accomplish.

This past week has been an effort to establish those standards and begin the ISM journey once again. Inevitably, that includes cold calling and the series of fortunate or unfortunate events that come with that. This time it came down to which types of professionals should be contacted. I have already set out to continue working with my mentor, Dr. Braga, since the time we spent last year on ISM was fairly limited due to the extensive amount of time it took to obtain a mentor. Thus, the first step was to do a little bit of research concerning which doctors work collaboratively with pediatric neurosurgeons. I had a general idea of which professional were to be approached due to continuous contact with some specific specialities through the course of mentor visits. So, emails were sent out to oncologists, professors studying degeneration, pediatric surgeons, surgical transplantation specialists, neurologists, and pathologists over the weekend. Almost immediately, two professional responded, agreeing to allow me to conduct a brief informational interview.

I am immensely grateful because the two professionals that have responded thus far are chairs of their respective departments and have immense knowledge on their careers. The next couple of weeks should be interesting since previous research was so specific to neuroscience, these forthcoming interviews should be an opportunity to gain some insight on other specialties.The journey starts once again and I am beyond excited to be able to work with several professionals to bring ideas that may have been thought of as improbable to life.

Overall, the past week has been an introduction to what is to come along with some preliminary research prior to diving into the topic of traumatic brain injuries. I have yet to see where these standards that have been set take me.