Success Requires Taking Action

Perseverance is key when it comes to success and after weeks and weeks of calling, it finally worked!

Weekly Report 10/16/2017 to 10/22/2017

“Perseverance is stubbornness with a purpose.” When you want something the two prime things required to get there is perseverance and hard-work. As simple as it seems to reach out and email or call professionals, it truly is not. After calling twenty to thirty professionals and getting turned down by a few, most never calling back, or some simply not picking up, it began to become quite distressful to continue calling without much hope of obtaining an interview. Instead this week I attempted another approach of emailing as many professionals as possible who work at UT Southwestern. After emailing about sixteen professionals, about four responded and finally after weeks of contacting, two doctors were willing to meet. This was the absolute highlight of the week as two interviews quickly got set up and confirmed. Even these two interviews renewed my hope in obtaining more interviews as the requirement is still five.

This year, the goal is to expand my knowledge on neurosurgery as much as possible which would include getting an insight into multiple specialties whether it be spinal, brain, epilepsies, or pediatric neurosurgery. The surgeons that have said yes by far are all spinal surgeons, thus the following week will be spent on obtaining interviews with brain specialists and possibly even some pediatric surgeons who specialize in child seizures. However, this endeavor will most likely take even more persistence as brain surgeons tend to be very busy and occupied with many life-threatening procedures.

Due to the next to interviews being with spinal surgeons, I dedicated my research assessments to being about spinal surgeries in order to have some knowledge on the topics of complex spinal surgeries which is what both surgeons specialize in. With some prior knowledge on the surgical procedures, it will be slightly easier to come up with questions to ask the doctor during the interviews. It was interesting to learn about cervical injuries and how dangerous they can be especially when coupled with cardiac arrest. The research also gave a new insight into the field of surgery that was not previously approached as I constantly leaned towards the brain specialties of neurosurgery. The occurrence of such cases was also a lot higher than I expected it to be which implied the necessity of spinal surgeons.

This past week was overall a more positive outlook in terms of obtaining a mentor and interviews with neurosurgeons. I am definitely excited, but nervous for the two interviews as they are with highly skilled professionals who work at one of the best research and hospital centers in Texas. If anything, this week has showed me the importance of perseverance and what the real world is like.