By participating in all of the activities and requirements listed I will have the chance to learn more within all sorts of fields encompassed in the health sciences community. I am a firm believer that the more people can learn about other related topics, the easier it will be to make connections and new discoveries. This internship is more than just an internship, it is about preparation for the future and holistically creating an open environment for ideas to be discussed and analyzed, which is exactly what will help me reach my goals.
In my specific internship site I am hopeful that I will learn more about the healing process with ACLs and what factors help enable easier and better healing. Overall my main goal is to contribute to a study that will help people who have torn their anterior crucuiate ligaments have the best possible care pre and post surgery. Three goals that I have made and how I will achieve them over the course of this internship are listed below.
Convey my ideas and opinions efficiently and effectively
I will participate in team meetings and read up on the material of the previous studies, so I am able to actively contribute to the team.
Demonstrate mastery of lab techniques, lab etiquette, and proper analyzation of slides in order be more independent in the lab setting.
I will observe procedures, methods, and techniques intently so that I am able to not just copy what my supervisor is doing but that I actually know how to do the techniques myself and the purpose behind it.
Anticipate and prevent issues that may arise throughout the internship relating to our hypothesis
I will obtain sufficient knowledge on our topic of research so that I am aware of other theories and issues that may go against our hypothesis. I will also keep an open mind and recognize that trial and error is a very important part of research.
Coming into this internship I had minimal experience working with chemicals, tissues, and microscopes, and I have definitely been uncomfortable at times trying to complete my tasks to the best of my ability. I have always put 100% of my effort into learning the new tasks and contributing as much as I can to the team. I have collaborated with everyone who works in the lab and will continue to do so.
I need to continue to keep the bigger picture in mind and not get lost in the smaller tasks that I am being asked to do. I also need to coney my opinions on the research and share my ideas more.
After graduation my main goal is to get accepted into and attend dental school. I have wanted to be a dentist ever since I was in first grade. Since then, I have taken the majority of the steps to where I currently am with this goal in mind. I believe that participating in this internships will allow me to experience the next milestone I need to reach to eventually meet my goal of becoming a dentist. Although, I have wanted to be a dentist since I was young and you could say that it is in my blood (I have two uncles and a cousin who are in the field), in the past year a major event happened in my life that has created within me a deeper interest in psychology, especially within the school system. I am also interested in orthopedics since I have torn both of my ACLs and have spent a decent amount of the past four years seeing orthopedics and physical therapists. I believe that as I learn more through this internship and discover new things about myself, it will become clear to me the path that I am meant to take.
I have now decided to focus on my degree in psychology and minor in chemistry. I am now graduating this semester and am applying to graduate schools to get into a Educational Specialist degree program for School Psychology. I am also interested in taking a gap year to become a missionary in areas of poverty. I may eventually go back and complete a degree in biology since I have less than a years worth of credits to take.
Connecting the experiences that I am gaining at my internship to a future career will in no terms be difficult. I am learning specific transferrable skills that can be carried over to many medical field careers I am still potentially interested in . I can also apply the research skills obtained in this lab to the research I will be doing in graduate school for school psychology. I have learned to work with many tissues, chemicals, and technology that would help me in a future research lab, or in a clinical lab setting. I have also learned how to operate and troubleshoot different software programs which will undoubtedly be useful in any form of research.
Throughout this internship year I hope to network more with other interns and supervisors, as well as learn about the work other interns I am completing. I want to get experience and hear about all of the different things that are being completed, and continue to explore what sparks my interest. I also wish to work on my professional communication skills.