PROFESSIONAL GOALS

FOR MY INTERNSHIP

I want to develop skills related to professionalism and networking.

I will accomplish this by actively participating in meetings, helping plan activities related to, and interacting with participants of Project ECHO. The opportunity to observe teleclinic sessions with professionals will help me learn how health professionals network and interact, as well as help me personally connect with professionals willing to help others learn about health care.

I want to improve my critical thinking skills and become a more creative problem-solver.

I will accomplish this by working on challenging projects that require unique solutions [like the distribution of long-acting removable contraceptives (LARCs)] and following through with ideas even if there is a chance they may fail. Learning from mistakes and possible failures will help me gain perspective to continue working through the same issue again with a different strategy.

I want to make an impact through the work I do and see the results/significance of it.

I will follow through with long-term (within my time at this site) projects and the smaller, less exciting tasks that may be involved such as tabulating data and file organization. I will also work on things that I am passionate about (health policy and INSACCHO, women’s health and a LARC campaign) even if I am met with challenges as opposed to projects that I think are easy or will keep me busy.

FOR MY FUTURE CAREER

MY CURRENT GOALS

I am working towards completing my undergraduate degree in Medical Humanities and Health Studies with minors in Spanish and Biology. With this, I am also working towards the admission requirements for either medical school, law school, or graduate school. In my career - whichever post-undergraduate path I may take - I want to be an advocate for under served populations and promote equity in healthcare. This could manifest in the form of a career with a medical degree, a law degree, or a public health degree.

More concretely, I aim to obtain another internship opportunity over the summer by looking for and submitting applications now. I also want to start job shadowing medical professionals, which I will also do over the summer. This semester, I plan on working hard to do well in all my classes and continuing to seek out experiences to build my resume, such as volunteering at Eskenazi Hospital.

MY INTERESTS

I see a career in healthcare as a much more complex and intimately human undertaking for any individual looking to make a positive impact beyond the realm of science. This view and reverence for the human experience lines up well with my major in the medical humanities. As someone who does, however, love and appreciate science, a minor in biology supplements this health-focused degree path. And as someone who plans to work closely with minority populations locally and similar populations in other countries, a Spanish minor prepares me well for that goal.

Though lately I have been a little less sure of which educational path to take after graduating from IUPUI, my interests in health equity and healthcare reform guide my exploration of specific professional and academic careers.

MOVING FORWARD

I have a passion for health equity, women's health, and health policy, so I want my career to focus on promoting or improving these areas of health care. This in mind, my next steps are to take advantage of the opportunities available to me through my internship. I have come into contact with several individuals with similar interests that are currently working or have worked within the different career paths I'm interested in. This also includes forming connections with the professors in my major department, as many of them have careers outside of teaching related to my own interests.

In the rest of my time at IUPUI, I plan to seek out opportunities related to my career interests, such as job shadowing and other internships.

MY GOALS, UPDATED

From my internship, I've had the chance to reevaluate my career interests and the way some of them might fit into the opportunities available. At this point, I've decided to stay on the pre-med track to attend medical school, with law school as my "back up" plan. After attending an action day at the statehouse with the Indiana Minority Health Coalition, I realized there are many organizations and coalitions just in the state that focus a lot on health policy as a way to improve health in communities. I learned a lot about the professional connections people form, and about how individuals are able to affect change from various positions of power. This, along with a few conversations with my coworkers that are knowledgeable about the process of getting a MD, have provided a lot of insight about the various things medical doctors can do besides practice, such as directing health agencies as medical officers.

Knowing these options exist have affirmed me in my pre-professional and career path, and I plan on continuing along that path with the thought that there are multiple ways to affect change in the areas I'm passionate about.