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Career Goals
Career Goals
My current career goal is to become a medical doctor specializing in Cardiology. I want to help and cure people, give back to my community, and inspire others to do the same. In addition, my Catholic beliefs and my faith in Jesus are also leading factors in choosing my professional career as a doctor. Throughout the year, some of the things I'm going to do to find out if my graduate/professional school goals fit my strengths and preferences are familiarizing myself with laboratory techniques such as dissecting mice and analyzing their structure. In addition, I will also improve my knowledge surrounding lab techniques for genotyping because this is primarily tied to medicine, and understanding it better will aid my journey of becoming a doctor. This will be completed by observing lab staff performing genotyping techniques and asking for tips on accomplishing it with proficiency.
During my time at Econs Lab, I had the pleasure of learning lab techniques from my coworkers and supervisors that made me confirm my career choice as a medical doctor. One of those techniques was cell culture, which is a process that is crucial for the testing and development of drugs that are potential candidates for the treatment of diseases. From November to February, I was able to get a hands-on experience with cell culture during the completion of my LHSI Project, in which the main goal was to test the effectiveness of Torin 1 in regulating osteoclast differentiation in autosomal dominant osteopetrosis type II. Therefore, completing a research project that aimed to find an innovative form of treatment for a particular condition through cell culture, such as ADO2 that has no cure was a key player in confirming my decision of becoming a doctor.
Before starting LHSI, my goals after graduating were to get into medical school and become a medical doctor (MD). Now, with almost a year of experience as an LHSI intern, my goals remain the same. However, I am eager to gain more experience in the healthcare arena, especially through shadowing a doctor and being a medical scribe. I intend to complete these during the summer and the rest of my time in college.
Internship Goals
Internship Goals
Learning Goal #1: Familiarize with cell culture techniques.
How does this goal fit your career journey or prepare you for the future?
Expanding my knowledge surrounding cell culture and its techniques is of extreme value in my journey
towards becoming a medical doctor since it will provide an empirical experience that can help in medical
school while taking classes that require more than only theoretical knowledge surrounding cells.
What tasks, responsibilities, projects, or activities will you do to meet this goal?
1. Working with cell culture while completing my LHSI project.
2. Paying extreme attention when my supervisor teaches me how to work with cells.
3. Observing and volunteering to help with other cell culture study projects in this lab to expand
my knowledge surrounding cell culture.
Learning Goal #2: Apply my knowledge to transferable skills.
How does this goal fit your career journey or prepare you for the future?
Understanding the theoretical aspects of medicine is crucial in the medical field. However, the most
important thing is learning to apply your knowledge to transferable skills, such as teamwork and
problem-solving. These are the two most essential skills a doctor must have when treating patients and
trying to get the best possible outcome.
What tasks, responsibilities, projects, or activities will you do to meet this goal?
1. Although most of my project research is done individually, I have already had and will continue to
have the opportunity to help the lab staff with other projects simultaneously. I will utilize those
opportunities to enrich my teamwork skills.
2. My project research will strengthen my problem-solving skills since most of it will involve lab
research with cell culture. Therefore, I will almost certainly encounter many challenges while
completing my research, which will only be overcome by utilizing and strengthening my problem--
solving skills.
3. By observing others working in the laboratory, I will increase my observational skills and attention
to detail, which are valuable tools in the medical field.
Learning Goal #3: Improve my knowledge surrounding lab techniques for genotyping.
How does this goal fit your career journey or prepare you for the future?
Improving my understanding of lab techniques for genotyping fits into my goal of becoming a
doctor because genotyping is primarily tied to medicine, and understanding it better will aid my journey
of becoming a doctor.
What tasks, responsibilities, projects, or activities will you do to meet this goal?
1. Observe lab staff performing genotyping techniques.
2. Asking for hints and tips on how to improve this.
3. My project research may include learning lab techniques for genotyping, which would be
extremely helpful in reaching this goal.
List additional opportunities for growth related to the internship work.
Additional growth opportunities related to my internship work include sitting down with my supervisor to discuss relevant training opportunities that are crucial for my growth as an endocrinology student intern. One of those opportunities is participating in The LARC Basic Mouse Manipulation In-Person Training, a hands-on workshop that teaches how to properly handle and care for mice used in research. This training ensures that researchers can handle the animals correctly to minimize stress and ensure their well-being while conducting experiments, which is a key aspect of our work.
Progress towards achieving my learning goals: throughout my journey at Econs Lab, I was able to make significant progress towards achieving my learning goals, especially with familiarizing myself with cell culture techniques, which was something that I eventually was able to accomplish after spending multiple hours of training, reading and comprehending protocols weekly, which led to the completion of my research project with cells from mice. Another goal I achieved was satisfactory progress towards its achievement, which was applying my knowledge to transferable skills, especially problem-solving, as I faced many challenges during my research experiment that required serious reflection to make the best possible decision and overcome challenges. One example occurred while plating the cells collected from the bone marrow of mice, in which I had to decide to leave some of the plate wells empty, due to a previous mistake that was not foreseen. This was a moment when I had to consider which wells would be the least significant to the overall experiment and would cause less harm to the final results, and a moment that was of great value in strengthening my problem-solving skills.
Learning
Learning
After you submit the self-assessment add the following to your ePortfolio:
October: One skill on the survey I'm using so far where I'm more confident already is having an independent ability to set up, complete, and seek additional help on tasks and projects when needed by planning and performing tasks independently and arranging necessary assistance and resources. One example of this is when my supervisors ask me to perform a specific lab technique, such as hot shot independently, and since they've seen me learning this technique and completing it before with their assistance, they now trust me to do this by myself. Another skill I feel confident using from the survey is accepting constructive criticism and feedback by taking action on and welcoming feedback, asking for it when needed, reflecting on feedback, and incorporating changes after engaging in a discussion. One example of this is when I ask my supervisor for feedback on a potential project topic that I've come up with, and he tells me if it is viable and what I need to look for while researching to make this topic the main focus of my LHSI project. Receiving this feedback is extremely valuable to me because I often use it to become even more critical when researching a topic and reading scientific articles.
March: Since October, the skill on the survey that I grew more confident in using is an independent ability to set up, complete, and seek additional help on tasks and projects when needed by planning and performing tasks independently and arranging necessary assistance and resources. To enhance this skill, I scheduled multiple appointments with my coworkers to access Bruzzaniti's Lab, where I photographed my cell culture plates using the lab's microscope. This became a routine task for me during February. Additionally, I independently counted the osteoclasts from my cell culture plates. I gathered data by examining the stained osteoclasts and making connections between the images I captured and the quantitative results. This enabled me to analyze the relationships and trends present in the cell culture experiments. I was able to confidently initiate and carry out the counting process across different plates and wells on my own.
October: One skill from the survey I would like to continue to work on is having more functionality. Although I come to the office every weekday, sometimes I come minutes later than my schedule shows due to mainly my college classes and study. Therefore, I need to improve my time management skills to increase my punctuality at work by planning to arrive at the office at least 5 minutes early so I can set myself up and clock in when I'm expected to.
March: One of the skills I would like to continue working on is critical thinking. This skill is essential not only in academic and professional settings but also in everyday life. To grow this skill, I plan to actively seek opportunities that challenge me to analyze information, ask deeper questions, and consider multiple perspectives before making decisions. During the remainder of the semester and after LHSI, I will continue to reflect on experiences, engage in research, and participate in discussions that push me to think more critically. I also plan to take courses and pursue extracurriculars that emphasize problem-solving and analytical thinking, especially as I prepare for medical school.
Reflection: My internship has helped me understand how complex scientific research is, especially when testing out drugs that are potential candidates for treatment for bone and mineral diseases. Before performing drug tests with mice or even cell culture, there are many factors to consider, such as medication price, effectiveness, and, most importantly, its overall cost. I'm majoring in Health Science, which is a course that talks a lot about health systems and the improvement of the healthcare field throughout the years, and having a more profound knowledge of how the process of discovering innovative treatment strategies for bone and mineral diseases through basic and pre-clinical research is complicated and takes a long time makes me understand and value, even more, the advancements that healthcare has gone through throughout history.
As the spring semester unfolded, my internship experience significantly deepened my understanding of the research process and its application in healthcare delivery. The knowledge gained about barriers to access, disparities in treatment options, and the role of evidence-based practice has been extremely valuable. Witnessing the extensive time, planning, and resources invested in developing new therapies has underscored the practical relevance of my coursework. Moreover, it has reinforced the importance of interdisciplinary collaboration in improving patient outcomes. This experience has made my coursework more relevant and inspired me to further explore the role of research in shaping the future of healthcare.
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