Goals
Learning
Learning Goal #1: Organize and manage my time well by planning ahead for internship and school responsibilities.
As a professional in any field, effective time management lays a strong foundation for success. I can use my time-management skills to be qualified and get into PA school and as a healthcare worker after that.
What tasks, responsibilities, projects, or activities will you do to meet this goal?
Inform the lab of the days I plan to be there although their schedule is flexible
1. Look ahead at course assignment and exam due dates to inform them of when I won’t be there
2. Plan bone scans and modelling according to my schedule that week and what I can accomplish
I have had the opportunity to practice time management by prioritizing my academics above my internship and communicating with my supervisor when I will not be able to make it into the lab that day. I would like to continue developing this skill at my internship by becoming more efficient in the work I do at the lab in order to get more done in less time.
Learning Goal #2: Learn what a career in research looks like by working alongside those who do it for a living.
How does this goal fit into your career journey or prepare you for the future?
I think I might be interested in pursuing research as a career option. If I don’t do it long-term, the knowledge I gain will help me be a better PA.
What tasks, responsibilities, projects, or activities will you do to meet this goal?
1. Learn to scan bones on the bone scanner on Monday
2. Learn how to add myself to the scanning schedule to go scan weekly
3. Use bone scans to create computerized bone models
I have enjoyed being exposed to scientific research and having the opportunities to both observe and participate in it firsthand. I have been able to practice reading scientific publishings and am learning to interpret data from my own research and that of other labs.
Learning Goal #3: Learn how I can improve as a professional in LHSI and as a future health-care worker.
How does this goal fit into your career journey or prepare you for the future?
I will most likely end up working in healthcare and learning how I can do it better will help me to better care for the patients I might have.
What tasks, responsibilities, projects, or activities will you do to meet this goal?
1. Ask for feedback on how I can better complete my tasks and responsibilities
2. Learn how research relates to my interest in PA school
3. Gain knowledge related to the skeletal and renal systems.
Working with the renal and skeletal systems in my research has allowed me to learn so much about the way they work, the way the body system are interconnected, and what we can do to promote the health of them. This will be valuable knowledge when I work as a physician assistant and has made me more interested in possibly pursuing orthopedics as a specialty in my career.
Career Goals: I am currently a sophomore pursuing a bachelor's of science degree in environmental science with a minor in mathematics with the intention of attending PA school afterwards. The purpose of setting these goals for myself is not only to be college-educated, but also to someday be able to do work that doesn't feel like work. In the fall, I was not sure that I would become a physician assistant, but working in research and the coworkers in my lab has significantly increased my confidence that with much time and effort, I will make an excellent physician assistant someday. Working in my lab has been a key stepping stone to get there.
I have made independent progress on becoming a PA by researching and visitng PA schools in Indiana to get a better idea of their requirements and the aspects of students that make them great candidates to getting in the programs. After the work that I have put in, I am all the more confident that PA is a great career choice for me, and I don't know what other career I would want to do except that. I would not have been able to say that of myself a year ago. This summer, I will be working with LeaderTreks Youth Ministry to practice developing my own leadership skills and those of middle-school and high-school students. I am so excited to participate in those mission trips in Knoxville, Tennessee this summer, and I know this will be a great opportunity that will grow my character and help me get one step closer to PA school. Although this is not the conventional summer job of a pre-PA student, it will expose me to people of all different types and provide me with opportunities to learn how best to serve and help them which is what healthcare should be about.
In the rest of my time at IUPUI, which will be two more years, I want to work as hard as I can to become a better student. There are many areas I can improve in such as studying more efficiently and staying on top of my tasks while being engaged with my school work.
At my internship sight, I have already had the opportunity to practice strong communication skills with my supervisor and coworkers. For instance, I have to report my productivity for the day and if I will be late or absent. I am more confident in my communication with others at my internship site, which is how I know I am improving.
I would like to work on focusing on my learning goals. I often forget about them and just do the work I am responsible for at my internship site. I would like to refer back to my goals often and do a self-evaluation of my progress.
One strength that I am both using and building as an intern is my knowledge of the research content. I went into the internship with a good amount of prior knowledge on the skeletal and renal systems but I have had the opportunity to continue to learn about those and other aspects of the body in the case of chronic kidney disease. This knowledge will be relevant and helpful in becoming a PA.
I have become an effective communicator since the fall by letting my supervisor know the days and times when I will be unable to attend work. I would like to work on increasing my knowledge on the research content. Although I have learned a lot about CKD and bone loss, there is so much I don't know about it. It has been cool to see the things that I learned in my anatomy course play out in my research. This includes being able to see and measure osteoclasts on bone surfaces. This has given me a deeper understanding of the composition of bone, an understanding I could not get from a textbook alone.