Goals & Learning

Career Goals

My career goals for right now are to graduate with my Batchlor's in Forensic Chemistry and Chemistry and my minor in Biology. Then attend Texas A&M to obtain by master's in Forensic Chemistry and a possible associate's in Biology. After graduate school I hope to work in the Forensic Drug or Wildlife sections. I have these goals because I really want to have options and see where life can take me. These goals also often push me to try my best and strive to be my best self. I am very sure of this career option. I have already taken a class in Forensic Wildlife, and I am currently taking a Toxicology and Drug class. To find out of these goals fit my strengths and preferences I plan on applying the knowledge that I have gained from both my classes. Also through my internship to see how a research study can aid and shed new light on topic in the world of science.

March Response:

My internship experience has confirmed my career planning and my goals. I still plan on attending graduate school, however not at Texas A&M as I had hoped. This internship has given my a new perspective on a topic in science and how Forensic Science could help in the research on Alzheimer's. In this study they examine the brains of patients that have chosen to donate their brains after passing. The brain donation serves as a way to confirm and support the ideas on how Alzhimers looks in the brain and how it develops. The area of Forensics this would fall under with be pathology. I don't plan on going into pathology, but it is cool to see how different scientific fields contribute to one another.

Internship Goals

Learning Goal #1: I want to get to know the people that I am working with and hopefully build relationships for future possibilities.

Relevance: This goal fits into my career journey as I hope to attend grad school after obtaining my bachelors. So I would like to have good relationships and references when I make that leap.

Action Plan:

1) My supervisor said she would be able to write me a letter in a couple months of me working there.

2) Getting to know people around the office will also help.

Progress: I have gotten to know the people in the office as the year has progressed. It's nice to hear them say good morning as they pass or ask how I am doing. I also feel like I have gotten to know my supervisor over the year and feel like I can ask for a letter of recommendation if needed.

Learning Goal #2: I want to learn more in depth scenarios with clinicals and how they work between patients and doctors.

Relevance: While forensics doesn’t really fit into doctor vs. patient clinicals I still want to understand them better that way I can use that knowledge if ever should arise being needed in the field.

Action Plan:

1) I will be able to shadow one of the doctors that performs the clinicals.

2) I will also be allowed to watch tests being conducted on the patient to see if they qualify for the trial.

Progress: I have been able to shadow the neurologist as he has performed a memory evaluation on a patient. I was also able to attend a meeting with a patient caregiver to discuss what the doctors found in the brain scan following the yearly check-in. The final observation that I got to conduct was seeing a patient getting scanned for a Pet-Scan. I was able to see the digital image come across the machine as the scan was taking place. Also, how the layer the images to create one full sequencing of how the brain looks.

Learning Goal #3: I want to learn what the brain/body looks in the autopsy for someone with Alzheimer’s.

Relevance: Knowing how do identify a brain and what it might look like after the person has been deceased is always a good skill to have. This could help if something is missed or misidentified in a case.

Action Plan:

1) I will be allowed to watch the meetings discussing what a medical examiner has found after an autopsy was conducted.

2) I will be able to look at pictures after an autopsy is done if I am not able to attend the meeting for it.

Progress: Unfortunately, there hasn't been to many people that have passed this time around. However, there was just a donation not too long ago so hopefully I will be able to see what happens with that brain.

Learning

I am becoming more independent at work the more that I am here. I have become very comfortable at creating the binders, putting together testing kits, and performing quality control checks. I know this because I have had to ask less questions because I know what I am doing and how to perform the take to the best of my ability. I am also getting better at my communication skills and taking to people around the office. I am not as hesitant when it comes to asking questions or confirming a task.

A few Months Later: I am more confident on constructing the binders needed for yearly check-ins. In the binders I know the order in which materials needed to be placed, the certain stickers that indicate the different months of check-ins and how each document needs to be labeled. I also feel more comfortable constructing blood and fluid tubes that get tested. The blood tubes are pretty easy to put together, however you have to place the stickers on a certain way so they can see the measurement of fluid. Overall, over the year I have just gotten more confident in completing tasks that I used to think were so much. Now they are just a regular task to complete.

I want to continue to work on getting to know the people in the office that I work with. To continue to grow with this skill with just take time and taking to people more if I were to have questions on a specific project.

Learned Improvements: I would always like to improve on how I communicate with people and asking for help. When I am placed in a new place I am often very timid and don't like asked for help. So I hope to get better at that so I can learn and grow more.

This internship has definitely shown me that when you are working with families or patients it is important. It is important to take the time and explain any scenario to families that are trying to understand what is happening. This applies to my major as I will be a person that will have to explain my findings to families or a court if I was an expert witness. It takes really knowing what you have and are studying in order to convey the message behind the findings and truly get the point across. This internship has also shown me the importance of classified documents. We have to scan documents many times to ensure no personal information is included or stated. This is very important in Forensics as much of our work will be classified and personal information always needs to be censored. I have also seen how quality checks work and how important they are. At the site, when we complete a task, it gets checked over by someone different to ensure it was completed correctly and the checking has to be document. In Forensic Science we have the chain of custody. Which is a documented log of people that have had or worked with the evidence. I have now seen a real-life example with the documentation we use for quality assurance.

Page updated

Report abuse