Mikail's Corner

Note: Apologies for some grammatical/syntax errors. These reflections are straight out of my head without revision.

This past summer has been very unexpected and rewarding. It all started with a friend from Dominican University sending me a link to become an extern at Kaiser. He persuaded me to fill out the application and I did. Within the next few hours I was given a call and the next thing I knew I was already filling out paperwork to finalize my part-time employment with Kaiser as a COVID-19 screener. I believe I started mid-May and it was an amazing experience. Assigned to the family medicine and pharmacy building at Kaiser Fremont, I was welcomed with loving arms from the amazing staff at the building. My shifts would start at 7 AM, meaning I would be the first one the staff would meet when they start their day. I made it my mission to brighten their days with my morning greetings. I tried my best to do this with patients too, but I found it hard due to suffering some had to endure. I would be a victim to verbal assaults-- often patients taking out their frustration on the new COVID-19 protocols we enforced in the buildings. Regardless, I would try to make their days better as well.

I continued to do this even with my new internship at UCSF. I would begin my day by going from Kaiser from a new shift starting at 6 AM until 10 AM or 2 PM. Then immediately I would drive to the UCSF Benioff Children's Hospitals Oakland Research Institute to work in the lab from 11 AM or 3 PM until 7 PM. I did both internships until my last day at UCSF.

I want to express my gratitude to the Dr. Ellen Fung, Dr. David Killilea, and the entire SSRP faculty for an amazing summer research experience. The program consisted of many great speakers, intellectually stimulating journal clubs, and networking opportunities. 9 weeks was way too short, but I'm thankful I'll be able to continue my work in the Killilea lab through a volunteer position. I was assigned to a lab that involved hematology and nutrition, which was a brand new field to me. I was nervous because I thought I wouldn't be able to understand anything, but Dr. Killilea and Kathy Schultz were amazing mentors who helped me understand what was happening with the data. I also managed to sample over 1,000 tubes into the ICP-OES machine for one of my three projects. I was able to present my findings at the symposium and I am happy to announce that David, Kathy, and I will be working on publishing a paper for submission to an academic journal on optimizing micronutrient measurements in blood.