CREATING A GOALS AND A RESUME

During the week of September 12 to September 18, some of the key points that were to be learned in the Independent Study Mentorship class were effective ways to build a resume, researching the professional career and the topic more in depth, and also starting to make phone calls to potential mentors for brief informational interviews. The first accomplishment achieved this week was building a competent resume. A few notable tips that were used to build the resume included the following: skills, professional experiences, education, awards and references. The skills section should involve your understanding of certain topics, such as fluency in certain languages, as well as personality traits and how it applies to work ethic. An example of personality and work ethic includes “empathetic and courteous, decision making under pressure, and also high ethical standards”. However, this does NOT include personality traits that do not reflect well upon the job/mentorship that is being applied for. The experiences section includes a brief of all the professional experiences, such as a job or volunteering in organizations, that proves competence in the professional world. The education section of the resume includes all of the schools that have been attended, as well as the courses studies, and also the academic achievements. There is a difference in the the items that are to be placed under education versus the items to be placed under awards. The items placed under awards may be participation awards, community service awards, recognition awards - these are not restricted to academic achievements. Finally, a resume is not complete without a minimum of three to five trustworthy references who may be contacted for a referral before considering you for a job/mentorship. This week while researching about cardiothoracic surgery, I came upon a case study on the removal of massive left ventricular aneurysms. A woman in her mid 40s felt aches in her chest and after multiple tests, CT scans and therapy, the doctors gave her a diagnosis of an abnormally large mass on the left ventricular side of her heart. In this research article, the primary concept that was learned was the difference between a pseudoaneurysm and a regular aneurysm is that a pseudoaneurysm occurs when a blood vessel is injured. A aneurysm occurs when when an artery or blood vessel is dilated, and usually a blood sac forms. This article sparked my curiosity, and one of the questions that I would like to research is what other procedures and approaches can be used to remove aneurysms that are this close and lethal to the heart. The third objective of this week was to begin making professional calls to set up informational interviews with potential mentors. From the contact list, two people were contacted this week. The first surgeon, Dr. Christian Moncrief, could not be contacted directly as he is currently on an absent leave. The second surgeon that was contacted was Dr. Liddicoat. A voicemail was left and after a few hours, his wife called me back to notify that her husband is currently retired and not in practice. Some of the challenges that were faced over this week was building confidence to contact the professionals, and also getting rejected. Although getting rejected feels disheartening, it is part of the learning process, and a greater respect for those in the medical work are gained. Some things that will be improved this following week is more confidence, reducing the use of “ums” and “uhhs”, and also conversing with professionals in a conversational tone rather than reading off of a script. Lastly, I hope to learn a new procedure in cardiothoracic surgery.