Here it is. The beginning of senior year and the whirlwind that is ISM. Now, I want to say that this blog will document the process of figuring out and shaping my future in Pediatric Cardiology from start to finish but that simply wouldn't be true.
Honestly, pursuing this career is sort of like a dream come true. I knew I wanted to become a doctor entering my sophmore year of high school and I decided to take the necessary steps in doing so by taking higher level science classes and taking my time to volunteer in hospital settings. In essence, my interest in this career began before I took this class and created this portfolio. Therefore, no, this is not "just the start
" of my future. However, ISM has given my the oppurtunity to create the true professional foundation I need to get up and get moving with my future plans. So far, in my first three weeks of this course, I have presented a personal speech which established my goals for this year, gave insight into the reason I looked into this field, and shared my passion with my peers. Following my introduction, I have created this digital portfolio and a professional Linkedin account in which I can connect with professionals across the field of both pediatrics and cardiology and display my work from the upcoming year. And, most recently, I have truly dove into researching the job outlook of pediatrics in the US and Switzerland as way for me to compare two very different outlooks I have for my life and to make a knowlegdeable decision as to which better fits my ideal future.
Now for the other end of the spectrum: the end of my time in this class surely will not mark the end of my efforts. Just because I will have finished this class in the next few months, will have earned my final grade, and will be off at graduation packing for college doesn't mean that I won't take the experiences and networks I have gained this year and utilize them in the coming years- or through my entire life. ISM is such a great oppurtunity for me to build my portfolio and learn from those more experienced than me about how the world works- not just in regards to pediatric cardiology but my entire professional career. I want to take this research and ideas and take them a step further in my academic and professional future and, right now, there is no end in sight.
In truth, ISM is a much more of a self reliance style class which requires me to take charge of my pusuits and utilize my findings and help change the world. This type of class is the best way for me to get the most out of my research and mentorship. However, since I am not used to being in control of my own learning at my "by the books and based on the rubric" public school, I frequently find myself questioning whether or not I am doing the most research I can or being the best mentee I can be, despite being compelled by my passion for this topic.
Now finally, after this long explanation about how I am not starting nor finishing this journey, the question is:
So what exactly are you doing?
Well, I am learning to focus on what's next.
What's next for me is to find someone that can help me through this process. My goal for next week is to narrow down the characteristics I look for in my mentor and along with that I want to create a list of ten professionals in my area that I am willing to contact and set up an interview with. As for my next research topic, I want to look into the trend of cardiac misdiagnoses and how they have changed over time.
Until my next blog post, I want you to ask yourself...
What's next?