Han Kang, Pre-Departure

I am very excited to begin my work under Dr. Milena Weinstein and Dr. Youngwu Kim at the MGH urogynecology unit. My correspondence with Dr. Kim has been very positive so far, and I am excited to start our research. 

So far, most of my patient care experience was from the context as an EMT care provider. Most of my patient interactions were with patients with acute medical conditions, stable but in need of transfer between facilities, and chronically unwell. Most of my patients in the past were either headed to the emergency room or being shuffled between inpatient suites. I look forward to the outpatient experience at the urogyn department, which I imagine to be very distinct from the patients I have interacted with in the past.

In highschool, I had the opportunity to shadow laparoscopic sleeves and hernia repairs. I thoroughly enjoyed being in the operating room and I am excited to shadow different types of surgeries as well. In particular, I am excited at the prospect of viewing a gender affirming surgery, as they are a particularly new procedure.

I look forward to gaining a better insight on the structure of hospital care and how the various roles of care providers and departments play into creating treatment plans. I am eager to dive into research and parse out data, as well as forming meaningful connections with the medical team and patients alike. 

Yifu Zhang, Pre-Departure

Hi, my name is Yifu and I am an undergraduate student at Brandeis University. I am very passionate about the Health Profession and my goal is to pursue an M.D. after my time at Brandeis. Through the Brandeis Shadowing Program, I want to get a glimpse of the nature of a doctor’s typical day and become familiar with different medical and research settings.

Sasha Gershman, Pre-departure

 

I am incredibly grateful for the opportunity to shadow Dr. Sbayi at Stony Brook University Hospital this summer. I am very interested in learning more about general emergency surgery and specifically, how it manages to exist as such a diverse and multifaceted specialty, while also such a specialized service. I am also very excited for the opportunity to witness, learn, and participate in patient-centered research that integrates and merges both the clinical, technical, and business aspects of medicine. 

My exposure to medicine so far has strictly been from a volunteer and familial perspective, having seen my grandparents traverse through many different medical battles. And though I have experienced medicine from a volunteering facet and a familial aspect, all of these frontiers have only further persuaded me to experience medicine from a more clinical aspect. I am excited to have the opportunity to witness how good patient communication is an integral necessity in positively influencing patient diagnoses, treatments, and outlooks, as well as how vital communication is in prompting on-time starts for first cases in the hospital. From the Brandeis Summer Shadowing Program, I hope to further catalyze my love of medicine by gaining a clinical experience of medicine that will make my outlook on medicine more well-rounded, covering the clinical, personal, cultural diversity, and emotional aspects of medicine.

Jenna Ye, Pre-departure

 This summer shadowing experience with Dr. Marc Sher at the Long Island Jewish Medical Center will take place in two main areas of the hospital, the OR and the doctor’s office. I will be able to experience, from a first-hand perspective, what the daily activities are for a doctor. For instance, how one interacts with a patient to ensure their current and future health, and how a colonoscopy procedure works. In the past week of preparation for my first day, there were several documents that I had to complete to gain access to the OR. With COVID restrictions in mind, one thing that caught my eye was the physical examination, specifically in regards to vaccinations and TB testing. I was quite curious as to why this particular test was a necessity, which led to a line of inquiry that was satiated by several discussions and online readings. What surprised me was how easily this infection could spread (particularly in how similar it was to COVID-19), as well as the procedures implemented by both private and public institutions alike, such as universities and hospitals, to ensure that a TB epidemic, also known as “the white death/plague,” does not occur. This little experience taught me to always keep an open mind about the processes and reasoning behind implemented mechanisms. I believe this can be a useful mindset when it comes to exploring and educating myself on new topics. I would be curious to learn more about how universal precautions in hospitals and clinics can be linked to past epidemics or other historical events. Adapting to the ever-changing present has always been the key to survival and I am quite interested to see its applications in the medical field.

Kate Wetzel,Pre-Departure

 

Tomorrow I am beginning my summer shadowing internship with the surgeons of the Surgery Group LA. While this program is specifically coordinated with Dr. Yosef Nasseri who specializes in Colorectal Surgery, there are five other surgeons who I will also be working with in the office who specialize in general surgery, breast cancer, thyroid surgery, and skin cancer surgery. Through this opportunity I will be working in the office 9am-5pm every weekday for this following month in addition to having the ability to observe certain surgeries occurring in the Cedars Sinai Medical Center Hospital. While I have worked in a hospital before, nothing I have experienced has even come close to this. In the past I have not had the opportunity to work in such close proximity for such long durations with renowned surgeons, so I am not without nerves as I embark on this internship. While I am slightly intimidated by this seemingly daunting experience, I am also very excited. I am always open to learning new things, being in new environments, and meeting new people.

Before beginning work tomorrow, I have set my intentions and objectives for the next month. My first goal for this internship is to come out of my shell and not be intimidated by those who are more accomplished than myself. Sometimes I tend to hold back a little more when I am around others who are further along in the career path that I am hoping to follow because I feel as though anything I say will pale in comparison to all of the knowledge that they already have. However, I have learned in the past that those who are further along tend to want to help those that are working their way up and will want to share their wisdom. There is nothing wrong with asking for help, directions, or information and that is one thing that I want to keep in mind throughout this internship. Another experience I would like to get out of this internship is to soak up as much knowledge as I can about the career of a surgeon, working in healthcare, and the medical field in general. Although I have had many chances in the past to work in a clinical setting, it has been a few years and things change. Additionally, I have never worked so closely with surgeons before and I think this will be a unique opportunity for me where I can truly learn a lot about the human body and modern medicine. My final goal for this upcoming month is to make connections with those that I am working with and network. I am well aware that for my future in this industry or in any industry that one is trying to pursue, networking and having good relationships with others in the field can be very useful. Talking to and making connections with those working in this medical office could help me get even more opportunities in the future. But more importantly it would be extremely rewarding to form a strong relationship with such accomplished professionals. 

While I am not entirely sure what to expect on a day to day basis in the surgery group’s office, I am hoping to be exposed to many different medical phenomena, patients, medical professionals, and even possibly surgeries. I am hoping that there will not be too much downtime as I thrive off of being busy and learning.  

Jigme, Pre-Departure

I have just completed my first year at Brandeis University. It was a year filled with forming new relationships, adjusting myself to the campus and exploring different courses and career paths. I have always wanted to work in the medical field because of my interest in directly helping other people and studying science courses such as Biology, Chemistry etc. Therefore, I am currently on the pre-med track and I am considering to major in Biology. 

This summer I got the wonderful opportunity to shadow Dr. Marc Sher at Long Island Jewish Medical Center at Queens, NY. Dr. Sher is a colorectal surgeon and I really look forward to working with him because I myself have always wanted to focus on the colorectal medical track. Thus, I am most excited about watching Dr. Marc Sher interact with his patients and observing Dr. Sher perform minor surgeries in the operating room. I also look forwarding to meting new people and forming networks and relationship. 

Although I am filled with excitement to start my shadowing program, I am a little nervous about working in a new environment. I am interning at a hospital that I have never been before and I will also be working with people I have never met. I am worried how I will be able to adjust to the new surrounding. However, I know that I will be able to adapt soon. 

As I look forward to this wonderful opportunity, I expect myself to make the best out of this program by interacting well with the staff and observing and learning from Dr. Sher. Lastly, I hope that I will be able to get a better understanding of a colorectal surgeon’s daily routine. I want to know if I can see myself working in a hospital environment in the future and if medicine track is what I really want.

Caylee, Pre-Departure

This summer I will have the incredible opportunity to work with Dr. Patricia Hudson in the Uro-Gynecology department at Mass General Hospital. Many people have asked me what exactly I will be doing this summer, and I usually answer with a slight shrug and say “some sort of combination of clinical and research-based work”. And although I do not really know what to expect this summer, I am beyond excited for the opportunity and can’t wait to embark on this journey tomorrow.

I’ve known I wanted to be a doctor since I was a kid, always listing it as the career choice on my Student of the Week poster or choosing Doctor as my costume for career day. I spent a majority of my elementary years coloring at a desk in my mom’s clinic as she saw patient after patient, and hoping one day I could be a pediatrician just like her. Now 15 years later that is still the path I have my mind set on, and most of my decisions, including applying to the Brandeis Summer Shadowing Program, have been driven by my desire to eventually attend medical school.

My sights have always been set on pediatrics because I love working with kids, so most of my past shadowing experiences have been centered around that path. I’ve shadowed and worked with Neonatologist, Pediatric Oncologist, General Pediatricians, and Pediatric Neurologists, and through each of these experiences I’ve continued to solidify my career choice. Like many others, one of my main reasons for going into medicine is a desire to help others and work with other people, so I really enjoy witnessing the ways different physicians craft their patient interactions in order to help each person to the best of their ability. I am excited to see this summer how Dr. Hudson communicates and works with her patients, especially given the change in demographic from patients I have met in the past.

I am also really excited about the combination of clinical and research that this summer seems to have in store. Most of my experiences over the last few years have been geared toward the more clinical side, but I’ve always wondered if I would enjoy research and trying to help discover advancements in the field of medicine. I’m hoping that in working with Dr. Hudson this summer, I will gain not only a new perspective on adult medicine but also on who I want to be as a physician and the direction I want to follow during these next few years.

I meet with Dr. Hudson for the first time this Monday at 7am, for an orientation to the program and I am faced with so many different emotions about the coming weeks and months. I’m excited for the opportunity to work in a field I love, I’m nervous to meet and work with such accomplished physicians at one of the best hospitals in the country, and I’m slightly terrified to live like an adult and figure out how to cook for myself. But I think I’ll just take it one day at a time, starting tomorrow with my 6am flight back to Boston.

Cynthia, Pre-Departure

This summer I have been given the opportunity to shadow Dr. Thomas Cataldo at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. Dr. Cataldo is an Assistant Professor in Surgery at Harvard Medical School and is on staff in the Division of Colon and Rectal Surgery at Beth Israel. I am excited to shadow Dr. Cataldo as he meets with, examines, and performs surgery on his patients.

Ever since I was eleven, I have wanted to be a doctor. It all stemmed from the fact that I was sick all the time when I was child. Each time I was ill, I would look in a medical book that my parents had to diagnose myself. In middle school and high school, I watched Grey’s Anatomy. Although that show glamorized the medical profession, it furthered my desire to be a doctor and made me curious about what it’s like to be a surgeon. In high school, I attended multiple summer camps helping high school students explore the medical profession. The summer before coming to Brandeis, I interned in a lab at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. While there, I was able to shadow two oncologists who specialized in leukemia. I was able to watch how these doctors interacted with their patients and was even able to interact with a few patients myself. This shadowing reaffirmed my goal of working in the medical profession.

This will be my third shadowing experience but the most substantial because it won’t just be two or three days of shadowing. I am excited to watch the surgeries and see how the doctor interacts with his patients in the clinic. I hope that I am able to watch the surgeries without becoming nauseous. I have never watched a surgery being performed on a patient and am excited to learn about the process of what exactly goes into it. For example, I want to understand the pre-surgery preparations, the actual surgery, and the post-surgery preparations. I wonder if this process will be as it is portrayed in television and the movies.

I also am interested in learning how Dr. Cataldo interacts with other medical professionals in and outside of the operating room. I know that there is a lot of teamwork in medicine and I want to watch this teamwork happening live. I hope to learn about Dr. Cataldo’s journey in becoming a surgeon and the lessons he has learned along the way. I also want to learn what skills are needed in the medical profession.

I believe this shadowing opportunity will show me what it means to be a doctor in the twenty-first century. I also believe it will reaffirm my goal of helping people through the medical profession by one day becoming a doctor myself.  

Matthew, Pre-Departure

Hi! My name is Matthew Massa and I just finished my first year at Brandeis University. When I first became a part of the Pre-Med Program at Brandeis, I was near certain I wanted to be a doctor and most likely a surgeon. That interest has survived my first year, and now I intend to put it to the test. I will be shadowing Dr. Cataldo, a Colon and Rectal Surgeon at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. This will help me, in part, determine whether I still want to be a Surgeon and help me understand the specialty. I expect to understand the daily routine of a Colorectal Surgeon and what it takes to be a Surgeon. I expect to understand the patient-staff interaction, and I expect to view and understand (as much as possible) various surgical procedures. Above all, I plan to solidify my interest in the medical field and become more informed on what it means to be a surgeon. I need to decide (the sooner the better) and this will help me make an informed decision.

I am most excited about viewing Dr. Cataldo operating in the OR. I have seen operations online, but I have never seen one in person. I am really looking forward to that, it is going to be so cool! What I really like about it is how different it is from anything I’ve seen before. To see the inner machinery of a person just like me is so strange and so interesting. To see it in person is the only way I can appreciate it fully.

I am most nervous about interacting with Dr. Cataldo and the other Staff and asking questions. Specifically, I’m nervous that I will be too nervous to ask questions. I love asking questions, it is how I learn best, but in some of my classes I get psyched out and don’t ask them as often. I hope to overcome this, and that is the biggest obstacle I need to overcome when I shadow. I’ve read great things online about how welcoming he was, though, and how easy the transition was, from other students. I hope that means I’ll be comfortable asking questions. I am also nervous about how I am going to make connections and get other shadowing opportunities from this. I’m nervous about asking and I need to figure out how to. It’s more of an issue near the end, though. For now, I’m going to focus on the experience itself and what’s in front of me, because that is what most interests me.

My goal is to learn what I expected to above. I expect to be intimidated at first, but to grow to be comfortable and I expect them to be real nice over there. These folks save peoples’ lives I’m sure they are as nice as I hear! I look forward to this experience, and I am more grateful than ever for being given access to it.

Danni, Pre-Departure

This summer I will be working with Dr. Edelson who is an Ob/Gyn doctor and also a Maternal-Fetal Medicine fellow at MGH. Before the program start, I do not know what to expect. I know I will be helping out with research projects related to women’s health and global health. But besides that, I have no idea what kind of work environment I will be in and how I will fit in in a setting or a team where people around me are much older and knowledgeable than I am.

Therefore, I am very excited and a little anxious before starting. I think this will be a great opportunity to learn. I have some healthcare experience before this program. I became EMT certified when I was a junior in high school and worked in a local ambulance base for awhile. I had also shadowed with a Orthopedic PA in high school.  I am also a volunteer at the imaging department at MGH where I help patients get ready to image and help navigate patients around the hospital. Through these experiences, I was able to gain insights on how to provide basic emergency help to patients and see how do health professionals interact with patients.There activities also inspired me to continue the pre health track.

I hope working with Dr. Edelson this summer can help me gain a better understanding of clinical research. I have been working in a biology research lab at Brandeis for a year now and it has really inspired me to dive into the research field in the future. With my passion for healthcare and research, seeing what clinical research is like can help me decide if the MD/PHD path is a possible option for me. This summer I also hope to meet health professionals who are not only doctors but also clinical lab PIs, nurses and PAs. In addition, I wish I can gain insights on the long journey of becoming a doctor. Is it really worth it to spend the next ten years pursuing a medical degree and how to prevent potential burn-out in the future? I know I want to go into medicine but I hope this program can help me strengthen my decisions.

I look forward to this summer!