When I was younger, I equated being a professional with having a job. And I equated having a job, with being “grown up”. So when my friends started working around age 15, I thought that it was time for me to do the same. When I inquired about this to my parents, they told me something that stuck with me. They said “school is your job”. Both of my parents were the first in their families to attend college and stressed the importance of higher education to me and my sister from a young age. Thankfully, my parents were in a position financially where as long as we worked hard in school, earned good grades…and did our chores, they were able to help us out with money. Not having to worry about finances and being able to focus all of our energy on academics was truly a blessing. We took advantage of this and both my sister and I attended professional school (she graduated from Wake Forest Law in 2016).
School has been my job now for over 20 years. And although I have had other jobs here and there while in college, being a student has contributed the most to my professional development. In order to succeed as a medical student at The Ohio State, one has to embody certain aspects of professionalism that are routinely assessed through standardized patient (SP) interactions and small group activities throughout the first two years. We are evaluated on our compassion and respect when interacting with SPs, our honesty and integrity is constantly measured through group assignments/projects, and mandatory events help to develop accountability and punctuality. But another way in which I demonstrated professionalism in those first two years was through my work with student organizations. During my first semester as a medical student I applied for a position on the mentorship committee of Women in Medicine and helped organize a large mentorship event for my peers. I was also active in the Association of Women Surgeons and as a second-year I had the tremendous honor of being elected President of that organization. Below is the presentation that my treasurer and I gave at our first intro meeting as the new leaders of AWS. Feel free to click through!
As I continued on to 3rd and 4th year, I couldn’t commit as much time to student orgs and the mandatory curricular events became fewer and farther between. However, I continued to seek opportunities for professional development. Earlier this year I developed an idea for a Quality Improvement project and assumed the “team-leader” role for that project, which is ongoing. In addition, I continue to seek out volunteer opportunities in my community. Through volunteering at professional hockey games, The Arnold Classic, high school sporting events, and helping out with pre-participation physical exams for high school students, I’ve been able to remain involved in athletics, one of my true passions, as well as work with other medical professionals in a team atmosphere.
While volunteering at The Arnold I met people from many different medical professions. There were attending physicians, medical residents, nurses, podiatrists, EMTs, PAs, physical therapists, and other medical students.
This photo was taken on my personal Snapchat (copyright) account, while I was volunteering at a local high school.
In the eyes of my younger self, I will be a real professional next year. But thankfully, I have already begun developing attributes of a professional. During residency I will continue to seek leadership and volunteer opportunities as I have done throughout medical school and will continue to embody what being a professional means to me.