Summer 2023
Medical School on the Horizon
Classes:
N/A
Studying for the MCAT
This summer might have been the most grueling few months academically I have ever had in my life. With the weight of medical school admissions on my shoulders, it felt crushing at times to have to review multiple years worth of information from biology, chemistry, biochemistry, organic chemistry, physics, math, psychology, and sociology all within three months. I did hundreds of flashcards on Anki every day through the summer, I read through over 2000 pages of content review, I completed thousands more practice problems online, and took 5 full AAMC practice exams in preparation. Not to mention many more hours of coping with my fellow MCAT test takers throughout the summer. While this was absolutely an unprecedented amount of studying to me, I will still say that I was able to comfortably enjoy relaxing in the summer, or at least more so than during a regular school year. I was able to meet up with old high school friends, shadow some really cool medical cases, and go on a few trips with my friends and family. Through all of this, I think I was reminded of the major importance of my own mental health throughout any stressful process. I think in order for me to study my best, I must be in the right mindset, and as such taking care of myself is just as important to my end result as actually studying. I want to keep this in mind as I continue down my journey in medicine, reminding myself that while times may get hard, I will not sacrifice my own wellbeing for the good of both myself and those I care for.
With this being the second lab that I have ever worked in, it was fascinating to see the change in atmosphere. Whether it be the affiliation with a medical center, the fact that it was a federal agency, or more simply just the type of research being done, it was a unique experience that rounded my view of what my future career can look like. Throughout this summer, I spent a lot of time getting to know many other undergraduates, graduate students, and post-docs working in different areas related to TBI. I spent a lot of time working on lab experiments with mice, more specifically designing code for sensors called phidgets that would detect the position of a mouse to determine social interactions. While I unfortunately had to spend a good amount of time trying to get granted access to my databased for more clinical records based analysis on TBI outcomes, I was able to design much of my experiment that I hope to continue with in the fall. The last part of the program was watching career development and diversity focused lectures, examining topics from graduate school applications to future research applications, which I felt allowed me to more introspectively look at myself and think about what exactly it is that I want to be doing in the future.
VA Summer Research Program
Schindler Lab
