Just last Friday, the RAP program took a field trip to the Children's Hospital. It was really great to hang out with the other interns after not seeing them for a whole week and a half. As we walked to the hospital, which was only a few minutes away, I began to snap pictures trying to capture as many moments as possible. During our trip we had two tour, one from John Baci, who works in the Pathology Department, and Keith Solomon, who works in the Orthopedics Department. What I will be reflecting on is my experience with Mr. Solomon.
When I first met Mr. Solomon he was very straight forward, loud and straight to the point. He wasted no time telling us about himself and what he did. My first impression is that he was a mean person and did not enjoy laughter or any type of fun. You may think I did not like him, but as he continued to talk to us, I began to realized he was real and a very smart person who did enjoy to laugh. After he introduced himself quickly, for about 15 minutes (haha), he made us go around stating our name, rising grade, current high school, dream college, and which job we would consider in the future. As each intern went around, he had many comments for each of us while giving us useful advice. I told him my dream college was Stanford University and all he could say was that it was a really hard school to get into and if I really wanted it I had to make sure academically I was on point but still had a personality. At that point I wanted to just seat down and talk with him to get his opinions on many things because they seemed as if they were very useful and he spoke the truth.
Giving us a tour around his lab was nothing new to me because I currently work in a lab exactly like his. He showed us many of the machines and tools my lab had, but it was cool when he asked us questions about them, challenging us to make sure we actually understood what we knew and were taught. I will be honest and say I did not give him my full attention, but only because it was almost lunch time and I was STARVING, but I did learn a couple things from Mr. Solomon. He told us our bones stop growing when we turn 20. That's two more years and a half for me! I'm taking this very seriously and am going to make sure my bones are nice, thick and healthy, so I won't go through the excruciating bone breaking pain many elderly people face. He also told us people don't have to worry about their cholesterol until they are 30 years old. I have many years until that age, but I should still watch what I eat, keeping a well balanced diet so it won't be so difficult when I'm older. He told us a funny story of how growing up there was only one fat kid in a neighborhood who always got made fun of, but now there is a massive amount of people who are obese in one neighborhood. It was funny to hear that, yet it is sadly true.
One thing that Mr. Solomon told me that stuck with me is when he said there is a big difference between a doctor and a scientist. A doctor only works with things that has already been discovered and proven, while a scientist goes into work everyday ready to explore something new no one else has discovered. That has really got me thinking for the past few days. I keep asking myself do I want to work from the past or work on creating the future. I am leaning more toward working as a scientist and there are many things in public health that hasn't been discovered yet.
Coming from the two tours, I realized both Mr. Buci and Mr. Solomon don't work with patients. I love working with patients and getting the opportunity to interact with them and meet so many new different people. I am still currently confused about what I was as a career and a college major since college is only a year away. However, I repeatedly have to remind myself I'm still a kid and have many years to think about it and figure it out. I still have this summer to finish, so I will just continue enjoying this amazing opportunity that was given to me.
Living life one day at a time! :)
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