My career aspiration is to become a medical professional, specifically a physician. I’m currently particularly interested in dermatology. After the training and developing segment of the AnnieRuth program, I was placed in multiple medical locations: Ascension St. Vincent’s, the Borland Groover Clinic with GI Dr. Rawls, and Baptist Health, which I’ll be interning at during week 6. During my time in Ascension’s volunteer program, I rotated between the emergency room, pulmonary function department, and dietary department. I helped healthcare professionals with organization, got to experience the hospital environment, and was even able to assist with patient forms. I also got to learn about pulmonary testing machines and had the opportunity to independently work at the surgery waiting room front desk, which expanded my communication skills in healthcare. At the Borland Groover Clinic, I got to shadow Dr. Rawls and was able to directly sit in on his patient appointments and discuss them with him. I learned so much about the GI system and common conditions in GI such as Chron’s, Ulcerative Colitis, IBS, and even anemia related to GI. I was also able to learn about procedures like endoscopy and colonoscopy. This gave me a newfound appreciation and interest in internal medicine.
Participating in the AnnieRuth Foundation’s summer internship program has been an absolutely amazing experience and I’m so grateful! It has been fundamental in preparing me for future success by giving me hands on experience in the healthcare field and actively widening my preferred career options. It has allowed me to explore different fields in healthcare and learn about medicine beyond the classroom during school. The real-life experience I have been given has been crucial to seeing if I would truly like to pursue medicine, and I’ve been able to develop skills beneficial to being in the workplace. Working with a physician has been eye-opening and given me much to learn about in a field of medicine I hadn’t considered before. Even beyond direct career experience, the program has taught my work and life skills that have set me up for success during the internship and beyond, helping to prepare me for the future no matter what career I choose.