my name:
who am i?
why am I part of Legacy LITTLE heroes?
what am I doing this summer?
how did I come across what I'm doing?
what fascinates me about what I'm doing?
is there something here that younger students could do?
what inspires me every day in what I'm doing?
how do I think I will grow after this experience?
how have I grown so far after my first year of medical school?
After first year of medical school, you tend to look back and ask yourself a lot of questions. “What can I do better? What has to change for next year?” What I have learned is that it is extremely important to maintain a balance in life between studying, exercising, and maintaining your spirituality. This helps you maintain a healthy mind, body, and spirit that can work in concert.
My goal is to continue doing research after I become a physician and your scientific writing skills are an important aspect of research. So, after having to write a review and a research proposal on injury prevention, I believe I have more experience and a better understanding of what scientific writing entails - all of this thanks to my summer internship at OHSU.
After your first year it seems very hard to find energy to go on a summer internship. My advice is: try to an internship that is in an exciting place for you and that offers more than just academic growth. You should apply to opportunities that allow you to have fun outside the hospital. Take advantage of this opportunity and go visit places you’ve never seen before.
additional comments:
Carlos E. Bertran-Rodriguez
I am a 23 year old medical student at PHSU, who is working his way to become an oncologist.
I became a member of LITTLE heroes because I believe that in order to see a change in future generations, we must offer guidance and help to younger students that haven’t had the opportunity or orientation that we once had. We should encourage them to develop their creativity and somehow help them accomplish their dreams. In this way, one student at a time, we will be motivating students to continue their studies and to become better professionals for a better Puerto Rico.
I am currently flying over the ocean on my way home to Puerto Rico. I spent a month in an internship at Oregon Health and Sciences University (OHSU) working in an injury prevention program. The OHSU internship is possible thanks to Dr. Neuwelt’s efforts. He is a neurosurgeon that dedicates his work to clinical trials and to basic-science and injury prevention research. I became interested in this internship because I wanted to acquire some experience in a different field inside oncology, which in this case was neurology. Dr. Neuwelt knows that us medical students look for internships in order to be more competitive when applying for residency and whe I arrived at OHSU he offered me an opportunity to publish a review article in a peer-reviewed.
The person to contact to apply for this internship is Dr. Jose Torres (jtorres@psm.edu).
I have always been moved by new experiences. This is what fascinated me about my summer internship at OHSU. It was far away, something new, and competitive.
Dr. Neuwelt creates opportunities for medical students from 1st year to do summer research in their specific area of interest. It doesn’t necessarily have to be neuro-oncology. Remember that the person to contact for this opportunity is Dr. Jose Torres (jtorres@psm.edu).
This experience helped me understand the importance of community intervention in the efforts of lowering any disease or injury incidence. Dr. Neuwelt has dedicated over 30 years of his life to injury prevention and believes it’s the most important project of all.
Dr. Neuwelt’s house in Portland, Oregon. My classmate and friend, Francisco Irizarry, on the left; Dr. Neuwelt in the middle and me on the right.
Part of the adventure was staying with a family in Portland. This family was kind enough to give us a room where we could stay during the internship. At first, we didn’t know what to expect. We though it was going to be weird living with a family that we didn’t know. But after a few days, Fran and me started to like the experience because we had an opportunity to learn about their culture in ways we probably wouldn’t have by staying somewhere else.
Like I said, one should take time to explore and create new memories.