The Office of Diversity Affairs at Georgia Health Sciences University presents HEAL, Health Equity and Access Leaders Program. HEAL aims to equip MCG students with the skills and educational background to work in medically underserved areas and become leaders in addressing the issues surrounding health equity among their peers and in their careers as physicians.
Monday, October 10, 2011
Mentor Journal Entry 1
Well, the first day of mentoring is complete. What did you think?
I'm really excited about the opportunity to mentor the students I met today! The students are highly motivated and truly interested in preparing for their future. The questions they asked showed that they had definitely thought about their future and had looked into various possibilities. Most of the students knew which colleges in the state of Georgia had the programs they were interested in. For example, one of my students told me about architecture programs in the state, of which there are only a few. Naturally, the students wanted to work out a timeline for the application process. They wanted to know when to take the SAT, when to get recommendations, and when to apply. Financial aid was a prominent concern as well. We discussed a little bit about working through college, work study programs, FAFSA, federal and private aid, and the difference between subsidized and unsubsidized loans, among other topics. Heather and I both supported our own college endeavors financially, and it seems like the students benefited from hearing about our experiences and that it is very possible to make it through college on your own! I can't wait to work with the students more (and take a break from anatomy at the same time)!
I’m excited about working with the students! They seem eager and excited about getting to know us and learning about the topics covered over the semester. One surprise was the specificity of their career choices (orthopedic spine surgeon, pediatric cardiothoracic surgeon) which might be under the influence of their school as opposed to their specific interests. Uncovering what they know about those fields and why they want to pursue them could help establish some incentives to broaden their experiences over the next few years. Because of the circumstances at the school, the meeting felt a little less personal than I would like. Next week, I want to focus on learning something else about each person in the group to enhance that mentor/mentoree relationship. I also noticed the different levels of participation in the group setting and want to focus my efforts on balanced participation from both me and each student in the upcoming meetings.
I had a lot of fun talking to the students yesterday. They were not shy and asked a lot of questions. Two of my students already applied for early admission to schools in North Carolina, and two others knew pretty much where they want to go. We talked about adjustments to college life, and they are both scared and excited understandably. It was refreshing to hear their perspective, but at the same time, it is also worrisome that some of them may not be as well prepared as they should be going into college. The first session was a success. The group and I had established good rapport and we had very active conversation going both directions. We virtually ran out of time at the end, and had to rush thru the personality test results. I am looking forward to the next session already. I have researched and prepared some answers to a couple of their questions that I couldn't answer yesterday, and I think we'll have more time to go into details of their individual situations, and address their concerns accordingly.
I was also surprised by the specificity of the career choices that the students expressed (I worked with Luke). I'm also not completely convinced that I support the whole notion of separating students this young into separate 'tracks' (i.e. health professions vs. engineering). We made it very clear that the most important feature is to study what you have a passion for and that any major in college can become a doctor, dentist, or veterinarian; there are only a specific amount of core classes which are required as prerequisites for each and not specific majors. All but one of the students are juniors so there is a good deal of time for them to consider their options, which they seemed enthusiastic to explore! There is one student in particular who I'm a little concerned for because of both grades and a lack of focus, but I look forward to getting to know each of them more personally. Two general concerns throughout the group was financial aid and application essays, so I'm going to make sure I dig up my old super exciting college essays so they can see some examples and also learn some more information about my experiences.
I thought that the tutoring session went very well. The students were eager to learn and had a lot of very good questions. At A.R. Johnson because of the mix up my group had only two students. This worked out well because I was able to have a more focused conversation with the students that were there. They had completed the personality tests, we discussed them briefly but the session mainly focused on their college questions. The main things that they were curious about were what is college like, how do you choose a college, and what exactly should you be doing to better your chances of getting in. I told them some about my story and the things that I felt were important for them to know. I wanted to make sure that their goals were realistic and that they were aware of the things required to achieve them. Both students have medical aspirations and I wanted them to have an idea of the effort required to get into medical school. Overall it was a great experience and I look forward to meeting my remaining students and working with them to help them achieve their goals.
I'm really excited about the opportunity to mentor the students I met today! The students are highly motivated and truly interested in preparing for their future. The questions they asked showed that they had definitely thought about their future and had looked into various possibilities. Most of the students knew which colleges in the state of Georgia had the programs they were interested in. For example, one of my students told me about architecture programs in the state, of which there are only a few. Naturally, the students wanted to work out a timeline for the application process. They wanted to know when to take the SAT, when to get recommendations, and when to apply. Financial aid was a prominent concern as well. We discussed a little bit about working through college, work study programs, FAFSA, federal and private aid, and the difference between subsidized and unsubsidized loans, among other topics. Heather and I both supported our own college endeavors financially, and it seems like the students benefited from hearing about our experiences and that it is very possible to make it through college on your own! I can't wait to work with the students more (and take a break from anatomy at the same time)!
ReplyDeleteI’m excited about working with the students! They seem eager and excited about getting to know us and learning about the topics covered over the semester. One surprise was the specificity of their career choices (orthopedic spine surgeon, pediatric cardiothoracic surgeon) which might be under the influence of their school as opposed to their specific interests. Uncovering what they know about those fields and why they want to pursue them could help establish some incentives to broaden their experiences over the next few years. Because of the circumstances at the school, the meeting felt a little less personal than I would like. Next week, I want to focus on learning something else about each person in the group to enhance that mentor/mentoree relationship. I also noticed the different levels of participation in the group setting and want to focus my efforts on balanced participation from both me and each student in the upcoming meetings.
ReplyDeleteI had a lot of fun talking to the students yesterday. They were not shy and asked a lot of questions. Two of my students already applied for early admission to schools in North Carolina, and two others knew pretty much where they want to go. We talked about adjustments to college life, and they are both scared and excited understandably. It was refreshing to hear their perspective, but at the same time, it is also worrisome that some of them may not be as well prepared as they should be going into college. The first session was a success. The group and I had established good rapport and we had very active conversation going both directions. We virtually ran out of time at the end, and had to rush thru the personality test results. I am looking forward to the next session already. I have researched and prepared some answers to a couple of their questions that I couldn't answer yesterday, and I think we'll have more time to go into details of their individual situations, and address their concerns accordingly.
ReplyDeleteI was also surprised by the specificity of the career choices that the students expressed (I worked with Luke). I'm also not completely convinced that I support the whole notion of separating students this young into separate 'tracks' (i.e. health professions vs. engineering). We made it very clear that the most important feature is to study what you have a passion for and that any major in college can become a doctor, dentist, or veterinarian; there are only a specific amount of core classes which are required as prerequisites for each and not specific majors. All but one of the students are juniors so there is a good deal of time for them to consider their options, which they seemed enthusiastic to explore! There is one student in particular who I'm a little concerned for because of both grades and a lack of focus, but I look forward to getting to know each of them more personally. Two general concerns throughout the group was financial aid and application essays, so I'm going to make sure I dig up my old super exciting college essays so they can see some examples and also learn some more information about my experiences.
ReplyDeleteI thought that the tutoring session went very well. The students were eager to learn and had a lot of very good questions. At A.R. Johnson because of the mix up my group had only two students. This worked out well because I was able to have a more focused conversation with the students that were there. They had completed the personality tests, we discussed them briefly but the session mainly focused on their college questions. The main things that they were curious about were what is college like, how do you choose a college, and what exactly should you be doing to better your chances of getting in. I told them some about my story and the things that I felt were important for them to know. I wanted to make sure that their goals were realistic and that they were aware of the things required to achieve them. Both students have medical aspirations and I wanted them to have an idea of the effort required to get into medical school. Overall it was a great experience and I look forward to meeting my remaining students and working with them to help them achieve their goals.
ReplyDelete