My summer internship exceeded my expectations. Working in a hospital for a neurosurgeon has been surreal. I have observed over 20 brain surgeries, learned how to conduct clinical research, experienced first-hand what the life of a neurosurgeon is like, conducted my own medical research about meningiomas, used that research to create a poster that I will be presenting next week, and had hands-on patient contact. By the end of the summer, I was able to diagnose patients by simply looking at their MRI scans. My mentor taught me so much about the brain, which reminded me why I chose to major in neuroscience in the first place.
This experience will be valuable not only throughout my undergrad career, but also throughout medical school and my future life as a physician. This internship has helped me understand why I want to become a physician so badly. I will think about this summer often, especially when I am trying to push through my last few pre-med courses. I now know why it will all be worth it.
My ideals of women in medicine have been both reinforced and challenged. There is very little representation of female physicians, especially in neurosurgery; however, many male physicians, including my mentor, have been making an effort to influence women to become doctors, not just nurses and PAs. One time, my mentor asked me a question about an MRI scan, and one of the male interns answered before I got the chance to. My mentor called him out on it and said, “Maya knew the answer. I did not ask you. Do not cut her off next time she speaks.” Even this small comment gives me hope for future women in medicine.
Now that I have learned so much about brain tumors, I hope to maybe use the topic when I conduct my two-semester independent research project for Newcomb Scholars my senior year.
I cannot thank NCI enough for this opportunity. If anyone is interested in an internship with the Feinstein Institute, make sure to research the mentors before ranking them. I got lucky enough that I got my first choice; however, I also knew that his research focused on what I was most interested in. Mentors want interns that are passionate about the topics they research.
Here’s a selfie from my last day of me, the other interns, and my mentor!
