Assignment 11: Mentorship Write Up

My Profile: As a child I was constantly in and out of the hospital for more than one reason. I was fortunate enough to have awesome doctors to help me and my parents through the whole process. I was given several things that I will carry with me the rest of my life. One special memory I was given was a blanket a girl scout troop made and donated to the children’s hospital. I was very lucky to have been chosen to receive the blanket. I recently have made blankets myself and donated them to Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta to give to other children that had situations like mine. I want to further my career in pediatric medicine to give back to other children who are having to go through similar experiences.

My Mentorship: I am currently mentoring at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, specifically physical therapy and occupational therapy. I am able to work with and observe the daily routine of doctors with their patients. The children I work with have unique cases, and each session is a completely different experience. Based on the age of the patient and the severity of the case determines what I get to so during that session with the patient. For instance, I work with a 13 year old, so I mostly observe during that time. On the other hand, I also work with a 3 year old with a severe case of Pitt-Hopkins Syndrome. In this case I am able to help my mentor and be more active during the session. When there possible activities I could do are cleaning the gyms, setting up obstacles, helping the patient with tasks, or simply just observing from the observation room. I have two mentors who are both physical therapists. Although one of them is also an occupational therapist.

My Future: Next year I hope on making it back into the Honors Mentorship Program so I can possibly mentor at Northside Hospital. I would like to experience the different environments and see which medical setting fits me the best. I plan on becoming a pediatric doctor, and I have high hopes that these internships will start pulling me into the right direction.