Hello everyone,
For the week 7 assignment, we were asked to discuss the summer seminar series and reflect on one of the faculty talks we heard. This is a little late (sorry!), so I would like to reflect upon the talk we heard from Dr. Lefkowitz. An overarching theme from all of our faculty talks this summer was that scientific research was never an initial goal, but rather something each speaker stumbled into. Usually through the exposure to a random biology class in an undergraduate education that led to a research experience, followed by grad school, etc… Dr. Lefkowitz’s talk resonated with me, since I have wanted to be a physician since the sixth grade; however, after having been engaged in research for years, I feel incomplete without it. Dr. Lefkowitz spoke of the need to find your calling in life, a natural alignment between something you are passionate about and that you are good at, which will hopefully lead to a successful, lucrative career. Life in the lab allows an immeasurable amount of intellectual freedom that I am not quite sure you can get anywhere else. I can’t really imagine my future without some form of research component; therefore, I would like to someday be able to be both a researcher and clinician be it through an MD/PhD program, or simply get an MD and then complete a research fellowship as a physician. However, that decision is a long way down the road, but for now I know that I will continue to work in the lab I am in currently (hopefully until I graduate). I can only hope that one day I will be fortunate enough to find my calling and pursue it.
