Mentor Visit Assessment #1

Mentor: ​Dr. Nakia Gaines

Profession: ​Pediatric Emergency Physician, Associate Professor at UT Southwestern
Location: ​UT Southwestern
Date: ​1/12/21
Time:​ 2 PM
Assessment:

I was a little nervous going into my mentor visit because I didn’t know what to expect. In
past years, ISM students would be able to shadow mentors in their work environment and see
first-hand how a professional would assess the situation. This year has special circumstances
where I am restricted from in-person interactions with patients and other professionals.
Although, my mentor mentioned this may be a good thing because I can focus on research and
finding topics that may interest me in the future.
As this was my first mentor visit, we had to finalize the specific details of what exactly
we wanted to do in this mentorship. Through this discussion, we were able to conclude that it
would be done virtually, and mostly used for research purposes and hearing her experiences
over the week. We also discussed what her job actually entailed, since she is also an Associate
Professor at UT Southwestern. Usually, teaching-doctors have to focus on research, keeping up
to date on the latest technologies and information, and making sure to collaborate with other
professionals to share this information. This is different than a doctor in private practice
because they usually just work their hours and attend teaching seminars in their free time to
make sure they stay up to date with current information. She also mentioned that she mentors
other medical students and residents which I was excited to hear because I could ask about
their journey from her in the future. This made me wonder what I wanted to do in the future,
and I realized that I might also want to choose the teaching route as well. I would be able to
guide students, research topics I am passionate about, and partake in the clinical experience.
Dr. Gaines explained that her job was mostly split into thirds: clinical, research, and
administrative work. I feel like this is a well-balanced schedule and would be fulfilling to do a
job in my future career.
We also discussed what she could teach me through this mentorship, which mostly
included her sharing her weekly experiences and giving me research topics to research
throughout the week and come back to her with any questions. I am excited to hear about her
weekly experiences and see what she did throughout the week. In other science classes, I have
done plenty of hypothetical case studies and discussed the diagnosis and treatment plan, so it
will be really interesting to see this happening in real life. Furthermore, she asked me to
research the journey of a pre-med student out of high school is, which is pretty important
because it’s something I will need to be planning out before I even start college. I am still
researching but the basic timeline includes pre-med focused undergraduate, medical school,
residency program, fellowship program, and finally becoming an attending doctor. I did more
extensive research on the undergraduate aspect because that is what I will have to go through
in the near future, and I found that I should also be focused on research programs, getting
clinical experience, taking the MCAT, and putting myself into clubs that I am passionate about.
Its main emphasis was to be a well-rounded candidate for medical school because they
definitely pay attention to that. Dr. Gaines also encourages me to research the college I am
planning to attend and see what kind of special programs they have for pre-med students.
The most interesting part of this conversation was her actually sharing her experiences
being an undergraduate student. She explained that most college students are just happy to be
there and don’t have a specific goal, but she knew what she wanted to do and took action to
reach her goals very early on in her career. This encouraged me to set goals beyond just going
to college and set my eyes on a bigger prize. Medical schools are getting extremely competitive
as time goes on, and it’s important for me to have this mindset very early on so I can be
successful in the future. Overall, I am very excited for our next mentor visit, and hear more
advice from her.