About
My stomach felt uneasy as I walked through the large double doors and into the operating room. I was not having surgery performed on me, but rather experiencing surgery as an observer alongside my longtime hockey coach and plastic surgeon Dennis Hammond. Questions began rushing through my head as soon as the first incision was made: how had Dr. Hammond decided where to cut the tissue, and why wasn't he performing the operation the same way I had seen in the YouTube video I had watched the night prior. Upon voicing the second question aloud, Dr. Hammond explained to me that no silver bullet exists in plastic surgery and, thus, surgeons often perform breast reconstructions on breast cancer survivors very differently. I found this answer to be thought provoking, and was surprised to hear that the same surgery can be performed in several different ways. My experience watching live surgery as a high school student sparked my interest in medicine.
Two years later, as a sophomore at the University of Michigan, I was set in my desire to
Myself (third from left), Dr. Hammond (to my right), and four visiting doctors from South Korea following a surgical demonstration.
become a doctor. More specifically, I was dedicated to incorporating research into my medical practice, a career path commonly referred to as “academic medicine.” To achieve my goal of becoming an academic physician, I understood that I had to master both the science behind human disease and the writing skills necessary to communicate such information. I thus pursued the Sweetland Minor in Writing with the intent of improving my professional writing skills. Now, as a senior in the Minor in Writing Capstone Course, I aim to exemplify the advances I have made throughout my time in the Minor via my Capstone Project, which is a full research paper based on an independent project I recently completed.