Mentor Assessment #5

Akshitha Sreerangapuri 3/6/2020 

Compared to the previous mentor visits, this visit was more informative and eye-opening
in terms of the knowledge I have gained. For example, almost every parent I saw was
very concerned about the coronavirus and they looked to Dr. Kumar for reassurance.
With the number of coronavirus cases increasing exponentially, the majority of the
population is alarmed and frightened. I know this because in many stores, such as Costco
and Walmart, all stocks of hand sanitizers, tissues, water bottles, and other items were
completely purchased. Many people had to go to another store in the hopes of finding
some items due to a lack of hygiene items. In addition, according to Dr. Kumar’s staff,
they had to store the masks away because many patients were taking stacks and stacks of
masks. This further proves that there is a hysteria going on due to the over concern of
possible being diagnosed for the coronavirus.

Due to this, Dr. Kumar had to see more patients than usual. Although the patients merely
had cough, cold, or fever, they wanted to confirm with Dr. Kumar that it was not a
serious illness. The parents were ready for any test given to their child because the main
things they wanted from Dr. Kumar was confirmation that their child was fine. Moreover,
many families are canceling their spring break trips due to the fear of coronavirus. This
made me realize that parents- no matter how big or small an issue is- care for their child
as much as they can. Thus, as an aspiring pediatrician, I will make sure to not undermine
the parents’ worries or concerns.

Another thing I have observed is that parents motivate their children to speak instead of
talking for them. For instance, the mom was persuading her 11-year-old son to tell Dr.
Kumar if he has any questions but he kept looking at his mom. However, the mom made
sure not to say anything so her son can learn to discuss his own problems. I realized this
is one of the ways parents use to make their children more independent. Because the
doctor was right in front of him, he had no choice but to listen to his mother. I know this
because I was in his position when I was a child. I was very shy and reserved, so my dad
used to make me talk to others as much as he could. I am different now because I am very
outgoing and a lot of that is because of me learning how important it is to communicate
with others.
In terms of the medical knowledge I have gained, I learned how to properly evaluate if a
child has an ear infection. Dr. Kumar allowed me to use one of the instruments to look at
the ear and I was able to determine that a patient with an infection will have more redness
on their eardrum. At first, I was looking at the ear wax so I was not able to interpret
accurately. However, Dr. Kumar explained to me that the angle one is holding the
instrument is very crucial when looking at the ear.

Furthermore, I realized how effective the U.S. medical system is after looking at Indian
medical records. A family recently moved from India and in order to get their son
admitted at a school, he needs to be cleared of certain vaccinations. In order to approve
the vaccines, Dr. Kumar looked at their Indian medical documents but there seems to be
an absence of details. For instance, the professional needs to mention the date a
vaccination is given but in India, most doctors merely place a checkmark. However, the
lack of dates would make the process of getting admitted to school worse for the boy,
because the parents now need to contact the Indian doctor and ask for the dates. In
addition to that, the doctor’s handwriting was illegible and this further made things
difficult for the parents and Dr. Kumar.

In addition to that, I learned that Dr. Kumar had to repeat his residency even though he
came from India to America after completing his residency. I was surprised at this, but it
made me realize how different the medical schools are in India and the US. Residency for
pediatricians is usually 3 years, but Dr. Kumar wanted to complete an additional year to
be certified as a chief in practice.

Since Dr. Kumar finished seeing all his patients for the time, he was helping me
understand the process of getting admitted to a medical school. His second daughter is
about to apply to medical schools and he was giving me helpful tips. I learned that more
than anything, a student needs to focus on their GPA and MCAT. After that, medical
schools look at the student’s extracurricular activities, volunteering hours, and research
conducted. This made me think about how the process is very similar to my college
admissions process. In a way, I am truly happy that the two processes are similar because
I will make sure I do not repeat any mistakes. For example, I pushed SAT off until the
last minute and did not look at ACT as much as I should have. I turned out to be good at
ACT, but because I did not give it as much focus as SAT, I did not have the time to
improve. Ergo, I am going to begin preparing myself for the MCAT from the beginning
of my second year at college so that I do not waste any time I have.