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Brianna Zimny

Mr. Rudebusch

Senior Project: Family Medicine

12 April 2022

Reflection

For my senior project, I spent 23 ½ hours shadowing Dr. Rachel Sunne at Avera Medical

Group in Brookings. After my shadowing experience, I began the research portion of my senior

project, spending around six hours developing my research essay. I then started the process of

creating the senior product. To begin, I researched various complex medical topics, including

vaccines, well-child information, diets, and exercises. After the research, I then compiled this

information into an easily navigable website and fine-tuned the formatting. I would say the entire

product process took around twelve hours to complete. A few hours were also spent analyzing

my work, meeting with my advisor, writing the shadowing journal entries, and the final

reflection paper. In total, this senior project took around 45 hours to complete.

As I began my Senior Project, I faced several different problems. One of my biggest

problems was during the creation of my product. I had planned to include diets and exercises for

those with high cholesterol. However, after conducting my research, I discovered that many

recommendations differed and were not fully supported. Based on this, I did not believe it should

be included on the website. Another struggle that I faced was my time management during the

creation of my product. In the beginning, I followed my designated schedule, yet during the last
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two weeks, I struggled to stay on task. During these two weeks, I was not often in school, so I

ran out of time to work on my project. However, after dedicating many hours after school, I was

able to catch up. It was a constant struggle trying to remain on my schedule; however, I became

more organized in the end. All in all, my major struggle during this project was keeping on task.

As previously stated before, I was not the best with my time management. During the

school year, I was busier than expected, and this was reflected in my schedule. The time I had

previously planned to work on this project became overtaken by other tasks. I actively tried to be

as organized as possible and complete everything on time; however, this did not always work

out. In the end, my project was completed on time; however, I do wish that the time I used to

construct it was not so crammed.

From my experience, I have learned a great deal more about Family Medicine and

myself. One of the most important lessons I learned was discovering my limits. I had initially

stretched myself too thin at the beginning of this year. Since then, I now recognize the

importance of saying ‘no’ to some tasks and choosing the crucial battles. Shadowing Family

Medicine also helped me discover the fantastic scope of medicine one can see, even in rural

South Dakota. I also found out that I want to pursue becoming a doctor. Initially, I was hesitant

of the commitment, yet I cannot imagine a more fulfilling career for myself now. This project

also helped me realize the importance of sticking to a schedule, learning that it is essential for my

success.

After my Senior Project, I now feel more prepared to start college. This experience

helped me decide what path I wanted to take for my future career and gave me many connections

within the field. These connections can be used throughout my undergraduate degree, allowing

me to build up my resume for medical school through shadowing and internships. I also learned
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more about my limits from this project, especially the importance of not overfilling my plate. I

will carry this lesson over into my college career by slowly adding to my schedule in college. I

also plan to be more organized in college, mainly since there is no longer a structure in college as

there is in high school. In the end, I am optimistic I will learn even more in the near future;

however, I am thankful for the personal and professional growth this project has granted me.