Evidence of Learning #3 

 
Date:​ Jan, 30, 2018 
 
Subject:​ Neurology  
 
Type of Assessment: ​Mentor Visit (Primary) 
 
Analysis:  
 
Heading into my very first mentor visit with Dr. Thomas, I was unsure of 
what to expect. However, knowing how arduous the mentor process had been, I 
was finally ready to begin learning the specifics about the field of Neurology. It 
seems as if, more often than not, mentor meetings will be on Fridays, as those are 
the days when Dr. Thomas works from the Children’s Health Plano campus, while 
on the other days she works from Dallas. Although I was not able to shadow Dr. 
Thomas immediately or dive right into learning about complex topics, I found it 
very useful to have an initial meeting to have a solid, dependable plan going 
forward. 
 
To begin, after I reviewed what assignments were required on my behalf 
from the ISM Marking Period, Dr. Thomas mentioned that she could potentially give 
me topics to research or papers to look over (where the level of scientific literature 
is not overly advanced). I look forward to receiving these assignments in order to 
further my knowledge in the field of Neurology. In addition, in regards to 
shadowing, I learned about the cautionary steps that must be taken in order to 
prevent any sources of trouble; I am hoping that Mr. Loehrlein, Dr. Thomas’ 
scheduler, will be able to secure a badge for me in the near future, as a large 
portion of my learning will seemingly come through my observations of 
patient-physician interactions. When discussing the original work, Dr. Thomas 
seemed keen on the idea of improving a certain treatment process for a most likely 
unusual condition observed in a certain patient, as, admittedly, it will be unlikely for 
me to achieve a major medical breakthrough, given my limited knowledge in the 
medical field. Thus, getting several of the ISM-required assignments out of the way 
at the beginning of the meeting helped clarify potential sources of confusion. 
 
In continuation, I was still able to learn a great deal during my first mentor 
meeting; for instance, I realized that, in terms of attending college, there are 
several options that exist that can accelerate the process of receiving a medical 
degree. Dr. Thomas mentioned the six to eight year programs that are, in some 
cases, offered by select universities - I will definitely make sure to research the 
pros and cons offered by these programs at a later time. Dr. Thomas seemed to 
favor a traditional four-year undergraduate university due to the increased room 
for experimentation and balance. This directly explains why Dr. Thomas has a 
double major in Psychology and Religion, with a minor in Neuroscience, Thus, I 
learned about the cruciality of remembering to keep my options open. 
 
Furthermore, while continuing to discuss the sphere of education, I also 
learned about the specialization that occurs in medical school. Dr. Thomas assured 
me that I do not have to pick a specific medical field until my third year of medical 
school; the first two years of medical school are composed of classes and learning 
the more fundamental aspects of the medical field, while the third and fourth 
involve increased room for electives and choosing a specialty. Thus, even though I 
may be currently studying Neurology, choosing what discipline of Neurology will be 
a whole new process in it of itself. In addition, Dr. Thomas explained the different 
types of research and her tendency to favor clinical research (compared to bench 
research). Given my lack of experience with research, hopefully, I will be able to get 
into a research program this summer and see what type of research suits my best; 
however, I am already leaning more toward clinical research due to the fact that it 
is more concrete and does not involve using animals for research.  
 
I shared with Dr. Thomas that a common problem I faced was not knowing 
the exact difference between the different fields that study the mind; thankfully, Dr. 
Thomas was able to clarify the differences for me. For instance, Psychology involves 
more of a therapeutic approach with counseling and talking through the problem. 
On the other hand, Psychiatry is usually related to mood disorders, depression, or 
anxiety (in other words, the mental disorders), all of which can be prescribed by the 
psychiatrist. However, I learned that there is a very grey line between Psychiatry 
and Neurology, especially when approaching disorders such as autism - in fact, 
Children’s Health Plano even has an autism clinic that is multidisciplinary where 
neurologists and psychiatrists work together. Despite the differences between 
these fields, one common trait that seems to unite them all is the fact that 
specialists need to have “thick skin”, according to Dr. Thomas. It is not uncommon 
for those in the medical field to be cold or deal with harsh rejection; therefore, I 
must be able to prepare myself mentally for the lack of sympathy that can 
potentially exist between professionals. 
 
 Because Dr. Thomas works at four hospitals throughout the week, she 
mentioned how it was very inconvenient for her to have to constantly log in and 
out of several hospital computer systems. I can see how this could easily become a 
nuisance, especially when medical records are transferred from one state to 
another, where the computer systems are most likely different. She mentioned how 
a “universal” database nationwide would make communication between physicians 
much easier, as patient records would be able to be transferred much more quickly. 
Thus, I was able to realize that there are methods, outside of medicine, that still 
have yet to be implemented in order to make healthcare more efficient. On the 
topic of communication, I learned about the extent of communication that occurs 
amongst physicians/between physicians and other professionals as well. I 
discovered that being a neurologist involves frequent meetings within the hospital, 
trips out-of-state to different symposiums, and pitches to hospital grant writers. In 
a sense, a physician can act as a businessman attempting to “pitch” a certain 
research concept to the grant writers.  
 
All in all, my first mentor meeting was very informative and served as a nice 
set-up for future mentor meetings. I was able to receive a mini-tour of Dr. Thomas’ 
workspace and hopefully will be able to discover even more about the facility/the 
field of Neurology in the next few mentor meetings. I mostly look forward to being 
able to shadow Dr. Thomas with direct observation of the patient-physician 
relationship; however, I will first need to receive the necessary credentials.