Research
At UCF, I stepped out of my comfort zone and tried something new. After having a meeting with a HIP peer counselor, I took the initiative to join U-LEAD. It is a program that focuses on service learning and allows you to present your research in a student showcase at the end of the semester. This course was a unique opportunity for me to do research. The process of starting with just an idea and ending will a detailed essay describing that topic with research articles cited and referenced is amazing to reflect on after presenting it in person before peers and mentors. In my classes, I also had the opportunity to research communication styles and factors to remember about our diverse community in the doctor-patient relationship. Lastly, I joined the PLUS-FL team project covering the COS. The COS stands for Child Outcome Summary, and it is the baseline for service providers such as childcare specialists and child healthcare workers to use to decide where a child is developmentally in comparison to age-appropriate practices regardless of developmental impairment. This last experience gave me a new sense of being an important part of a team. As my first official job, I enjoyed the work environment and the feedback I was given about my contributions to the project regardless of how small. This experience marked the importance of thanking those who helped me achieve any goal that I've set.
Interpersonal Communication Translational Research Artifact
During my Fall 2022 semester at UCF, I partook in an elective named Interpersonal Communication. This course provided me with the opportunity to explore the most important part of being a physician, communicating with your patients. This class's semester long project allowed me to choose a topic of interest and write a literature review about it. Afterwards, an artifact, by way of a poster, image, video, etc. would be created to showcase it to the proper audience. I chose a video and learned how to create a script and turn my PowerPoint into a real video. This experience taught me that, anything that I visualize in my mind, I can research and study and make it happen in a realistic way. I learned about my potential in creating ways to communicate my viewpoint while doing this project.
U-LEAD Women Inspire
This challenging course pushed me past my comfort zone, presenting my research on AMR took dedication and resilience to stand for hours. I spoke passionately about the potential disparities and the high likelihood of antimicrobial resistance becoming an issue for society in the future. I also researched how women would be a more vulnerable population due to processes like menstruation, labor, and pregnancy. I was able to make connections to my leadership class webinar surrounding women in positions of leadership and how they are not represented evenly in science and healthcare areas while making up over 50% of the professional workforce. All these factors affect the research and time dedicated to studying side effects and even alternatives to treat infections. What I gained from this experience was the ability to pace myself in developing a topic and making that topic easy to explain to the public. By defining complex terms and avoiding jargon, I can help someone see the issue in our society and understand what we can do on an individual basis to combat the problem. Something as simple as using medicine other than antibiotics will help prevent the spread of AMR in society.
PLUS-FL
PLUS-FL stands for Professional Learning Unique to Service Providers in Florida. They specialize in creating resources for educators and other providers to effectively and efficiently learn and do their jobs. I joined the design and editing team to bring a cohesive end product ready for review. Adding images to modules, proofreading information, taking the quizzes to check functionality, as well as linking resources in their proper place was what my duties entailed. Understanding the vast amount of effort and intriquicies it takes to create modules and presentations for service providers, who then take that knowledge and apply it to their programs, is wholesome. It led me to a deeper appreciation for reading and checking for understanding. Knowing the "why" allows you to effortlessly do the "what".
