Mystery of the Mentorship

This blog post will specifically pertain to my mentorship, and how it has progressed since November, when I first started meeting with Dr. Sullivan. I think the biggest accomplishment so far has been our consistency in meeting. It used to be there were 1 or 2 weeks between each time I met Dr. Sullivan over Zoom, but since the past 4 weeks, we have usually met around 3:30 or 4 every Thursday or Friday. Furthermore, I believe we have found a comfort zone in what to discuss each class, which is an accomplishment in itself. First, we discuss a news article she sends to me before our meeting that is on a controversy in genetics. Then, we always discuss the chapter or portion of a chapter that I've read in the textbook Genetics in Medicine. Last but most definitely not least is the Original Work, where Dr. Sullivan checks in on my progress and I get the assistance I need for whatever part of my project I am currently doing.

However, there is still much room for improvement. Firstly, I want to have a time set aside for our mentor meetings, so we can meet on the same time & same day every week. I think this would give a sense of permanency to our mentorship that it rather lacks right now. Secondly, I want to begin recording our Zoom meetings. There is a problem on my end where I don't really comprehend a large portion of things Dr. Sullivan might say, especially when she's discussing a genetics topic. I feel that if I can go back to the recordings and listen to what she said again, I would be able to retain the information better. Of course, I do take notes during our sessions, but I still feel like I won't remember half the things we talked about. This is because even when I go back to the notes I wrote, I find they aren't so great, so I wish to supplement that with a recording of the mentor meeting.

Another problem is that I feel I am not understanding the information well enough in the Genetics in Medicine textbook. I need to refer to my notes on the chapters way more than I currently do, firstly, to combat this. Secondly, I need to discuss with Dr. Sullivan different ways I can apply and test newfound knowledge. Otherwise, I feel I will forget things more easily.

As per my Original Work project, progress has been really slow. I am still researching my first disease, cystic fibrosis, and I think there is a failure of communication on my end with my mentor & general laziness preventing me from finishing my compilation of pathogenic variants I will use. However, I feel accomplished in that I have all the general information that I need on cystic fibrosis--it is just the pathogenic variants that are a problem. My goal is to finish cystic fibrosis and also the next disease on my list, Down syndrome, by the middle of next week.