RENEE DOUCETTE-SANDERS
PROGRESS BLOG
9/16-9/20
This week I made some changes to my resume using the suggestions from my classmates. I completed my research assessment and discussed the parents' view of the diagnosis session and learned a lot of valuable information that I will take into consideration once I start practicing. I made some more changes to the voicemail scripts and practiced them over the weekend and throughout the week. Lastly I asked Mr. Pirtle what I should do about getting in touch with pediatric genetic counselors and he told me to call pediatricians, skip the spiel about ISM, and just ask to be referred to a genetic counselor. I also included a script for this referral in my edited call scripts.
PROGRESS BLOG
9/30-10/4
Monday- In class Mr. Pirtle went into depth about Business Symposium which helped me be less nervous about the event.
Tuesday- I worked on remembering and making revisions to my networking questions.
Wednesday (Business Symposium)- During the Networking session of the event I mostly talked to a college student who is studying Speech Pathology. At the end of my first interview, the woman who interviewed me gave me her business card and gave me feedback on my resume, eye contact, and my handshake.
Thursday: I practiced my phone call scripts so I could be more confident when I start making calls next week. Sometime during the day, I got an email from the lady who interviewed me first and said that she was very impressed with my interview.
Friday: We did an activity in class where someone had to take charge and lead us to clap all together. The activity was interesting because it showed who were natural leaders. I showed Mr. Pirtle the email I got from my interviewer and he helped me form an email in response. T. For the rest of class I looked at my contacts and finalized my list of who I will call first and looked for their emails.
Goals for the next week: Email pediatrician contact (from interviewer), Call my pediatrician and ask for a referral to a pediatric genetic counselor, Call pediatricians and ask to be referred to a pediatric genetic counselor, Practice phone scripts, Schedule two interviews, Complete research assessment #4, Write Thank You cards to Professionals from Business Symposium, Complete topic proposal
PROGRESS BLOG
10/7-10/11
Monday- I found more places that specialize in pediatrics.
Tuesday- I called one hospital and they gave me the number to another hospital. When I called the other hospital they did not know a pediatric genetic counselor either
Wednesday- I connected with more people on LinkedIn landlocked for more pediatricians.
Thursday- I had already emailed one person who interviewed me. She told me that I could email her pediatrician and ask for the contact of a Pediatric Genetic Counselor. I also called another hospital and they did not know any pediatric genetic counselors.
Friday- I completed my research assessment and topic proposal.
Reflection- I realize now that making calls to pediatricians is going to be a lot harder than I thought. I need to find a plethora of pediatricians to call and I am sure that I will find some type of genetic counselor.
Goals for this week: My goal is to call more hospitals and hope that someone knows a genetic counselor. I also plan to use as much class time as possible to call pediatricians.
PROGRESS BLOG
10/14-10/25
Accomplishments: I completed Research Assessment #5 and #6, and contacted 20 people. I scheduled a interview with Crescenda Uhles for 10/29. She eventually had to reschedule and I am currently waiting for her to call me back to schedule our interview and schedule a interview with her colleague.
Challenges: Most of the people I called throughout these two weeks did not know any Pediatric Genetic Counselors but these calls were great practice for making calls and helped me become more comfortable making calls.
Goals: My goal is to call 15 people this week to find more genetic counselors and schedule at least two interviews.
PROGRESS BLOG
10/28-11/1
Accomplishments: I also had the opportunity to meet with pediatric genetic counselors, Mrs.Heather Fisher and Mrs.Crescenda Uhles. After meeting with Mrs.Fisher and Mrs.Uhles, I completed interview assessments #1 and #2. I also found more genetic counselors through nsgc.com and Mrs.Fisher and Mrs.Uhles have contacted their collgeaus to see if anyone can speak with me.
Challenges: My main challenge for the past two weeks was finding a time to meet with the professionals. I didn’t want to miss any class that I would have a lot of work to makeup so I have found that missing band is the best option but the traffic in the morning is still a big challenge. Also I have had a bit of a challenge deciding which professionals that I want to interview. There are alot of cancer genetic counselors but I know that I do not want to go into that section of genetic counseling. I would be interested in prenatal genetic counseling but those genetic counselors are extremely busy so I won’t be able to meet with them.
Goals: My goals for the next two weeks is to meet with more people and call different genetic counselors. From both of my interviews, they told me that I need to explore all types of genetic counseling so I will try to meet with other types of genetic counselors.
PROGRESS BLOG
11/4-11/11
Accomplishments: I also had the opportunity to meet with pediatric genetic counselors, Mrs.Heather Fisher and Mrs.Crescenda Uhles. After meeting with Mrs.Fisher and Mrs.Uhles, I completed interview assessments #1 and #2. I also found more genetic counselors through nsgc.com and Mrs.Fisher and Mrs.Uhles have contacted their collgeaus to see if anyone can speak with me.
Challenges: My main challenge for the past two weeks was finding a time to meet with the professionals. I didn’t want to miss any class that I would have a lot of work to makeup so I have found that missing band is the best option but the traffic in the morning is still a big challenge. Also I have had a bit of a challenge deciding which professionals that I want to interview. There are alot of cancer genetic counselors but I know that I do not want to go into that section of genetic counseling. I would be interested in prenatal genetic counseling but those genetic counselors are extremely busy so I won’t be able to meet with them.
Goals: My goals for the next two weeks is to meet with more people and call different genetic counselors. From both of my interviews, they told me that I need to explore all types of genetic counseling so I will try to meet with other types of genetic counselors.
PROGRESS BLOG
11/18-11/30
Accomplishments: I focused on Prenatal genetic counseling for my seventh research assessment because I am extremely curious about this field. I wanted to get a better understanding of what this type of genetic counselors does because I only had a big picture idea of what they do. After learning about what their life looks like, I am leaning more towards prenatal rather than pediatrics because they are more hands on. For my eight research assessment I researched Laboratory Genetic Counselors because I wasn’t exactly sure what they did and I knew that I would have an interview with Ms.Shirelle Figueroa, who is a laboratory genetic counselor, so I wanted to get a better understanding of what she did so that I could shape my interview questions. Through research I learned that they do not interact with patients, instead they explain everything about genetic testing to companies or healthcare professionals. I also completed my interview assessment over my interview with Mrs.Cheryl Reeves. She was my favorite genetic counselor that I have spoken with so far because she was very sweet and we seemed to get along very well. I learned that she is a clinical genetic counselor who created the genetic clinic at Medical City Plano and she does all types of genetic counseling. I could see myself potentially shadowing her in the near future.
Challenges: The biggest challenge that I faced these past two week was figuring out a time to meet with the professionals. Most of them were only available in the morning but I couldn’t miss my morning classes due to big tests and needing to get my completed. Also I tried to find a time that I would be able to meet with them face to face but most of them could only do a phone conversation.
Goals: My goals for the next two weeks are to interview with more prenatal genetic counselors or talk more with clinical genetic counselors. I am leaning more towards prenatal genetic counseling but still not sure which type of genetic counseling I like the best. I am also considering clinical genetic counseling because they see a wider range of patients and are much more hands on, and that is something that I would like to do.
PROGRESS BLOG
1/13-1/24
Accomplishments: The biggest accomplishment of these two weeks was my preparation for the ISM Winter Showcase. I worked very diligently on my display board during winter break. I also fixed my portfolio so that it would be ready for the winter showcase. I thought that the Showcase was really fun. I loved seeing the display boards of fellow ISM students and reconnecting with old friends. Sadly I only got to talk to a couple people about my topic but it was still a fun experience.
Challenges: For these past two weeks my main goal was to find more genetic counselors to interview. Unfortunately I could not find any more genetic counselors that I haven’t already interviewed. I will talk to Mr.Pirtle to create a new plan of how to get more contacts.
Goals: My main goal for these next two weeks is to find more professionals in the genetics field.
Another goal that I have it to go on at least 5 interviews so that I can get a mentor before the end of the month.
PROGRESS BLOG
2/3-2/9
Accomplishments: I sat down with Mr.Pirtle and he gave me a solution to my unfortunate with contacts. He told me to find at least 15 genetic counselors and email them. I sent the emails and a few people responded. Most of them were unable to meet with me until the end of February but one genetic counselor, Ms.Johnson, agreed to speak with me. We have a great phone interview and she invited me to shadow her.
Challenges: One of my challenges this week was getting responses from genetic counselors. Multiple genetic counselors are very busy in the next couple weeks and are unable to speak with me until the end of February but on the bright side, I at least have some professionals to speak with later on this month. My other struggle this week was preparing for my topic of choice presentation. I wanted to talk about something that I enjoy but something that was enjoyable for my class. I mostly struggled with being confident giving my presentation and transitioning between topics.
Goals: My main goal for the next two weeks is to schedule interviews with genetic counselors for late February. My last goal is to meet with as many people as soon as possible to hopefully find a mentor.
PROGRESS BLOG
3/1-3/9
Accomplishments: My biggest accomplishment of the past two weeks was getting the opportunity to shadow Ms. Johnson for a full day. In the morning I sat in on two of her patient clinics. Then in the middle of the day, we went to a lecture about sarcomas where genetic counselors from dallas came to learn more about sarcomas. During the lecture I got to meet a prospective student who had finished her undergraduate degree and is working as a Lab Technician before taking her GRE Exam for Graduate School. I asked her a couple of questions that came to mind before the lecture and she gave me her email in case I had any more questions in the future. After the lecture I sat in on one more patient clinic and received some feedback on my Original Work. Lastly, Ms. Johnson gave me two books to read and a movie to watch in the time before our next mentor visit.
Challenges: Thankfully this week I did not have many challenges. My only challenge this week was finding time to work on my Original Work. I had a lot of tests and quizzes these past two weeks so I did not have anytime to work on my website but I plan to use the feedback Ms. Johnson gave me on my product to revise my information and complete at least one tab by the next two weeks.
Goals: My main goal this week is to work on my Original Work. My goal is to complete at least the “Aspiring Genetic Counselors” tab in these next two weeks and hopefully to start on the video for my website.
PROGRESS BLOG
3/1-3/9
Accomplishments: My biggest accomplishment of the past two weeks was getting the opportunity to shadow Ms. Johnson for a full day. In the morning I sat in on two of her patient clinics. Then in the middle of the day, we went to a lecture about sarcomas where genetic counselors from dallas came to learn more about sarcomas. During the lecture I got to meet a prospective student who had finished her undergraduate degree and is working as a Lab Technician before taking her GRE Exam for Graduate School. I asked her a couple of questions that came to mind before the lecture and she gave me her email in case I had any more questions in the future. After the lecture I sat in on one more patient clinic and received some feedback on my Original Work. Lastly, Ms. Johnson gave me two books to read and a movie to watch in the time before our next mentor visit.
Challenges: Thankfully this week I did not have many challenges. My only challenge this week was finding time to work on my Original Work. I had a lot of tests and quizzes these past two weeks so I did not have anytime to work on my website but I plan to use the feedback Ms. Johnson gave me on my product to revise my information and complete at least one tab by the next two weeks.
Goals: My main goal this week is to work on my Original Work. My goal is to complete at least the “Aspiring Genetic Counselors” tab in these next two weeks and hopefully to start on the video for my website.