Brian was an OSUCCC research intern for Ohio State University during Summer Term 2023.
Briefly explain what you did and the result of your internship.
I learned proper research techniques to find explanations for why there are cancer disparities between the race/ethnic populations in the United States. This in turn will contribute to mitigating cancer incidence and mortality rates in suffering populations as well as helping us understand what socioeconomic factors contribute a large role in cancer incidence and mortality. This would also help absolve many aspects of healthcare inequity.
What did you learn on your internship that you were not expecting to learn?
I learned the culture of cancer research and how collaborative it is. That being said, I had to learn proper communication skills over multiple mediums in order to facilitate effective teamwork to accomplish a meaningful task in very short period of time.
How have your future plans changed because of what you learned from your internship experience?
Yes, I was given many shadowing opportunities at my internship and which aided me in locking-in my decision to become a physician.
Please share how your experience led to personal inspiration or insightful revelation.
My mission president used to say that "good revelation comes from good information." For many individuals pursuing the medical field, the commitment to the long hours and difficult classes can be quite challenging. The OSUCCC research internship gives you many chances to shadow physicians and Wexner Medical Center, and gives you interactions with individuals that are in medical programs or are advisors for individuals that are wanting to pursue medicine. Furthermore, the community that was present at OSU was very supportive to those seeking to pursue medicine through mentorship, and in general giving students discounts in order to reduce further financial strain. As I was able to explore medicine in this type of field that was more supportive of medicine rather than telling me the many drawbacks of medicine, I was able to approach the topic of committing to medicine more openly as I prayed, and eventually was able to receive an answer.
Would you recommend this internship to other students?
Absolutely. If anyone is curious in how to be researcher and how to conduct meaningful research, this is THE internship.
Is there anything else you would like to say regarding your internship?
For anyone CONSIDERING medicine, this is the internship for you.
