An Egg-Celent Experience

Last week, I had the pleasure of interviewing Dr. Deborah Fuller, an obstetrician-gynecologist with her own practice in Downtown Dallas. However, surprisingly, one of the most important lessons I learned last week was not with Dr. Fuller but on the drive to her office. Traveling to mentor visits and research interviews, although they just seem like driving, require intense consideration, thoughtful planning, and careful preparation that I've truly understood now. Dr. Fuller's office was approximately 37 minutes, but factoring in 5 PM traffic on a Thursday evening, it was approximately an hour and thirty minutes and there was an accident on the freeway, which increased the time needed by at least 20 minutes. This was a completely new experience for me, as I am usually very punctual and arrive at my research interviews at least 15 minutes early. However, this time I had to almost arrive late, pushing me to effectively communicate with Dr. Fuller's office manager on how the interview would work out if I arrived late. Luckily, in the end, everything worked out and in fact, I had ample time to wait until Dr. Fuller and I conducted our interview, but this experience is not singular. Other instances may lead to similar situations where something unexpected occurs, such as the accident on the freeway, which disables me from arriving on time. I am incredibly grateful to Dr. Fuller for excusing this, but others may not be as forgiving, and especially with the first interview, punctuality sets an important first impression. Therefore, I would like to take this experience and use it to motivate myself to be more punctual and apply more thoughtful planning to accommodate obstacles that may occur. Although not every obstacle is avoidable and unexpected complications do arise, being prepared and having a thorough understanding of all variables allows for successful interviews and sets a positive impression on your interviewees and mentors. Furthermore, I had the pleasure of meeting Dr. Deborah A. Fuller at the Obstetrics and Gynecology Associates of Dallas. I learned an incredible deal of information about the duties of being an obstetrician-gynecologist, but also the business and financial aspects of running your own private practice. Dr. Fuller remarked that although doctors make comparatively higher salaries than average Americans, doctors, especially female doctors, are under-compensated in the medical field, which struck me as interesting. It was overall an incredible experience with Dr. Fuller and she was incredibly knowledgeable, driven, hardworking, and passionate about her career. So far, I've completed my three necessary interviews, but I am further researching to discover more potential interviewees. I am incredibly excited about my research and conducting more interviews and applying all of my experience to my future goals.