NextGen Neuroscience Program: Professional Development

This is my third and final post about my experience in the AMC DNET NextGen Neuroscience program. In this post I will reflect on how the program aided my professional development.

Throughout the program, there were many opportunities for me to explore my career paths in science. Firstly, there was a college symposium where representatives from local colleges were able to talk about the college application process. This was really helpful for me as a rising junior who is just starting the college search process. I was able to ask all of the questions that came to mind and listened to the responses given to other people's questions. There was a fair number of high school seniors in the program, so I was able to see what was going on in their minds in relation to applying to colleges. In addition, there was a career symposium where we were able to talk to various professionals with different careers. It was very interesting to see how people with such different paths and degrees ended up working at the same institution. There was also a lecture that discussed the benefits and challenges of pursuing different degrees (MD, PhD, etc.). I had never even considered going to graduate school before this program, so it was really helpful to talk to actual graduate students about their experience. In addition, I got to learn about the differences between getting a Master's degree and getting a PhD. Lastly, in working in Dr. Pilitsis' lab, I got to see all of the different careers that contribute to one lab. I interacted with biomedical engineers, medical students, research technicians, and so many other interesting careers. The summer program really helped me expand my career options.

In addition to widening my perspective of my career options, the summer program included lectures on how to draft a personal statement, how to develop a curriculum vitae (CV), and how to give an oral presentation. Learning how to write a personal statement was extremely valuable to me as I prepare to write my college application essays soon. Working on developing a CV was helpful to me as it is good to have one ready to update as my academic career continues. Lastly, creating and giving an oral presentation was useful to me as I frequently give presentations in school. It was very interesting for me to learn about how many words to put on a slide, how to avoid making distracting slides, etc. Therefore, I gained many practical skills throughout the summer program.