GETTING STARTED

Time - 8 am to 2 pm
Total Hours - 6
Hey, So I woke up at about 5 a.m. And got ready to leave my house at around 6.30 and got to my mentor's office on time at at around 7.30 am. I felt so tired and drained out because I was up very late trying to all my AP Government homework. I also had to wait for him to get to his office because he was running about half and hour late, so I just sat there and read a couple of brochures that were on his table for about 45 minutes. He came in around 8.20 and got we went to his office and he checked his mail and got organized which took him a little bit because he had a lot of mail.

Because he was on his computer he decided to pull  up some images that he had on is computer of the previous surgeries that he did. There were various kinds of surgeries that he had done from cancer patient to breast implants and many other. For some reason he was very specific about how he did every procedure and spent a lot of time just explaining to me what he had done in each of the surgeries and then he kept going on and on about the post ops and also how great all of them turned out. I was very surprised about all the pictures that I saw because they seemed completely natural, as if there was no procedure done to them what so ever. After the pictures we started to talk about how difficult it is doing procedure that he does and also how difficult it is to be a plastic surgeon.

 After talking about the hardships present in the field of plastic and reconstructive surgery, we started talking about how long it takes to become one and what credentials are needed. He said that if I wanted to be a surgeon, I would have to start out by going to an undergraduate university that has a strong medical background, he mentioned that he went to university of California Davis and did very well in it. Then I would have to work hard and stand out in those four years for example being the top five ranked in my class. Also get an internship and maybe even get a mentor so that I would stand out from so many other students. Then I would apply to medical school, the things that I would have done in the last four years would pretty much determine how good of a school I may be able to get into and if I get in i would pick the career that I wanted to pursue and specialize in that field. Thankfully he was very clear and through about the entire process and gave me a lot of examples.

After that I would need to complete all the requirements for that particular career. If I don't get into medical school than I could still go to Ostio Pathic school. After op or medical school I would have to try to achieve my residency, which is a type of license/credential to be able to operate on others. A person can only apply for it after four years of MED school. Then I would have to give a physical and written test to achieve my residency and then I would be a certified surgeon. I would be certified to have my own private surgeries and or operate in a hospital. He gave me a lot of information about the field of plastic surgery and I'm kind of overwhelmed about all the things that I would have to  become a surgeon. But I'm sure its probably worth, well that does it for another mentoring session.
Peace out
Divyashish Kumar

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FIRST DAY

Time - 9 am to 3 pm
Total Hours - 6
On January 18 I met my mentor, in San Francisco, Dr. Javaheri one of the best plastic surgeons in California. His office was in one of these huge buildings that intimidate someone if they just look at it. It took me 10 minutes just to locate his office, but it had a couple minutes to spare because my appointment was at 9 am. After I finally found his office, as I went in I checked in with the receptionist and had to wait to meet Dr. Javaheri. After a few minutes he finally came out and we shook hands. I was really nervous of whether or not he would agree to be my mentor. He introduced himself and told me frankly, " it's hard to make it in the surgery business", and that I would have to work really hard to make it as a plastic surgeon. Then he told me about his experience and how his dad was a surgeon which made him want to be a surgeon.

 As he went on, he asked me a lot of questions about why I wanted to enter the field of survey and what made me want to be a medical student.  It really made me think and realize the importance of this mentorship and also the opportunity that this project gave me. He kept on answer me more questions about my family background and why being a surgeon is important to me, and we kept talking for a while. It made me feel very comfortable that he was so friendly and he seemed very nice and understanding person.

After we got done talking he took me around his office and showed me all these different rooms, that he operates on patients., He pretty much gave me a tour of his entire office and I was very surprised by how big it was. Then he also made introduces me to all of his staff and some of his colleagues who seemed like good people. I also noticed how cold it was most of the place we went into and it kind of made me regret not bringing a jacket. After the tour we were done for the day and I told Dr. J that I would email him and make another appointment to continue my hours.

Overall it was a very cool day, I had a lot of fun and saw a lot of new things. I also enjoyed talking to Dr. Javaheri and got to know him on more of a personal basis rather than as just my mentor. I learned about a lot of things in the medical field that are very interesting and stand out. All and all i had a great time today, hopefully i get to observe a surgery pretty soon, that would be pretty cool.
Peace out
Divyashish Kumar