Annie Levenson: Advice from Many Mentors BACK

Published by AFAR

After our didactic session last night, we went out to dinner with Dr. Rudolph and a few Geriatrics Fellows.  I just finished my first year of medical school, so I have only rarely had the opportunity to interact with Fellows, especially in a social setting.  I found it really helpful to get the chance to talk to them.  We pumped them all for their stories about how they decided to go into the field (nicely, of course).  Hearing their perspective was helpful, since they had just recently made the decision to pursue geriatrics and could give a reasonably accurate explanation of why they'd made that choice.  It also helped that they were really warm, kind people who were willing to share their experiences.

I took the opportunity to ask a question I'd been too embarrassed to ask Geriatrics attendings: as a woman with a somewhat high voice, how do you handle communicating with hard-of-hearing patients?  It seems silly, but I have had a lot of trouble communicating with geriatrics patients for that reason, and hadn't found a good solution to the problem.  The fellows took my question seriously and shared some tips they had picked up along the way.  All in all, I really appreciated the opportunity to get to talk to them and hear about why they chose to pursue Geriatrics.

Annie Levenson
Mount Sinai School of Medicine

 

"Diary of an MSTAR Student" follows scholars in the 2011 Medical Student Training in Aging Research (MSTAR) Program, highlighting their summer experiences. As they continue their path of research, training and clinical practice, read their daily thoughts at www.afar.org/mstarblog. New diary entries are posted every day, so check back soon.