Overview
I took a course in cardiovascular bioengineering in the Fall of 2020. I took this course as an elective and while I was back home in India. This class used to be at 4 AM in the mornings for me but it was a topic of research I was really interested in and motivated me enough to attend classes synchronously. The goal of this class was to get a more in-depth view of cardiac bioengineering and this experience was very valuable to me since it helped me explore a field of work, I am really interested in.
Personal Importance of Work
This was a fulfilling experience because it helped me learn more about a field of work that I am really interested in and explore a potential career option. I also think that this class was a test of how far I would be willing to go to do something that I really like given the extremely odd hour this class would happen it. This class was also important to me since it connected to my research work very strongly and a lot of work that I did here helped me learn a lot more about my research work in lab.
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Tasks Accomplished
During this class I wrote two papers on Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD), the first was on understanding the disease and the current standard of care to treat DMD. The second paper was on current and upcoming approaches that were being developed to treat DMD, my research work is a part of this too!
I also did a 30-minute individual presentation wherein I presented a paper on a study that was evaluating a potential drug to treat a cardiomyopathy. This was the first time I presented in a class for this long and on my own so it was a very new experience. Lastly, I also led a small group discussion on another paper on cardiovascular bioengineering.
I also did a 30-minute individual presentation wherein I presented a paper on a study that was evaluating a potential drug to treat a cardiomyopathy. This was the first time I presented in a class for this long and on my own so it was a very new experience. Lastly, I also led a small group discussion on another paper on cardiovascular bioengineering.
Leadership Competencies Gained
Self Development:
Overall, this class was very helpful in me developing a deeper understanding of a field of research I am very interested in. But also, beyond that I think this class gave me a first-hand experience of doing a small lecture-type presentation to an audience in addition to leading a journal club. Usually, I see a lot of grad students in my lab doing these activities so the opportunity to do this in a class was great and really helped me advance these skills. I also used this class as a great opportunity to understand my research work in more detail due to the overlap the content of this class had with my research.
Scope of Competence:
I was quick to realize that while I was quite familiar with a general overview of cardiovascular bioengineering, there was a lot I simply did not know and recognizing that early helped me become more open to asking for help and asking more questions in areas I had limited knowledge into better supplement my learning and make this class a better experience overall. Even during presentations, I think it was important to recognize when to say that I do not have an answer to a question instead of trying to piece together an incorrect or inaccurate answer just to be able to answer a question.
Verbal Communication:
Being able to verbally communicate in this class was a crucial element during journal club discussions and during presentations. In this class I presented a paper to the whole class and a paper in a journal club which was a more conversational setting. Both presentations required different forms of effective verbal communication. When presenting to the whole class, my presentation was more like a lecture and I had to break down information into simpler bits but without the back and forth that I would have in a discussion group which made it challenging to gauge how much my audience understood.
Resilience:
Attending school with a 12-hour difference was challenging overall and I had to significantly change the way I planned my day to accommodate school and a somewhat healthy sleep schedule. Additionally, the fact that I was home but not able to step out and meet my friends I had not seen in months was also difficult to cope with which made the whole experience even more challenging. I feel that I attended this class because it was something I was very passionate about but overall, it was a test of my resilience and how well I could adapt to a very new way of attending school.
Group Development:
A major part of this class was participating in small journal clubs which would be led by one student who presenting that week. This was a very open discussion-based setting, and we would often work in the group to understand the paper that was being discussed and talk about its impact on the field of research and our own work if applicable. This was also a very important experience for me since it helped me understand how to break down scientific papers in group settings and how members of the group can all work together to better interpret and help each other understand science.
Motivation:
Due to the time difference and online school, keeping my motivation up was a significant challenge this quarter. In order to keep myself going, I used to keep small tasks that I would try to finish at certain times to keep me motivated. Additionally, I would also read and discuss papers that we had to read for this class with a friend so we could help each other. Another strategy that I used was also reminding myself why I wanted to take this class in the first place and how it will be really helpful for informing my future research work.
Synthesis:
Cardiac bioengineering is a very complicated topic, in order to understand the content in this class, it was crucial to breakdown information that was presented in the literature we had to cover before class. Additionally, while writing my papers for this class, it was also important to breakdown what previous literature said about a certain topic into simpler terms so that I could interpret it myself and then be able to effectively explain in the paper I write. Being able to breakdown information covered in lecture and the literature also helped forward my own understanding of the field of cardiovascular bioengineering and allowed me to explain the field to a friend or anyone else who was interested in learning more about it but not an expert in the area.
Goals:
This class had a small number of very long assignments due which were assigned early on and then we were given a couple weeks to complete them. I have a tendency to start working closer to deadlines, so this class really helped me learn how to set progress goals and hit certain milestones at certain times to keep the class workload manageable. Setting goals early on helped me keep things on track and avoid situations wherein I had to complete the vast majority of an assignment too close to a deadline. Additionally, setting goals also helped have a sense of accomplishment as and when I reached them which motivated me to keep pushing.
Overall, this class was very helpful in me developing a deeper understanding of a field of research I am very interested in. But also, beyond that I think this class gave me a first-hand experience of doing a small lecture-type presentation to an audience in addition to leading a journal club. Usually, I see a lot of grad students in my lab doing these activities so the opportunity to do this in a class was great and really helped me advance these skills. I also used this class as a great opportunity to understand my research work in more detail due to the overlap the content of this class had with my research.
Scope of Competence:
I was quick to realize that while I was quite familiar with a general overview of cardiovascular bioengineering, there was a lot I simply did not know and recognizing that early helped me become more open to asking for help and asking more questions in areas I had limited knowledge into better supplement my learning and make this class a better experience overall. Even during presentations, I think it was important to recognize when to say that I do not have an answer to a question instead of trying to piece together an incorrect or inaccurate answer just to be able to answer a question.
Verbal Communication:
Being able to verbally communicate in this class was a crucial element during journal club discussions and during presentations. In this class I presented a paper to the whole class and a paper in a journal club which was a more conversational setting. Both presentations required different forms of effective verbal communication. When presenting to the whole class, my presentation was more like a lecture and I had to break down information into simpler bits but without the back and forth that I would have in a discussion group which made it challenging to gauge how much my audience understood.
Resilience:
Attending school with a 12-hour difference was challenging overall and I had to significantly change the way I planned my day to accommodate school and a somewhat healthy sleep schedule. Additionally, the fact that I was home but not able to step out and meet my friends I had not seen in months was also difficult to cope with which made the whole experience even more challenging. I feel that I attended this class because it was something I was very passionate about but overall, it was a test of my resilience and how well I could adapt to a very new way of attending school.
Group Development:
A major part of this class was participating in small journal clubs which would be led by one student who presenting that week. This was a very open discussion-based setting, and we would often work in the group to understand the paper that was being discussed and talk about its impact on the field of research and our own work if applicable. This was also a very important experience for me since it helped me understand how to break down scientific papers in group settings and how members of the group can all work together to better interpret and help each other understand science.
Motivation:
Due to the time difference and online school, keeping my motivation up was a significant challenge this quarter. In order to keep myself going, I used to keep small tasks that I would try to finish at certain times to keep me motivated. Additionally, I would also read and discuss papers that we had to read for this class with a friend so we could help each other. Another strategy that I used was also reminding myself why I wanted to take this class in the first place and how it will be really helpful for informing my future research work.
Synthesis:
Cardiac bioengineering is a very complicated topic, in order to understand the content in this class, it was crucial to breakdown information that was presented in the literature we had to cover before class. Additionally, while writing my papers for this class, it was also important to breakdown what previous literature said about a certain topic into simpler terms so that I could interpret it myself and then be able to effectively explain in the paper I write. Being able to breakdown information covered in lecture and the literature also helped forward my own understanding of the field of cardiovascular bioengineering and allowed me to explain the field to a friend or anyone else who was interested in learning more about it but not an expert in the area.
Goals:
This class had a small number of very long assignments due which were assigned early on and then we were given a couple weeks to complete them. I have a tendency to start working closer to deadlines, so this class really helped me learn how to set progress goals and hit certain milestones at certain times to keep the class workload manageable. Setting goals early on helped me keep things on track and avoid situations wherein I had to complete the vast majority of an assignment too close to a deadline. Additionally, setting goals also helped have a sense of accomplishment as and when I reached them which motivated me to keep pushing.
Lessons Learned
This class has been very helpful in understanding the possibilities in cardiovascular engineering better and giving my career choices more guidance. This class was also the first time I did a 30-minute individual presentation, and this was a fruitful experience in terms of understanding how to present scientific literature and how to divide time in such a long presentation to keep an audience engaged. Lastly, this class was also a great technical writing experience. Overall, these skills will be very helpful for me in the future as they are crucial for becoming a good scientist and will be very important whenever I have to present a scientific talk in the future.