Hi, my name is Brayden Chavis. This blog is for my internship under Dr. Tom Nguyen, a cardiothoracic surgeon at Memorial Hermann's Heart and Vascular Center. I go every Friday morning (so, expect blog posts on Saturday or Sunday), with the occasional switch-up to accommodate for surgeries and other things that I get involved with. And no, I'm not operating. I attained this internship with two things at my side: commitment and a willingness to learn. When I interviewed for this position, I was too young, so I kept a dialogue with the doctor I aimed to work with until I was able to go. We sorted out the times I would be able to meet with him during his busy week, what my position would entail, and other organizational details. If you demonstrate interest, most people in any field will be happy to help you learn to the best of their ability- and that's what happened here.
For the past three weeks, the internship has been in a sort of testing phase. I got to know my way around the medical center a bit more, became even more inundated with medical jargon, and started to flesh (ha) out a project that I'll be helping Dr. Nguyen to get off of the ground. More details on that will come soon. A part of that testing phase was figuring out how this blog would work with the internship and what I can and cannot do, which is something that is definitely worth explaining. To start on that topic, do not expect a great amount of pictures- especially from the operating room- simply on the grounds that patient confidentiality is important. Like, legally speaking. Patient release forms to get pictures could be a possibility, but that's still a bit difficult to sort out because I'm a student. Descriptions of the surgery and how it went are still possible, as are pictures from clinic or post-operation patient checkups. I'll have plenty of content to sort through and post on the blog every week, so it will stay enjoyable to read through. I'd like to thank the Post Oak High School, which I attend, for allowing me to have this opportunity integrated into my school schedule. I look forward to sharing more of the stories-to-come from this internship.
