Reflective Essay Sample on Internship at a Research Institute

One of the notable quotes on education is the assertion by Martin Luther King Jr. that states, The function of education is to teach one to think intensively and to think critically. Intelligence plus character - that is the goal of true education. In other words, proper education enables one to be open-minded and be of good character (Fagerlind & Saha 2016, pg. 54). From a personal perspective, educational environment provides people with opportunities to acquire new skills that make them effective and play significant roles in the society. It can be viewed that much that has happened today in terms of political, economic and social developments are attributed to education. Most of the skills and information that students receive emanate from the cognitive, affective, and psychomotor domains that are present in the instructional methods. Furthermore, the educational systems provide individuals with opportunities to develop their social skills in addition to shaping them into respectable members of the society through the rules and regulations that govern the students (Fagerlind & Saha 2016, pg. 54).

Is your time best spent reading someone else’s essay? Get a 100% original essay FROM A CERTIFIED WRITER!

Order now

My internship program that lasted for three months exposed me to various aspects in regards to my career and the societal expectations of people in my profession when it comes to meeting the needs of individuals. The internship took place at the Neuroscience & Mental Health Institute where is was able to work in an environment that exposed me more to my career obligations in regards to research. The specific department that I worked under was the stroke department. My first impression was that most of the activities that I would engage in would be associated with laboratory work and research such as analyzing the specimens regarding the human brain and assessing the experimental models in an animal study. In regards to the information that I learned at the university, research tends to involve plenty of activities regarding analyzing articles, conducting studies and experiments, engaging in field work and so forth (Cohen & Kazdin 2016, pg. 703). Therefore, I knew that those were some of the activities that I would engage in.

I started off with reading various scientific articles affiliated with studies in my field and the basics of working in such an environment. Despite a large number of documents, I critically reviewed some grant applications and research documents whereby I went through them in moderation to prevent losing out on content. However, I found it cumbersome and of little progress and so I developed a system. The system entailed skimming through an article, highlighting the main points and then going through the article again while paying attention to specific information as per the guidelines illustrated by Neuman (2016, pg. 45). In the end, I was able to comprehend and recall most of the content. I also did my research using online sources when unable to comprehend certain areas before consulting with my supervisor. The analysis of the articles took me back to some of the basics that I learned in neuroscience; basics such as molecular and cellular neurobiology, brains, genes and behavior, social neurobiology, hormones and human conduct, and advanced neuroscience laboratory. Furthermore, the analysis of the articles exposed more information regarding strokes on the current studies and the areas that still require more research. I also spent more time doing research and analyzing various publications regarding stroke rehabilitation and motivation. I view the research as one of my main achievements during the internship. I managed to identify some areas in motivation and rehabilitation of stroke that required research. I informed the institution which embarked on doing more research on stroke rehabilitation and motivation. It used an analyst from The Florey addiction to present the required guidelines to the research team.

At the beginning of the internship, I associated myself with being a novice learner. Such a learner has little practical experience in the associated skill area in regards to actions and highly reliable or dependent on the instructions and procedures and performs duties depending on the directive provided by others (Department of Education 2013, pg. 8). On certain occasions, I would visit the institutions library to receive guidance from the librarian concerning the use of databases which was quite challenging at first. However, after some time I got used to accessing the databases without any guidance which boosted my confidence. The presentations that took place after every two weeks where I was expected to illustrate a comprehensive analysis to my supervisor and several research officers were quite challenging during the first weeks of the internship. One of my biggest fears before overcoming it was talking to an audience of two or more professionals. It was difficult to express myself but, because of the frequent visits, I was able to gain confidence and incorporate an interactive session during the presentations. One way that guided me in the presentations was preparing an outline that I would follow when addressing the key points.

Berman and Snyder (2015, pg. 67) suggest the use of an outline and the organization of ideas as effective methods to employ when giving presentations. Therefore, through the guidelines, the outline enabled me to organize my thoughts in addition to ensuring that I provided adequate and orderly information. I would also engage in several rehearsals in regards to the slide show and my verbal and non-verbal skills for me to get used to the content before the actual presentation. I would also request for feedback from my supervisors on areas that required improvements and the areas to focus on to benefit from the internship. After the whole experience, I believe that I am an expert performer. Such a performer has practical experience in the associated area of skills in regards to comprehension of content and paying attention to details (Department of Education 2013, pg. 8). Nonetheless, I believe that there are still more areas to learn as I progress with my career.

The subjects that I study in the university include neuroscience, anatomy, and neurophysiology. The knowledge that I obtained from the subjects enabled me to adequately engage in research and the training programs during the internship. When it comes to neuroscience, the associated knowledge include being aware of the systems of the brain, the neurotransmitters and the associated behavior practices controlled by the brain, being aware of the methods in which trauma and infections that take place in the nervous system impact behavior, and being aware of the research methods and the analysis of data utilized in neuroscience (King 2016, pg. 462). The associated skills include being capable of creating a hypothesis which is testable and organizing analyses basing on non-experimental and experimental research designs, being capable of presenting written communication abilities particularly in writing scientific reports and being capable of exhibiting laboratory skills which are necessary when it comes to research on behavioral neuroscience (King 2016, pg. 462). The skills and knowledge associated with anatomy are mostly observational and the ability to analyze relationships in the anatomy. Adequate observation skills make it possible to identify any errors or rather abnormalities in the body that seem to affect behavior and physiological functioning of the body (Husmann & Barger 2014, pg. 337). The skills enabled me to engage in several types of research and contribute to meetings during the program. The skill associated with neurophysiology that I believe I have obtained throughout the course entails analyzing the operations of the nervous system for the purpose of diagnosing the keeping check of neurological disorders. It entails plenty of laboratory work, especially when studying cells and the associated pathogens that bring about infections (Galloway 2015, pg. 45). I found the knowledge acquired from the three subjects useful in guiding me throughout the internship program.

At the stroke department, I was able to take part in various training sessions with some participants who were mostly patients. The institution organized several symposiums and workshops by which I attended most of them. The workshops enabled me to network with professionals and scholars who have made great achievements in the field in addition to students who shared with me their experiences in the field. The benefits associated with networking include; meeting with other professional, sharing ideas and views, gaining access to new information and establishing a professional connection (Porter et.al 2016, pg. 49). The interaction enabled me to develop a professional basis that I was sure would assist in developing my professional network. The interactions also proved useful to my research project and information on new areas in the field that I was not familiar with. Furthermore, by interacting with various scholars on the field, it made it easier to comprehend some of the content that I had previously read at the start of the internship. The sessions provided a hands-on experience where I was able to relate to the stroke patients but through supervision. One of the training involved the acute stroke training that involved taking care of the stroke patients. Before the actual practical with the patients, the other interns and I were coached on the various types of strokes, management during emergencies, treatment of ischemic stroke, the management of hemorrhage, prevention of strokes, taking care of the needs of stroke patients, the rehabilitation of stroke patients in addition to managing the pediatric stroke. The participants were mostly involved in the management of strokes and rehabilitation for those who had already experienced the condition. Most of the patients showed up for the rehabilitation exercises for about thirty minutes. Before the session began, I would record each patients blood pressure and the oxygen saturation and then allow the HR monitor to assess their progress. During the rehabilitation process, I noted down the alternate speed with either slow or moderate depending on the health condition of a patient. The speed was alternated in regards to the Rating of Perceived Exertion (RPE) scale. The RPE scale, in this case, refers to an indicator used in monitoring and providing guidance on the intensity of the exercise. To have substantive data we questioned the patients on the intensity of their work after every two minutes before increasing or lowering the speed with the goal being achieving a moderate speed. The patients HR were also recorded in a span of two minutes. After the whole process, the procedure was repeated but instead noted down the levels of oxygen saturation and the blood pressure.

I found the training to be effective as it exposed me to a hands-on-experience, where I was able to apply the little knowledge that I had and acquire more information. Furthermore, I was able to interact with the patients in regards to adequate care and the need for managing themselves when outside of the hospital environments. The training sessions employed a multidisciplinary approach whereby the other interns and I worked together in teams in managing the strokes. A multidisciplinary approach allows the collaboration of efforts to ensure that quality outcome is achieved (Rooney et.al 2014, pg. 59). From experience, I was able to view the significance of teamwork when it comes to handling duties. When one works alone, it becomes quite challenging to coordinate efforts in assisting a patient. However, when a team is involved, v...