FIRST INTERVIEW!

Finally interviewed my first professional over the phone, not so scary after all...

I was finally successful in scheduling my first interview with Dr. Robert Neal. I conducted it over the phone during my lunchtime: 1:15 p.m. I asked him general questions about his job and how his work days are similar or different each day. I learned that he mostly attends patients and when he gets time between appointments, he checks his inbox for mail or medical documents and completes pending office work. Based on my independent research, a question that I made sure to ask him was about how he approaches the families of the child patients about any diagnosis or further medical treatment. He claims that the best way is to confront the family about the child's health and the medical attention that is required. Many of his patients do not have any health problems that he needs to address, so he does not deal with the seriousness of discussing medical conditions with parents as often.

Discussing Dr. Neal's journey of becoming a pediatrician was most helpful to me personally because he told me about his college experience and gave me suggestions on choosing a major based on my current plan. He used to live in California and attended the University of Southern California for an undergraduate in Biology and The University of California in Los Angeles to complete medical school. Today, gaining admission to those colleges is more competitive than it was years ago, so it seems like he accomplished a lot because he attended such prestigious universities. He suggested that I major in something other than Biology so in case I decide not to pursue a medical career in the future, I can pursue another career without wasting money or time.

Overall, the interview was very insightful, and Dr. Robert Neal seems like he would make a good mentor. I have my second interview scheduled for next week with a pediatric surgeon in Dallas. I feel nervous, but I have enough time to prepare myself.