Getting Down to Business

It was my perception that everyone started work on their projects slowly and built up the pace over the course of their internship. I had received a schedule on my first day at SEARCH that outlined my progress points and milestones and I thought I had it under control. I knew I would be presenting at one of the research meetings in the first week of July, but when I arrived in June, July seemed soooo far away. Further, I could have sworn it said something like July 6th or July 7th.

Well, on Thursday, a day that I spent mostly doing nothing and watching girls get their noses pierced, I realized at 4:30pm that I was supposed to present at the 8:30am research meeting the next day, July 2nd! Uh oh! At first I was going to make up some excuse like it was only my first full week and I was not prepared, but I did not think this would be appropriate. Besides, many of the other girls had to present in their first week or two here. So, I immediately snapped into work mode. Although I had not done much of the literature review that was supposed to be the first step in my project, I had already begun looking at the data and had put a lot of thought into the analysis and the output that I hoped to get.

I quickly started drafting up my powerpoint presentation. By prayer service I had about half of it done, and I was proud of myself for taking the work seriously. I talked with the other interns to get a good sense of what would be expected. Some said that since it was my first presentation, I should definitely present my literature review. I panicked because I had barely read the literature on my topic (smokeless tobacco consumption in pregnant women) and I was only going with prior knowledge. They advised downloading some articles before the internet cut out, and reviewing them the best I could. Some of the other girls told me not to worry so much about presenting the literature review, and to just focus on what I had done, and to at least present what my plan would be for the work that I had not yet completed. They all said that sometimes Dr. Bang could be very critical of the work presented, but it was all meant to be constructive.

That Thursday evening was probably the first time I felt professionally stressed at SEARCH. I was excited to be here and work on my project, but all of a sudden I felt like it had gotten the best of me. The presentation would be my first real interaction with Dr. Bang and I wanted him to think highly of me. I did not want it to show that I started preparing my presentation the afternoon before I was scheduled to give it. I used my time wisely for the rest of the evening. When the girls gathered for a movie night to watch Kung Fu Panda, I only stayed for part of it. I wanted to go to sleep early because I planned to wake up early and put some final touches on my presentation.

In the end, everything worked out wonderfully. I was proud of the powerpoint slides that I put together and I think I was able to explain them well and clearly. After my 15 minute presentation, Dr. Bang's first words were "Very good." He asked the room if there were any questions and there did not seem to be any major issues. Then Dr. Bang and Anand asked me six or seven questions between them and I was able to come up with a response to each of them. Although I was sorta half-guessing my answers, the point of the research meeting, or the journal club, is for the project to be a discussion. As long as you say something and do not sit there and look dumbfounded, you have done a good job. At one point I glanced across the room and Miriam gave me a thumbs up! At the conclusion of the meeting the other girls told me I had done a good job and that not all the presentations always go that well. This made me feel really good. I credit the intense methods courses at UNC for preparing me so well and helping me to appear as if I am a true epidemiologist.