Mentor Assessment #3

Hrushikesh Abdas

March 2nd, 2020

While discussing aspects of Cardiology throughout my previous mentor visits, I became

curious of the more personal and life-affecting aspects that a Cardiologist may have outside of

their practice, and how their typical life is. Obviously, being a Cardiologist means having a very

tight schedule, and in Dr. Shafiq’s case, even tighter considering the fact that he has kids. From

waking up early in the morning in order to deal with patients, to picking up his son from tennis

practice in the evening, Dr. Shafiq has a very busy schedule, which makes me appreciate the

fact that he is still willing to spend time with a student like myself in order to guide and help them

grow.

Rather than talking about the usual topics that we usually discuss, I asked Dr. Shafiq

questions about what his typical day looks like. We discussed a variety of aspects of his job,

and what led him to his current success. Among the topics we discussed, the more prominent

ones fell into two main categories: organization and social life. Organizational skills are

important no matter what you are doing. Being organized gives you a better chance at being

successful is something that Dr. Shafiq had mentioned to me. Organization varies depending on

the person however, so my organizational skills could be very different from Dr. Shafiq’s

organizational techniques. For instance, I organize my day using a white board. While this

generic method may work for me, it is something that Dr. Shafiq tends to stay away from. Along

with having skills such as organization, your social skills will also help determine your success.

While observing Dr. Shafiq’s ability to make conversation, whether it was me, my parents, or

whoever, I noticed that he carried himself in a professional and approachable manner. These

little aspects are things that would make patients want to come back to his office, or other
physicians coming back to work with him. Communication and social skills are things that allow

people to create opportunities for themselves. Together, these two traits make up who you are

as a person, and will go on to help impact how successful you are in the future, among many

other traits.

The two main skills that stuck out to me in this conversation I had with Dr. Shafiq, being

organization and communication, have proven to be more significant than they may seem to the

average person. Organizational skills are common denominators that can be seen in almost

every activity people take part in. Whether it's attending school work, a job, or musical

instrument lessons, it is critical to stay organized if you want to be successful. Color coding and

listing work according to importance is what I do in order to keep track of my progress. Studying

for tests, and projects are assignments that demand more time and importance compared to a

sheet of math problems or reading questions. Social traits such as communication will also

dictate how successful one may be. A student looking to gain more experience in the real world

may need to carry themselves in a professional manner while speaking with professionals, such

as doctors they are looking to shadow, or other professionals to guide them into their future.

Together, these traits are just two of many different traits that build one's character. Developing

these traits is what will make you stand out as an individual in today’s competitive society.

The different things I learned from my conversation with Dr. Shafiq wew all things that

don’t only apply to the typical Cardiologist, but an everyday teenager such as myself. After

seeing the impact the organization, personality and other traits can have, it showed how they

can put you above the other people you may be competing with. Having skills such as

organization and communication can take someone very high up, or bring them down if they are

lacking it. The smarter people may be more qualified and better suited for a job, but when you

walk into the interview room, it is the skills you have that will determine whether you get the job
or not. Being more organized and having better communication will allow your superiors to trust

you, and therefore admire your work more than they would someone lacking these traits. By

folding these traits into my character, I hope to develop them and build myself into a successful

Cardiologist.