Research Writer Interview With Chad

My interests are as diverse as my mannerisms. My professional life and career requires me to be persistent and diligent, my hobbies to be determined and sometimes overtly aggressive, but during my downtime, my social apostles demand that I be funny, lighthearted and cool. I struggled to find that life-balance, and now finally I am seeing it within reach.

I graduated from medical school in 2011. Now that I look back, it seems as long ago as when I anticipated finishing medical school at the start. From as far back as I can remember I always wanted to become a physician. My parents, both being in the medical field, had a big role to play. I did go through the rebellious phase as a teenager, the phase when you aspire to be anything else other than what you thought your parent’s wanted. However, when it came to making that decisive decision, the choice was clear. I was somewhat compelled by the altruistic idea of helping others as is the case with most medical students. As child I would observe as my mother interacted with her patients, and from early on I was able to appreciate the smiles on their faces as they stepped out the door. The other part of medicine that gravitates me is the complex and mind-stimulating nature of the field. I have observed competent and diligent physicians decipher diagnoses and know the optimal treatment with just a few words from and the look of their patients. That is before the stethoscope even touches that patient. But this diligence and competence comes with time, dedication and application. That challenge is something I greatly look forward to.

Isolated from the basic medical sciences, I also have a profound interest in public health. Growing up in Grenada, my travelling experiences, and residing here in the US have given me a first-hand look of how various health-systems operate. Additionally my father always took the opportunity to school me in the philosophy and politics underlying those principles. I can now hold me own debating him, and accomplishing that was a feat.

I am scientific minded and analytical and I am hardly ever short of ideas. In my last year of medical school when I was given the opportunity to be involved with academic research I was tasked with filling the gap between producing ideas and articulating those ideas clearly and systematically for a reader audience. I see writing as yet another challenge and that excites me. A question is posed. There is an endless body of information to consult from. The first part of the challenge for me is being able to discern which information is most pertinent. The second part is deciding which is the most effective way to organize that information for answering that question posed. From then the discussion flows and I tweak. My extensive involvement with academic authoring has allowed me to develop a unique style of conveying ideas. Present to me that challenge and I will more than wholeheartedly set out to prove my point on paper.

My lifelong hobby and passion is drag racing. The same quality of understanding and dealing with complex systems that compelled me to pursue medicine, was the same quality that sparked my interest in understanding the complex nature of high performance automobiles. It is a culture that few can appreciate because before every race are months and sometimes years of painstaking dedication and sacrifice of time, and resources. At the lights, I am more aggressive behind the wheel than probably my fiercest competitor but when it’s done, I return to being who I am best; the chill Chad. And even before the celebration starts with the routine chilled beers and fried chicken, my comrades swear that I am the funniest and coolest person to be with.