So Why Am I in Milwaukee?

The sun doesnt shine so often in Milwaukee. It is cold and it promises to get colder. A much smaller version of Chicago is how I see it, though by American standards it is a fairly large city. I have already made a bunch of friends, seen a few places and been to at least one cafe.
But why am I there in the first place?
Finally I was put across on a phone call with a really important heart doctor and a researcher in the Milwaukee region. His team includes some of the pioneers in echocardiography (the art of looking at the heart using an ultrasound probe and some gooey gel) and the center is one of the center of excellence for cardiac care. My phone conversation with him was on Thursday. I got here on Monday. That's right, 800 miles, two luggage pieces and a new place to live -I made the move in 3 days.
I am now a 'Volunteer Researcher' at Aurora Healthcare. Its a precious opportuity to learn how to research. Research, by the way, means something very specific. It is the systematic effort at collecting and analyzing data to further scientific knowledge with the intent of getting published in existing body of scientific literature (paraphrased)
Sounds tough? Well yes it is! Research involves unyielding focus and determination and the ability to construct a path and follow it where none exists. It is an effort to chart a course in the future of science, to discover what is not yet known. Research can both be frustrating and exhillarating. It can be fun (when you are getting paid for it) or stressful (when your job rests on your ability to get published).
For me, it is an effort to broaden my own horizons at the moment. I want to learn how to research in an academic setting as much as I want to contribute to the scientific body. The passion is already there; I am just trying to build the right skills to channel it productively.

This entry was posted on Friday, November 21, 2014 and is filed under ,. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response.

Leave a Reply

(C) Copyrights Reserved by Hasan Iftikhar. Powered by Blogger.