My name is Kelsey Falcone and I am a senior biology and communication major. One of my biggest interests over the past 17 years of my life has been soccer. I have been totally in love with the game since I was four years old. In high school, I had huge aspirations for playing for a huge Division I program. My junior year of high school, I tore my ACL, removing me from the recruiting process. Luckily, I ended up playing for Trinity for four years. My immensely competitive nature does not permit me to deal with losing very well so it has been a true blessing to play for a team who does a lot of winning while allowing me to make some amazing friends and memories along the way. Even though my athletic career is now over (without winning a national championship—not that I’m bitter), I do have some pretty exciting things to look forward to as I move into the next chapter of life.
Last spring, I went through the arduous process of taking my MCAT and applying to medical school. After interviewing at a few institutions, I was lucky enough to pre-match to my number one choice—University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston. While I am extremely excited about pursuing a dream of mine, I am going to be pursuing it for at least seven more years which is a bit daunting. While many think that graduating with two majors which seem to be totally unrelated—biology and communication—is random and relatively useless, my double major has already turned out to help me a ton in medical school interviews. I always find it hilarious when you see a physician and he or she is completely awkward in all social situations. To me, being intellectually capable of diagnosing and administering the proper treatment is not sufficient in our world today. It is immeasurably important to be able to relate to patients on an individual basis in order to understand their economic, social, political, and spiritual background which relate to their overall condition of health. It seems logical, and even necessary, that a doctor should be more than just a thinking cap, also able to create relationships and effectively communicate with others.
While my grandma thinks I am really great at using all forms of technology, I have always been somewhat technologically challenged compared to my peers. I am very much a basic user of the internet and the computer in general. Even though I can use Microsoft Office, Google Chrome, and Paint with moderate proficiency, as soon as there is an error or anything wrong, I am useless. I have learned to be an effective researcher using the internet and databases on the internet. Additionally, I have become quite good at Facebook stalking. This being said, I normally get all of my social media through my smart phone. The universality of the web and its availability on multiple platforms is one of my favorite, and least favorite, aspects of the internet. I find it truly amazing that we can be connected to anyone we want to connect to while ignoring geographic constraints. The fact that the content and information is infinite gives huge opportunity to learn and educate while it also presents the potential for receiving false information. I also find it particularly creepy that surveillance is now open to civilians and anyone who wants to look. It just shows how “privacy” has changed over the past century.
As our world, in general, is becoming more and more technologically advanced, our potential is endless. In the medical field, everything is going electronic. All medical records are being transferred from the traditional paper to computer access. Surgeries are now being performed by robots. Powerful machines are keeping people alive after traumatic injuries. While my path and association with technology looks fairly different from most communication majors, it will still play a huge role in my career. Five years from now, there will no doubt be more powerful, more efficient technology to fight against morbidity and mortality as a human race. This may range from a pacemaker alternative to longer lasting knee replacements to finding a cure to cancer. Ten years from now, it is expected that all surgeries will be performed robotically and physicians will be able to contact anyone around the world through robotic check-ups. No matter what, I will always be using technology in some shape or form, whether it is in my career or as a form of communication or entertainment.
For more information regarding technology in medicine, see the links below:
http://www.sciencedaily.com/news/matter_energy/medical_technology/
https://www.asme.org/engineering-topics/articles/bioengineering/top-5-medical-technology-innovations
Trinity Web Designers (Spring 2015) 