ISM- MENTOR INTERVIEW ASSIGNMENT QUESTIONS

Student Name: Melissa Nguyen Period: 7

Printed Name of Person Interviewed: Crystal Sierra

Role of Individual:
__X__Mentor
Place/Name of Business: Pediatric & Adult Primary Care

Business Address: 128 West Parkwood Friendswood, Texas 77546

Phone Number: 281 – 482 - 5695

Date of Interview: November 2, 2018

Type of Interview: __X__ In Person

1. For someone working in your field, please describe the fantasies versus realities of the job.
(fantasy vs. reality)

The fantasies about being a pediatrician is typically what people see on television. The entertainment world
portrays the occupation as one that is always happy and lively. Everything is exciting such as meeting with
patients, working with co-workers, and many other day-to-day activities a pediatrician would have. Unfortunately,
that is not always the case. Meeting and treating young children is exciting, but the reality is that the job is not as
easy as everyone assumes. It requires perseverance. Another aspect of the occupation the entertainment world
fails to show is that pediatrician must take notes regarding their patients. Though the realities are tough at times,
being a pediatrician is fulfilling.

2. What is your current educational level? What continuing education and training are required?
(educational level and requirements)

Regarding educational level, one must have a medical degree, had attended and finished four years of college,
four years of medical school, and three years of residency. The three years of residency pertain to pediatrics while
it takes more years if one wants to be a surgeon or a dermatologist. Continuing education and training would
typically be going to a conference per year to refresh and give new knowledge.

3. Please describe the typical day to day activities of someone working in your field.
(day-to-day activities)

A typical day for a pediatrician would be seeing around 20 to 30 patients a day. In between patients, they would
have to type notes to document why the patients visited and the treatments given to them, sending and ordering
prescriptions to local pharmacies, answering patients’ phone calls, and answering nurses’ questions if they have
any.

Revised Fall 2017

4. How secure are you in your current position? What do you think is the future of your field?
(job security)

Dr. Sierra said she feels really secure about her job. She explained that everyone needed a pediatrician to educate
parents on how to help and raise their kids to be as healthy as possible. Another reasoning is that adults would
most likely care about their children even more than themselves. A pediatrician is needed to guide them into
giving what is best for their kids to grow.

5. What is a typical (average or lowest to highest) salary of someone working in your field?
(salary)

The average salary a year would be around 200,000 dollars. On average, she would get paid 3,000 to 3,500 dollars
a week. From researching since Dr. Sierra did not know the exact statistics for the lowest and highest average
salary of a pediatrician, it said that the lowest was 184,240 dollars while the highest was 244,760 dollars a year.

6. What potential for growth is there in your field?

(growth potential)

As years go by and one has been working as a pediatrician for a long time, they can go into administrative work.
They can work with other doctors and universities to educate college students about the field. Also, by working
with other colleagues, there could be a study that will further help them with teaching the community about
health.

***Questions 7-10 will be created by the ISM student.

7. Does your office schedule work well with your personal life?

Dr. Sierra said it works extremely well for her since the schedule times are flexible. She gets to pick up her
daughter from school and participate with them when there is a school event. Thursday is her day off from work,
so she can use that day to spend time with her family.

8. What was the most memorable experience you had during your journey of becoming a pediatrician?

When I asked this question, she immediately replied that residency was her most memorable experience. It was
not really a warm-feeling experience but more of a bitter-sweet feeling since it was the exact opposite of her
schedule now. She would have to work 80 hours a week, and she did not have any time for herself. Though it was
a hard time for her during residency, she was glad that she could make it and become who she is today.

9. During school, what topic/area of study made it difficult for you to comprehend?

The subject that Dr. Sierra said to be the hardest for her to understand was pathology. She explained that it was
difficult for her to distinguish what cell or disease was on the slides. Sometimes, with the slides, there is not a
definite answer to what is right or wrong. Since the answers were confusing at times, it made the subject harder to
comprehend.

Revised Fall 2017

10. What inspired you to become a pediatrician?

Dr. Sierra wanted to strive towards the pediatric career when she was in high school. From a young age,
she knew that she wanted to be a doctor. High school was when she pinpointed which field she wanted
to go into. Even though she felt that pediatrics was her field of study in high school, she kept an open
mind in college. In the end, she stuck to the pediatrics because she felt sad when hearing about the infant
and/or child mortality rates being high. She hopes to reduce the infant and/or child mortality rates with
the education she received in school.

Interview Summary
What information from this interview will you select for your ½ page typed,
bulleted list of research information—to be used in your presentation?
Create a bulleted summary list on the next page.

Revised Fall 2017

 Bulleted Summary List

 Fantasies about being a pediatrician is that it is always exciting when it is not

 Realities about the job is that the pediatrician must write notes, write and order prescriptions, and
answer patients’ calls
 Requires a medical degree, must have attended and finished four years of college, four years of
medical school, and three years of residency
 Years of residency depends on the field of study
o Three years are the minimum for pediatrics while people going into dermatology or
surgery occupations will be required to have more than three years of residency
 Will not have to exactly know one’s career until later in college years
 80 hours of residency so one must be physically and mentally prepared to commit to it
 Each year, there will be a conference that will refresh medical knowledge and introduce new
ones if necessary
 Everyone needs a pediatrician since a pediatricians’ job is to help raise the future generations of
the world and make sure they are healthy
 On average, there will be 20 to 30 patients each day
 Average annual salary is around 200,000 dollars
 Lowest average annual salary was 184,240 dollars
 Highest average annual salary was 244,760 dollars
 When talking about mentor in the presentation, I can put the reason for her inspiration and what
the process of getting to where she is as well
 Infant and/ or child mortality rates and how pediatricians can help reduce it
 Being a pediatrician is fulfilling even though it is a job that requires perseverance
 A pediatrician has a flexible schedule that will not hinder personal time with family and kids

Revised Fall 2017