Mentor Dr. Cesar Virgen with mentee Madisen Swallow
Thank you very much for the opportunity to be a part of the Skin of Color Society Mentorship program. I had the great opportunity to work with Dr. Virgen, a mentor that was assigned through the program. Throughout the year we had many opportunities to meet over Zoom and in person at the AAD Conference and the World Congress of Cutaneous Lymphomas Conference. He has spent a substantial amount of time guiding me and giving me career advice.
During our first meeting we identified goals and plans for the year to help me set up a plan to learn and improve throughout the year. During our meetings over the year, we have assessed my progress working towards accomplishing these goals and identified new areas to grow. Additionally, we have worked together on a research manuscript, which has just been selected for publication. Throughout this time, Dr. Virgen has also gone above and beyond to get to know me as a person, and to really understand my passion behind my hopes for a future in academic medicine. I was previously a middle school science teacher before starting medical school, which has shaped my passions and goals of becoming a medical educator in the future.
Dr. Virgen has helped me to better understand how I can incorporate these goals, skills, and ideas into a future career. Overall, I am extremely thankful for the personal, professional, and research mentorship I have received through my amazing mentor in this program. It’s my only hope that I can be as great a mentor in the future to any future mentees I may have, as Dr. Virgen has been to me.