Shotgun Mind

So I’m subjecting myself to all this education in order to become a Forensic Pathologist—they tell me another twelve to fourteen years of school—so what exactly does that entitle? Many would think that this would be simple, a special school that would take the normal four years of college that would train individuals in this highly specialized field. If that’s the case then why am I at Trinity? Unfortunately, it isn’t that simple. First, you have to get a general education, which is where Trinity comes in—and get this, in order to get into medical school you don’t even have to have a science degree, you could major in art! While I have often thought of getting a degree in something other than a science, I have chosen to work for my Biology degree for several reasons. First of all, the requirements for medical school include so much Biology and Chemistry that it actually makes sense to major in one and minor in the other since it just means a few more classes. Second, my back up plan is to become a Coroner, which while in the same career field, only requires that you have a Biology degree.

So here I am, working on my Biology degree, learning about plants and the chemical pathway of Vitamin A. Why? I don’t really need to know this for my career (this has crossed my mind several different times). The only explanation I can think of is that medical school wants you to know a variety of topics and that in doing so you learn things in different ways and can therefore learn how to survive a variety of problems that you may be faced with in the world of medicine.

After taking the Crime Scene and Crime Lab course however, I feel like any reference to crime scene investigations in the classroom cause a shotgun to fire in my mind and that all this information comes rushing to the forefront of my brain (something that I wish could happen during all my tests!). The most recent instance came while I was sitting in Biology Lab. My professor was discussing the possible uses of DNA replication by Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) when on her list she mentioned crime scene investigation and went further to mention the O.J. Simpson case. There it went and rattling through my brain went…..Jon-Bonnet Ramsey, Eddie Gein, Ted Bundy, Lacy Peterson, Charles Manson, the green river killer, the Zodiac killer, Jack the Ripper, Columbine shootings, and then some cases that were in our local area. This helped me to become more interested in the day’s lab; I could pretend that my work would help investigators to catch a loose serial killer. However, once reality hit that it was just another day in Biology Lab and that this PCR reaction was using my own cheek cells, my enthusiasm faded.

One of the things I try to do in my studies is much like what I was subconsciously doing in my Biology Lab; pretend that I am working in my career field. I have found that this not only motivates me to get through my studies, but I remember the things that I related because they interest me more. For example, our Biology textbook was also talking about an enzyme that used to be extracted from cadavers and injected in live humans to prevent a disease. Stuff like that I can easily retain in my memory and so as I continue down this long pathway towards my Forensic Pathology, I will continue to connect everything in order to retain the information.