When the group project became priority number one in class, I felt anxiety over eventually having to research, seek out, and interview a knowledgeable professional. Perhaps the thought of meeting someone new scared me; maybe I was afraid to sound stupid and uninformed in front of an expert in the field. Whatever the reason, worry filled my brain with negative vibes.
Luckily, meeting with Dr. Kane, an ophthalmologist and part owner of his small practice, dispelled all preconceived notions. Dr. Kane maintained a genuinely interested smile and attitude throughout the interview. Before we delved into the meat of the interview, he told me a bit about his background.
Dr. Kane graduated from Hahnemann University in 1987 and completed his residency at Maryland General Hospital in 1991. He currently contributes his time to Georgetown University and Maryland General Hospital, all while owning and practicing at his optometry offices in Rockville and Gaithersburg. He also annually volunteers his time and expertise in the Philippines (what a stand-up guy)!
How was I so lucky to find such a seemingly perfect professional to interview? Truthfully, luck had everything to do with it; Dr. Kane is my roommate’s dad, so making contact and setting up a meeting was easy. We decided to conduct the interview at the Bagel Place on Saturday morning. With D-Day just around the corner, I re-visited my textbook’s chapter on Interviews, skimming it as a last minute refresher. This was rarin’ to be the best interview in the world!
After Dr. Kane finished relating his academic and professional path from medical school through to private-practice ownership the fluidity with which he spoke made me feel as if he ran through the shtick quite often. Then the real questions started. My first one was a zinger! I heard it running through my head beautifully. As it came out of my mouth, I realized it sounded bored and shy. Woops. Dr. Kane, however, did not seem to notice. He swiftly conjured up an answer and recited a hefty reply. I never knew someone could respond so swift and smooth to an on- the- spot question. The message was full of useful information, and using Ernesto Gluecksmann’s advice, I created enough silence to allow him to fill it with elaborated responses (thanks, Ernesto). As the questions continued, I quickly found my interview voice, which made the whole situation feel much more comfortable. After rolling through a few questions, Dr. Kane spoke masterfully when asked his thoughts about inter-office communication. He explained to me the intricacies of office efficiency and stressed the importance of procedural technique. Not stopping there, he continued on for another few minutes about employee functions and the need for common knowledge of vocabulary- filling my notepad with group-project gold! Dr. Kane mentioned every employee’s expectation to communicate reliably with any other part of the office without misunderstandings. The answer proved to be plenty of information to work with.
With all the questions asked, and all the bagels eaten, I thanked Dr. Kane for taking time to get involved in the interview. He confessed that it felt pretty cool to talk about himself for a bit. All goodbyes said, I returned to my apartment to tell my roommate how awesome his dad was.
I honestly read this because of the awesome title and was relieved when the post was just as good. Dr. Kane sounds like a very interesting person and you conveyed that pretty well in this post, I especially like all the thought parenthesis.
ReplyDeleteGreat post, Aaron. What was the zinger? :)
ReplyDeleteAlso, Ernesto would be proud.
PS: Don't forget about hyperlinks and to label posts appropriately.