Dr. Stephanie Rakestraw is a general surgery resident at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) currently completing a post-doctoral fellowship studying outcomes of patients with End-Stage Kidney Disease who undergo revascularization for Chronic Limb-Threatening Ischemia. She is originally from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and completed her undergraduate education at the University of Michigan before returning to Philadelphia for medical school at the Sidney Kimmel Medical College at Thomas Jefferson University.
Dr. Rakestraw fell in love with surgery and research during her undergraduate studies, where she was involved in a lab studying ways to improve post-cardiac arrest survival using Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation (ECMO). As she progressed in her medical training, her interest shifted towards outcomes research as she became interested in ways to improve care of patients she was seeing every day.
Q: What advice would you give to undergraduate scholars who want to get more experience with research?
A: Don’t be afraid to reach out to mentors, but be prepared! It’s okay to say “this is my first lab and I’m hoping to learn more about the process of research”, but you will get way more out of the experience if you have a few goals you and your mentor can work towards together. Mentorship makes a huge difference.
Q: What is one thing you wish you could tell your younger self about academia/research/life in general?
A: It’s okay to change your path! As you learn more about research, academia, and life in general, your career goals and interests may shift, and that’s okay. The important thing is to find what you’re passionate about and how you want to incorporate that in you career, and be true to yourself.