In the end research does not carry much value unless its findings are able to be communicated with others to help distribute the information. When communicating research to people of different fields than that of the research, it is important to explain the basic concepts related to the research first. This helps set the stage for explaining the more complicated concepts related to the research later on. It also helps to assume that the audience does not have any prior knowledge of the topic so that the research can be explained in very basic terms to promote maximum understanding. It would also be important to explain any vocabulary and abbreviations that are related to the work. As for explaining the significance of the research, it can be helpful to relate the topic to contemporary issues or topics that are relatable to the audience. For example, my research is related to mental health so I often cite the decline in the population’s mental health during COVID to help explain why my research is significant especially at this time.  

My current professional goals include attending medical school to become a physician and also pursuing a Master’s of Public Health to study community health. Using this education, I hope to be able to improve the health of not only individuals but also larger communities through directing community-based health interventions. Based on the nature of these goals, I would have to communicate with the general population when either interacting with patients individually or when speaking with larger groups of people for health interventions. As a physician it is especially important to be able to communicate the complicated science behind diseases and other morbidities to help patients understand their own prognosis. Communicating health-related topics to larger communities also requires the ability to break down complicated scientific concepts, which can arguably be harder when trying to communicate such topics to an audience composed of such diverse backgrounds. Lastly, in my career, I would likely also have to interact with officials in politics since many of the larger scale health-based intervention programs are directed by the government. Thus, I believe the Brackenridge Fellowship has allowed me to gain a head start in learning how to interact and communicate research with people of various backgrounds which I will encounter later on in my career.