By Arthur Sillah '10
Freetown, Sierra Leone
Chemistry, biochemistry emphasis
After Mac: Masters of Public Health in Epidemiology at the University of Minnesota

Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) is the number one cause of sudden cardiac death in young athletes—and the focus of my research at the Minneapolis Heart Institute Foundation. I used state-of-the-art cardiac MRIs to gather data on the heart at different points of the heartbeat cycle to increase knowledge about HCM.

Working at a preeminent research and clinical medicine facility allowed me to learn about cardiovascular disease and strengthened my desire to pursue a career in medicine.

Research experiences and internships are an advantage in the job market and give you the opportunity to gain an in-depth understanding of your area of interest. They are also an excellent opportunity to make connections in the Twin Cities community and to assess whether the work is truly what you want to do for the rest of your life.

In many ways, my chemistry major did not directly apply to my internship at the Foundation. However, many of my courses, such as Human Anatomy and Human Physiology, equipped me with the necessary background for the research I did. Also, the problem-solving skills I have developed made it easy to understand the imaging technologies and to address the tough questions that came up during my research.

Working at a preeminent research and clinical medicine facility like the Minneapolis Heart Institute Foundation, with its cutting-edge technologies, allowed me to learn about cardiovascular disease and strengthened my desire to pursue a career in medicine.

I was surprised to see how technology and medical practice work side by side in cardiovascular patient care, and how technology is bringing cardiologists closer to their goal of noninvasive imaging of the coronary arteries and other heart conditions.