I have pride working here. For instance, when research papers that have my name on them are published in journals, it gives me a sense of pride -- and it also helps my resume.

I work in a laboratory that does research related to anesthesia. The main focus of our lab is the diaphragm, the big muscle that's involved with breathing. The investigators here decide what questions they want answered and it's up to me to run the experiments to get the answers. I work pretty independently; I may be working on four to five projects at a time but I try to manage my work, because the more projects I'm working on, the easier it is to get them mixed up. I pride myself on doing a good job. I get to collaborate with technologists, anesthesiologists, other doctors and principal investigators.

To succeed in this type of work, you have to question everything you see to a certain extent. Working in research is like solving a mystery -- you test, you question, you retest and then you question again. You also have to be very precise at what you do.

If students are interested in the health-care field, I feel math and sciences are priorities. I would definitely start those courses early in high school and stick to them.