This is an informational interview between Mentor Connection student,
Ivonn Otavalo and one of her mentors, Dr. Robert
Tasca. Dr.
Tasca is a dentist at the Ryan Center.
Ivonn: What is your official title?
Dr. Tasca: Dental Coordinator.
Ivonn: What were your goals when you were 17?
Dr. Tasca: At the age of 17 I wanted to be a veterinarian.
Ivonn: Have these goals stayed the same throughout your life?
Dr. Tasca: My goals have not stayed the same throughout my life. I knew I wanted to go into medicine, however, I was not sure which field.
Ivonn: Why did you choose to pursue your career?
Dr. Tasca: I decided to become a dentist while in veterinary school. Most of my studies dealt with animal teeth or animal dentistry. I found it so interesting that it lead me to the field of Dentistry - but in humans.
Ivonn: What books/movies have influenced your career goals and choices?
Dr. Tasca: My work was not influenced by a particular book or movie.
Ivonn: What qualifications, courses, experiences or work did you do before going to university?
Dr. Tasca: I got a bachelors degree in physiology (pre-med courses).
Ivonn: What is the name of the school you went to?
Ivonn: How many years have you been in school after graduating from high school?
Dr. Tasca: I remained in school for about 10 years after high school. 4 years of Bachelor education, 2 years of premed and 4 years of dental school.
Ivonn: Was tuition an obstacle? What advice can you give me about this?
Dr. Tasca: Tuition was not an obstacle as I got a scholarship at NYU. However, I had to take out loans for dental school. In order to be a dentist, or in medicine in general, it is important to take bio and chemistry courses as they are considered very important.
Ivonn: How do you handle obstacles/road blocks?
Dr. Tasca: The best way I handle an obstacle is to stay calm. If you are not calm, there is no way to solve the problem.
Ivonn: Did you confront many obstacles to become what you are today?
Dr. Tasca: Not too many, however, I had to be very disciplined as it takes a lot of hard work to become a doctor. I also had to learn how to manage my time.
Ivonn: What are your strengths and weaknesses?
Dr. Tasca: My strengths are that I am a very conscientious person and I always try to do my best. However, like all other human beings, I have weaknesses which include the tendency to be overconfident when it comes to knowing what is best for others.
Ivonn: Who is your hero?
Dr. Tasca: My hero is Ram Dass. Ram Dass was a Harvard professor of physiology. I was inspored by his writing. After teaching at Harvard, Mr. Dass became a monk.
Ivonn: Who do you take advice from?
Dr. Tasca: I take advice from Dr. Platt at the Ryan Center and of course, my wife.
Ivonn: Did you have any professional or personal mentors?
Dr. Tasca: Dr. Tinkler, a dentist who was very interested in my career.
Ivonn: What general advice can you give me in terms of the career I want to pursue?
Dr. Tasca: Make sure to like what you do and to take advantage of every opportunity you have to see what working is all about.
Mentor Informational Interview - Ivonn Otavalo
This week in my placement I continued reading a prenatal book. While reading it, I realized how helpful it will be for my research paper. This book is full of useful information, so useful that I decided to take notes on it while reading. I had a chance to tell Miriam how my essay will be planned and what topics I might include from the book. I found the following topics to be interesting:
