Looking back on the past six weeks, I am proud of how much progress I made, even though the project evolved in ways I did not initially expect. I began the Laidlaw program hoping to build a strong understanding of refugee health systems in Turkey through literature, public health datasets, and interviews. While I did conduct an extensive literature review and became much more familiar with the healthcare landscape for refugees in Turkey, I quickly realized that publicly available datasets were far more limited and inconsistent than I had anticipated. Rather than focusing primarily on quantitative analysis, my research shifted toward understanding why these data gaps exist and what they reveal about the challenges of documenting refugee health.

One aspect that went as expected was developing a structured research workflow. Meeting regularly with my mentor helped me stay organized and continuously refine my research questions as I encountered new information. My relationship with my mentor also became much more collaborative over time. At the beginning, I relied heavily on their guidance to shape the direction of my project. As the weeks progressed, our conversations became more of a dialogue, where I felt comfortable proposing new ideas, discussing challenges, and defending my interpretations of the literature.

If I were to approach this project again, I would begin reaching out to potential interview participants earlier. Coordinating interviews and navigating research logistics took longer than I expected, and starting that process sooner would have provided more time to incorporate additional perspectives into my analysis.

As I continue working toward the final research paper and poster, I hope to strengthen the connection between the literature, interviews, and policy implications. I still need to finalize my analysis, organize my findings into a cohesive narrative, and develop clear visualizations that effectively communicate the structural challenges surrounding refugee health data in Turkey. Overall, this experience has strengthened both my research skills and my appreciation for how complex global health questions require interdisciplinary thinking and flexibility throughout the research process.