MEDICINE RESIDENCY PERSONAL STATEMENT

My decision to become a physician was a natural progression in my life. I grew up in a family of physicians and am blessed to have a mother who is a successful ophthalmologist. As a my first teacher in life, she taught me valuable lessons of compassion and tenacity, and has always been my guiding spirit. I learned that as a physician, I could make a positive touch in someone else’s life. A soothing touch would provide immense relief to a patient who suffers from pain, despair, and agony, and bring me a profound sense of personal satisfaction and professional fulfillment.

I spent the first year of my medical school building a strong foundation of medical knowledge. The new environment, friends, and faculty brought a strong sense of purpose in my life. But that happiness was short-lived as misfortune came to my family in the form of a serious car accident. My mother sustained multiple pelvic fractures and was admitted to the medical school hospital, where I was a second year student. I learned new lessons of medicine - this time, not as a student. I witnessed the selfless care and medical support provided by the doctors, residents, and support staff. It certainly added a new dimension to my understanding of that “soothing touch”. A few months passed by, and my mother was making great progress. Unfortunately, our sense of safety was rather illusive. My father presented with massive hematemesis. Once again, I saw the medical team work hard to save my father’s life. However, their efforts were futile and fate took its own course. In front of our eyes, he succumbed to death in two weeks’ time. Totally devastated and helpless, I did not understand what the diagnosis of hereditary hemochromatosis would mean – I had just begun my first clinical rotation in internal medicine. For the very first time in my life, I felt the pain and emptiness of loosing someone who is so close to my heart.

My worst experience became my best teacher. I learned that it takes much more than academic knowledge to become a true physician. I had personally experienced the numbness of disease and death, and the value of a physician’s soothing touch. Someday, I will be taking care of someone else’s father or mother or sister or son. And I will remember my own experience with my parents.

From the beginning of the third year, I started developing a passion for internal medicine. During my rotations in internal medicine, I worked with patients from different social, cultural, and economic backgrounds. Even more diverse were their symptoms and diseases. I found this diversity quite intriguing; I could use my core skills – critical thinking, analysis, problem solving, and interpersonal ability – to make a direct impact on my patient’s life. While I mastered the techniques of history taking and physical examination, I learned something new every day. Each patient and every illness took me on a compelling and unique journey of its own.

Inspired by the physicians who attended my clinical rotations, I spent more time on the wards, interacting with my patients and found immense satisfaction in patient care. I was eager to learn more about their illness and then to use differential diagnosis techniques to analyze the disease pathology. I enjoyed teaching patients about the root causes of their problems and in providing solutions. I found the challenges of treating a broad range of illness both gratifying and rewarding. My participation in several health camps and community outreach programs in rural India has helped me in my quest for continuous learning on a broad range of diseases. Every volunteering experience reinforced my passion for internal medicine. It brought me a deep sense of self-worthiness, as I could directly interact with patients and help alleviate their sufferings.

[seems out of place mentioned here. You can try to incorporate it more so it flows better, or you can leave it out.In internal medicine, I have found a niche for myself that supports my goals of life-long learning and direct patient care. I believe my positive attitude, excellent work ethic, compassion, and constant desire to learn new things are well suited for internal medicine. I look forward to continuing my education in internal medicine and pursuing a fellowship in cardiology. Inflammatory and infectious basis of atherosclerosis is an area of special interest that I wish to explore. I am certain that my education will enrich me with skills to pursue my ultimate goal of practicing, teaching, and conducting research at an academic hospital. I eagerly await the exciting and challenging opportunities to learn and contribute within the field of internal medicine.