I have always looked forward to the day I would apply for a residency in Internal Medicine. My experiences from even before I got admitted to Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, Nigeria to date have shaped the specialist I aim to be and I am confident my background has prepared me to succeed in this pursuit. I grew up in the south-eastern part of Nigeria where both the nuclear and extended family is close-knit. The gentle but professional way my uncle, a family physician took care of any ill member of our family resonated early in my life and I wanted to be a doctor like him. I always looked forward to going to his small practice during which I would ask him as many questions as my young mind could muster about medicine. After I gained admission into medical school, the journey from the pre-clinical years of understanding how the human body functions to the clinical years of seeing how that fund of knowledge transformed a sick person’s life caused me to gain a deep respect for the profession. I enjoyed all my rotations and learned so much from them. However, my first day in the medical ward remains indelible in my mind. The empathic way my …show more content…
I could not believe the still body before me was the vibrant, seemingly healthy woman I had seen days before. As I mourned her, my resolve to specialize in Internal Medicine was set in stone. The second event was watching a neonate twitch to death from Neonatal tetanus. I reasoned this death would have been avoided with just one shot of tetanus toxoid during the Antenatal visits. These two incidents convinced me that most avoidable deaths could have been either prevented with good Public Health practices or treated with the right clinical skills and resources. Therefore, I set for myself the goals of having expertise in Internal Medicine and Public
Question Quote "I doubt that these experiences are unique to the hospitals or the medical school at which I have thus far trained. I expect that they pervade health care systems throughout the country. I give credit to my medical school for teaching me to be critical of the culture of medicine, apply interdisciplinary perspectives to clinical quandaries, and reflect on my experiences." (Brooks KC. 2015.)
The world of medicine is a difficult field, in which doctors encounter troublesomes situations that they must overcome in order to save a patient’s life. In his three part nonfiction novel, Complications, Atul Gawande, argues that medicine is an imperfect science and doctors experience fallibility, mystery and uncertainty throughout their careers. Gawande utilizes personal stories to help the audience comprehend the struggles doctors encounter. Overall, I was convinced by Gawande’s thesis, that medicine is imperfect, because of two of his real life anecdotes, including the case of red leg and a doctor, who became accustomed to making mistakes. In order to prove his thesis, Gawande uses a patient case, where the young woman is infected with
I shadowed a primary care physician (PCP), a cardiologist, and a General surgeon in Little Rock. I was introduced to triaging, monitoring patient diets, and transitioning from diagnosis to treatment. These experiences exposed me to some of the immense responsibilities of doctors. Through my experience shadowing Dr. Richard Jackson, I learned the necessity of compassion in a physician and that it is as important as medical procedures. I observed him putting a colostomy bag on a seven-year-old girl diagnosed with colon cancer. When she recovered from surgery, he noticed she was sad and scared about the colostomy bag. He comforted her by telling stories of many other children who also had colostomy bags at a young age and finished his conversation by making funny faces at her. This made her happy and her smile expressed joy and the beauty of being alive. It taught me that a patient’s emotional health is as important as their physical health, and both factors need to be considered when providing care. This shadowing experience enabled me to see what it is like to be as a practicing physician and further reinforced my desire to be a
I am a 26 year old medical graduate from one of the renowned medical schools in India. Currently, I am doing observership at Children’s National Medical Center in Washington DC. Journey for residency has been a long one that began thousands of miles away. I was born and raised in royal city of North India in a family of doctors, with both my parents working round the clock and my grandparents taking care of me. Our ancestors were peasants by occupation, but they had a vision to educate their children.
To do all that I can build a trusting relationship. I have learned that a good patient-physician relationship is the corner stone of a Family Medicine physician. It is one of the only fields, where by virtue I can see patients through the entirety of their lives and be truly proactive to maintain their health. Therefore, I can take the time to thoroughly explore all aspects of my patient’s health. I can incorporate all aspects, ranging from physical, cardiovascular, gastroenterological, and psychiatric medicine in order to maintain a patient’s particular balance. I truly believe that medicine is not just about treating a lab value, symptom or illness, but most importantly it is about the human connection with patients. Family Medicine is the best reflection of
Witnessing them struggle with their health, and a lot of them dying as a result, impacted my curiosity in medicine far more than the bubbly nurses and the joyous atmosphere of the labor and delivery floor that I was previously exposed to. These later visits gave a more dynamic view of the medical profession by exposing me to different types of doctors, many illnesses, and diverse patients. More recently, I was gained from while shadowing an internist. Moreover, in addition to becoming more comfortable in the healthcare setting, I had discussions with patients about their health and get to know patients personally. While accompanying relatives to appointments and shadowing, I noticed the confidence bestowed in the doctors by my family members as they were treated in the emergency room, had surgeries, and went for wellness checkups. I admired this trust and was inspired to be someone that people can entrust with their health. Through these experiences with my family and shadowing, I recognized how I could be of benefit to a team of healthcare professionals as a doctor to treat those like my
New experiences make for more knowledge and new skills. Having the opportunity to meet clients in the York Care Centre was a great experience that helped me develop my skills as a nursing student. Since I am starting my clinical in the fall at York Care Centre, I felt this was a good introduction to the building, staff, and residents As I built upon a therapeutic nurse-client relationship with my clients, I improved on many skills that I learned in class such as to respect boundaries, clients with different communication needs, empathic responses and listening skills that will help me in my future career. I also had some specific learning situations that I can apply to my future practice.
A significant aspect motivating me to pursue medicine is the faith that was instilled in me by my family and my education. My parents were always cognizant of raising their children surrounded by faith and by love, whether it was through taking me to church on Sundays, praying every night before bed, or sending me to a Catholic elementary school. Through this, I learned to value altruism, generosity, erudition, and tenacity. I regard these to be the attributes of a good physician and also the attributes that Georgetown University values. As I progressed through my education, I furthermore developed a passion
As an intern, I rotated through various departments such as Internal Medicine, General Surgery, Preventive medicine, Obstetrics and Gynecology, Pediatrics and Orthopedics. This helped me improve my understanding of the role of each of these departments and also have hands on experience of the dynamic interaction among all the departments. During this period, I could rediscover the joy of working in Internal Medicine, as a part of a medical camp held by my Internal Medicine team I had an opportunity to take care of an elderly man complaining of headaches and frequent falls due to dizziness; then there was a young lady with a rash on her face and difficulty in breathing; a gentleman with chest pain that never dissipates and many others, so the list went on from Cardiology to Neurology, constipation to concussion, I was able to manage each and every one of them, the idea of having a chance to see my patient as a whole and not only as a symptom or disease. More than anything else, providing a solution to almost every patient's problems, simple to complex, acute to chronic, allowed me to walk back home with the satisfying feeling that only comes from practicing medicine. By the end of my rotation, I knew Internal Medicine is where I can see
The phrase, “treat others as you would want to be treated” has maintained a constant presence throughout my life. This is my mother’s golden rule and, in my opinion, no other sentence is more vital to social interactions. Likewise, I cannot think of a better reason to pursue medicine than caring for others with the same passion one cares for themselves, or their family. In fact, motivation for attending medical school originally resulted from my family and an early appreciation of preventative medicine.
Curiosity has always been my confidant, from leaving home to join college and then entering into the medical school. I have always been enthusiastic to learn, and been trying to make lives beautiful around me. I am equally excited to apply for residency in internal medicine at your program and dive into the sea of immense knowledge. I was born in Pakistan. While growing up into my teenage years, I realized that the majority of the people around me faced the challenges of receiving quality health services.
To test my desire to pursue a career in medicine, I began to shadow a physician at an urgent care clinic twice a week. During this time, I followed him into exam rooms and stood in the corner and listened. I loved listening to the questions that the physician asked and how seeing how he interacted with the patients. While he thought the cases weren’t “very interesting”, they were all fascinating to me. I was captivated by his thought process.
I started to explore the different fields of medicine by working as a Medical Scribe in the Emergency Department, ER tech in Trauma Centers, getting involved in research, volunteering at hospitals and taking high level science classes. This will enhance my knowledge and experience i...
This week I got to spend another day in the ED. Although the day didn’t consist of too many patients my nurse and I kept busy. The most exciting part of the day was when I got to start an IV. The patient I started an IV on was a retired OB nurse and all I could think was “oh great, don’t mess up.”
Physicians in today’s world are so much more than what some people encompass a doctor to be. Physicians not only help treat ill people they also help keep people, as well as families, informed on certain factors that could impact their lives. Physicians do more than just save lives, they extend it, they help benefit it, they put time into helping researchers find out how to create vaccines for some illnesses (Russell, 2016). I want to become a physician because in my world I have seen many people affected by the results of rising healthcare. I want to be able to say that I have tried my best and help as many people as possible even if they cannot always afford it.