To Save a Life Start With Your Own When I first started college I strongly desired to help people. I thought the best way to help was to become a doctor. So true to form I completed every science class related to a pre-medicine course schedule. One science instructor built a relationship with me and challenged my thinking. “Why ‘fix’ people after the fact? Isn’t prevention and education a better form of help?” His simple act of inquiry sent my world into a spin. Perhaps my goal of medical school was too hasty and out of ignorance? Perhaps it was arrogance and position that drew me? Pride can blind you to itself. It was in this time of distress that developed my philosophy of teaching – inquiry, action, reflection. For the betterment
Many years ago there was a small boy who was woken by a loud scream. Terrified, he ran from his room to find his mother unconscious on the floor. His little sister was screaming as he pulled his mom onto her back in desperation. In reality, he didn’t know what to do to save her and his helplessness was due to his lack of knowledge. She passed away that night. That boy was me. Our past defines us no matter how we protest; it can either pull you down into failure or lift you up towards success. From then on, I was drawn to medical sciences and used that helplessness to motivate my education.
It just so happens that I believe that I can best and most effectively “lend a hand” when a person is at their bodily weakest. From a single semester of shadowing—a total of 11.75 hours—under physicians and surgeons alike, I have experienced a taste of the medical field from the fascinating gruesome finesse of an open-heart surgery to the day-to-day clinical patient interaction that makes up so much of a medical professionals career. From a community standpoint, I believe that a person does not need to be a doctor to express and achieve care. Because of that, I have joined organizations such as Chords4Kids on the TCU campus—that sings nostalgic songs from the 2000s to down-syndrome children at the local education center as well as at retirement homes, and other events alike—and the TCU GO Center, which mentors local high-school students during their college application process. For the later, I have been given the responsibility as the Executive Organizer for their annual “College Access Day” which provides local students with college information workshops and campus tours. I have also actively
I aspire to exceed expectations in this field and work with doctors to access possible conditions. As a student who has always been passionate about science and excelled in these areas, I have had the opportunity to share my knowledge while assisting a physics instructor in the laboratory with experiments he plans to introduce in future classes and while tutoring struggling students in Chemistry, A&P, and Statistics. This has been a rewarding experience for me as I desire to see others succeed. This has also allowed me to stay sharp in these areas and has helped me learn to communicate more effectively; both of which will be beneficial to my program. This year, I’ve had the honor of instructing a science club at a private school where I led a group of students through hands-on learning projects and experimentations. Although I demonstrate a strong background in Science, I knew it would be important to gain some medical experience. I was fortunate to be able to volunteer at a local women’s health clinic with the head sonographer beginning August 2017 and continuing for 1 year until classes begin in the
Many people rush through their daily life without contemplating their actions, thereby missing vast opportunities for achievement. They waste valuable time engaging in frivolous matters instead of putting their energies towards more productive and meaningful purposes. In the words of the Dalai Lama: “Life is not about acquiring money and other facilities; it is about dedicating your life to helping others as much as you can.” The immeasurable value of helping others has been engrained in me since childhood. As a result of my own difficult family circumstances, I have become more sensitive, kind and mindful towards others and their own situations. I have developed a passion for helping others, which, in combination with a proclivity towards medicine has lead to my descion to become a Physician Assistant. I want to live a life where I can provide healthcare and aid to anyone who needs.
There are millions of questions that are begging to be answered, and I have the drive to find the answers to them. There could be a vaccine for cancer just waiting to be found in the world, and I could be the one to find it. Paraplegics could be able to walk again, and I could be a part of their recovery. Not only would I be influencing the world, but I would also be influencing distinct human lives. My experience with volunteering in schools and crisis centers has taught me about the value of lives. I’ve come to deeply appreciate the fact that every person experiences the world as vividly as I do, meaning that they share the same feelings, from love, anger, sadness, down to pointless and sporadic thoughts and emotions. This makes me further respect the work of those who work in the medical field, as they make impacts larger than I can imagine. I know that if I were in the place of someone whose life depended on the innovations in science and technology, my existence would be highly influenced by any doctor who even simply hopes to make advancements in
This weekend I was paired up with a nurse from the floating pull. It was a very interesting experience. For the first time since the beginning of the semester I can say that I was faced with a lot of critical thinking situations. I spend the day running around reminding my nurse of things he forgot or task we had to finish. It was already 2:00 pm and I still hadn’t performed an assessment on a patient, at this point I remember what Mrs. McAdams had said before “ we are in the hospital to help but our main priority is to learn and practice our skills” so I made the critical-thinking decision to tell my nurse that I needed to at least complete an assessment and since we were about to discharged a patient I could performed a final assessment on him before going home. I performed my assessment, had time to document and helped my nurse with the discharged. This weekend was a very challenging clinical for me but I also learned a lot. I learned to managed my time better, be proactive in my clinical experience and I also found my voice.
In short, the practice of medicine requires we become always better caregivers—and always better people, in turn. This is what my experiences in shadowing and volunteering have taught me—and it is a truth I take to heart. ================
Personal narratives allow you to share your life with others and vicariously experience the things that happen around you. Your job as a writer is to put the reader in the midst of the action letting him or her live through an experience. Although a great deal of writing has a thesis, stories are different. A good story creates a dramatic effect, makes us laugh, gives us pleasurable fright, and/or gets us on the edge of our seats. A story has done its job if we can say, "Yes, that captures what living with my father feels like," or "Yes, that’s what being cut from the football team felt like."
...epersonalized. Although not every patient is easy to deal with and doctors are under colossal pressure, by inspiring students with a possible future in the medical field to get involved with type of community service early we can ameliorate the distressing situation. Coming into contact with, speaking to, and intimately understanding these incredible individuals can dramatically alter one’s perspective and ensure treatment with self respect and dignity. I strongly believe in this notion of early involvement. My changed view coupled with my future medical training in college will allow me to be a figure to emulate and hopefully inspire others to follow this path. By embarking on this monumental journey mankind has the opportunity to shape history and enrich the lives of others while personally experiencing the most rewarding of all endeavors: helping someone in need.
This experience will definitely influence my future practice; my action plan would be using those teaching strategies in preparing students to face the clinical environment, to ensure optimal patients’ health outcomes and it helps to build a competent and independent clinician.
It seems unbelievable my oldest is a few days off being a decade old. I know every parent wonders “where has the time gone?” a multitude of times during their children’s childhoods, but as I realize my son is over halfway to 'adulthood' it seems like the time has flown by.
Although I have great goals to help people, my grand wish cannot be granted without a great amount of effort on my part. I decided to take part in activities that would help me reach my goals and to ready myself for that field of work. My extracurricular activities and my electives showed proof of my interest in the medical field over time. I made an extra effort to look for activities and classes that could help me on the way to becoming a doctor. My first step was
Dr. D is a cardiothoracic surgeon. He was my hero. He may well still be, even though he is a throw-back to the days when I was more concerned about science than symbolism.
You see, I was born sick. From birth, I struggled with chronic digestive problems, a completely blocked nose that forced me to breathe through my mouth at all times, brain fog, behavioral problems, learning difficulties, and frequent infections. This was the 1980s when being chronically ill wasn't nearly as common as it is today. In a classroom full of healthy, energetic kids who were eager to learn, participate, and socialize, there I was, eyes glazed over, mouth agape, jumping at the slightest noise or touch, and constantly doubled over in stomach pain.
There have been tons of things that I have learned and been taught in my life, by a number of people such as family, teachers, or even friends on occasion. The things they taught me vary from math and other related subjects to just some truly simple yet meaningful life lessons. However, there is nothing quite as unique, quite as special as a person teaching themselves a life lesson. It really is an amazing accomplishment for a person to teach themselves something. It is not quite as simple as another person teaching them something because it is not just the transferring of information from one person to another. The person instead has to start from scratch and process the information they have in their mind in order to come up with a new thought