Tissue Engineering Personal Statement

As a current biomedical engineer student, my interests are drawn towards tissue engineering, as well as orthopedics and oncology. There is a certain degree of emotional attachment to these areas. I was born with one kidney and needed immediate surgery to remove kidney stones last year. I had two bars and twenty-one screws placed in my spine to correct scoliosis at a young age. Finally, my grandmother had colon cancer, which spread like wildfire and killed her within six months. I am naturally drawn towards wanting a secure option if my one kidney does ever fail me in the future. It is comforting to know that researchers have developed methods to take a sample of tissue from a patient, grow and repair damaged tissue and then implant it into

I love both the medical world and biomedical engineering world, so instead of choosing one I chose both. I want to have a one-on-one opportunity with patients, as well as do research to help others including my patients. I think it is a rewarding job because I would be seeing both sides of the process; the research side of developing new treatments and then the application side of seeing the effects of those new treatments on patients. I think research becomes emotionally attaching when you see or have seen a patient struggle with a certain disease. I believe as a researcher, seeing this struggle would motivate me even more to help this patient end their battle. Training as a researcher gives me a head start on my future. I have been eager to see and experience the daily life of a researcher and this summer program would allow me to do that. I think school and work have prepared me to embark on research. I have learned the necessary information for research in classes, such as writing and presenting scientific reports, learning how to use different programs such as MATLAB and DICOM, using different lab equipment such as microscopes, chemicals, filtration and distillation experiment, and scales. When I had my internship I had to use what I have learned in classes and labs to complete my project. Having had an internship helps me prepare for this summer research program because I have an idea of what to expect. I know this is a serious program that will require much time and dedication from