If I Were Asked What Medicine Was Only A Year Ago, My Answer

My passion for medicine is something deeper than a mere interest in learning the extraordinary functions of the human body. I am completely fascinated to learn gross anatomy, histology, pathology, and the complete medical school curriculum. However, I am more captivated by how the knowledge I will gain in medical school will allow me to perform the lifesaving procedures that physicians are able execute. Although, medicine is not always ideally as I have written, I believe that as a physician I would use my knowledge and my experiences to provide the best holistic care to my patients. My culture, my experiences, and my education will bring a different perspective to the medical field. I aspire to have the ability and knowledge to save a child that might not live, to save a woman that suffers a heart stroke, and to even provide the necessary treatment for a child with a mere cold. Additionally, participating in the Loma Linda Gateway to the Health

Fast forward many years and here I am, in my third year of undergrad as a health sciences major on a premedical track. A year ago I decided a career in medicine would be the perfect fit for me and I haven’t looked back since.

Noel pushed me in a wheelchair down the long hall and into the small soundproof room where there were so many bells, buzzers, lights, and crying babies I felt immediately overwhelmed. Here sitting next to the incubator where my 4 pounds 8 ounces 11-inch baby girl Jessica lay hooked up to so many little wires and tubes I just burst into tears. This did not look all right and I was scared. Thankfully a very kind nurse assured me this was just precautionary and she would be just fine. She needed a little extra assistance breathing and feeding, but she could do both on her own. During the course of the conversation, I realized it had been not just a few hours I had slept but days. It was now 4 days after my daughter’s birth and I had not yet had the opportunity to touch or hold her. Initially, I felt somewhat cheated out of those first days, but the next 24 hours felt like the longest day of my life.

The room was swarming. My heart raced as I watched. I had lost track of myself until the orders of a nurse brought me back. “Jack, grab the crash cart!” she exclaimed while performing compressions. I sprinted to the nurse’s station, grabbed the crash cart, and sprinted back. I retook my position and continued to watch. The patient regained her pulse only to lose it again minutes later. After an additional fifteen minutes of compressions she was back. Relief flooded my body. At the time I didn’t feel anything other than futility, the adrenaline seemed to have numbed most of my thoughts. Later that night I kept replaying the entire scene in my head. I could vividly remember the family crying outside, the efficiency with which the physicians worked, and a strong feeling of helplessness I felt at the time, wanting to help, but being unable to do so was infuriating. I could not stop thinking about. About a week later I came to the conclusion that what I had witnessed was something beautiful. Everyone in that room was dedicated to saving this person’s life. This was their job, and it was nothing short of heroism. Even more heartening was the humanity of it all. Witnessing those physicians, having dedicated their lives to be there at that moment to save this person’s life was truly inspiring.

I woke up not knowing where I was questioning everything that was going on. I was surrounded by doctors i had seen previously at the rehab center, when they had realized I had opened my eyes a few of them began to shout he’s awake. After hearing them scream that I looked over and there was Addison laying in the bed next to me with tubes hooked up to him. I tried to sit up but couldn’t, there was this sharp pain in my hip. The doctor rushed over and said “Don’t try to sit up, everything is okay son.” I began to ask what was wrong with Addison but all they kept on saying was “He’s fine don’t worry about him.” The doctor were examining me as I was laying there, they checked my ears, my mouth, and my eyes and documenting all of it. Later that night

The moment I walked through the automatic double doors, the smell of anesthetics hit me, I could hear the faint beeping of machines in the background. I look up at my mother and clutch her hand firmly as the nurse leads us to a room at the end of the hall. The person laying in the bed was unrecognizable: she was a mere shadow of how Maribel used to look. She was about half the size of maribel, she had a paler, ghostly appearance: her gown seemed to merge with the bed itself giving the illusion that Maribel was not fully there. Her body was beaming with wires that connected her to a monitor. Maribel rose her hand slowly to shake mine: that was the only side of her body she could move since she was paralyzed on the left side of her body. Her weak, frail voice called my mother's name and I saw my mother for the first time burst into

While working in the lab, I, for the first time in my life, felt that my work and accomplishments were serving something larger than myself. When the time came to leave the lab I viewed the experience fondly, however, in the time since I have come to realize that as much as I enjoyed my experiences I what I really enjoy is the human side of medicine and the interaction with patients on a daily basis; I missed “Sue” and the reward that came from knowing who I was helping personally. For me the most important part of medicine is the people. At some point each of us made the decision that the need to heal patients and to help people was strong enough to decide to dedicate our lives to medicine. It’s what drives every physician, and researcher to keep working, even if a trial did not go the way they wanted or a patient is not responding to treatment. In English the original Hippocratic Oath reads in part “I will remember that I do not treat a fever chart, a cancerous growth, but a sick human being”. When I first read this I was reminded why medicine is so unique and why I decided to go on this journey originally. It is this belief that continues to give me the strength to continue even when I am knocked down. It is what I see every time I shadow a doctor and how I try to model myself in my life. Because of these experiences, I have come to the absolute

Through my years of studying banking and finance in college, little did I know that I would be in a career path of medicine today. While I Paced the hallway of the hospital my cousin was receiving care, I was mesmerized at how determined the internists were to stabilize her health and how much knowledge they possessed. This ordeal planted the seed of my passion to care for everyone like family and to continuously update myself with as much clinical and theoretical knowledge to be a better doctor with every passing day.

William Osler once said “The good physician treats the disease; The great physician treats the patient who has the disease.” When I think of the field of medicine, I am compelled to understand the truth of the open door that I am inspired to walk through. It is not just my passion that drives and motivates me it is the responsibility to leave a legacy of service and dedication.

The medical field has always been an intriguing area of study to me. Even as a young child, when I had to go to the doctor’s office, I would ask the doctor tons of questions about how the medicine he or she gave me worked. As I grew older and started to enroll in upper-level science classes, my interest in healthcare became immensely stronger. Apart from classes at school, a variety of other factors contributed to my decision of pursuing a healthcare career.

'Wherever the art of Medicine is loved, there is also a love of Humanity.’ - Hippocrates It is my love of humanity that spurs my passion for medicine. My goal in life is to practice medicine to help others. In my early childhood, I looked upon “people in white” as heroic figures who could solve all problems. I often watched while they helped to relief my father’s distressing symptoms during his asthma attacks. I was curious about the medications that they prescribed for him, and spent long hours trying to read about them. Tragically, he lost the battle, and I have always wondered whether I could have saved him, had I been the doctor who looked after him. The sad experience of my dad’s death along with the memories of his chronic suffering enhanced my desire to be a doctor in

Medicine how I see it is not just the study of the most developed and organized system in the universe - beside the universe itself - which is the human body, it is also a noble quest of dedication and commitment to improve the lives of others, and satisfy the thirst for knowledge we all have, and that’s why I have decided to dedicate myself to studying medicine and having a remarkable career in it.

I am often asked why I want to become a physician. My fascination with medicine and the human body began when I was young; I shadowed a heart transplant surgeon in junior high and I was astonished at how even modern medicine with decades-trained physicians and staff could only attempt to control the human heartbeat– the very heartbeat that so many human beings so frequently go without noticing and appreciating. Even with this fascination, I still did not know how to express my passion for medicine until that Saturday morning. As the woman was pushed into the ambulance, I realized there was so much about her that I still wanted to know. It was then that I finally found the words to describe my aspiration to become a physician: I desire to work with patients during their brightest and darkest hours, providing compassionate care when they need it the most.

It’s 9am and little Saigon is bustling. I’m five years old and sick with a cold. My mother drives us to our family physician – the same doctor who has cared for me my whole life. The medical assistant takes me through the basic routine, then my physician and his wife greet us with warm hugs. I have my regular check-up and we are off to the pharmacy. Within the week, I’m feeling like my normal self. Our family physician gave me my first glimpse of how a medical practice operates, from patient care to building a relationship and trust with their patients. The care and treatment I received sparked my interest in medicine.

Growing up, medicine had always been a special interest of mine. The idea of healing patients and saving lives seemed heroic and honorable. I also thought that everything could be proven through science and medical advances. However, my perspective of medicine has changed slightly within the last few years. I believe my idealistic views of medicine began changing when I first traveled to India in December of 2010.