Medicine And I Were Not Love At First Sight

At 17 years old, I had the grueling task of deciding how I wanted to spend 40 plus years of my life. I always aspired to land a career in the medical field, so I majored in biology like most pre-med hopefuls, but during my junior year, I no longer desired to become a physician. The medical field was calling out to me, but the specialty of focus was incorrect. After graduation, I went back to the basics and put my nursing assistant certification to use.

My interest in medicine first stemmed from my freshman Biology class and my Nutrition class. I was intrigued by our studies of cells, genetics, and disease. Both courses incited a sense of awe and curiosity within me. Dissecting a frog, was the stepping-stone for my interest in medicine. Seeing the frog's heart made me wonder how the human heart worked. My research into the human heart inspired me to learn more about the medical field. I sought out volunteer opportunities that would give me insight into a doctor’s typical day. During my volunteer experience, I learned that as a doctor you experience many obstacles, including patient compliance and insurance approval issues. In my journey to pursue medicine, I learned that becoming a doctor means more than helping people, it means being the team leader, being compassionate, and most importantly being committed to the patient’s well being.

Exploring newer horizons and pushing myself to resist complacency have always been my mantra, be it academics or sports. During my medical school rotations, I was drawn towards Internal Medicine as a subject. The hunger to go beyond the prescribed basic course requirements pushed me to

But out of this helplessness, came a strong desire to help and be involved in medicine. I persevered in the study of sciences, volunteering in clinical settings, and had research and internship experiences that have

It all started in the 4th grade. That’s when I knew that being in the medical field is what I’ve always wanted to do. This day, my 4th grade teacher gave us an assignment while learning science. We were specifically learning about the heart and it’s 4 chambers. This subject, I remember, was so captivating and fascinating for me. I soaked in all the information I got from this class extremely easily. It was unlike any of the other classes that I have taken thus far. Math, literature and history were not subjects that I thought were very interesting for me but science was something that I especially excelled in. As the years went by I learned that I was especially had an interest in forensics. The ability to see the open body one-on-one in the fashion that forensics get to have contact with a body was more than interesting for me. So at the age of 12, I decided that forensics was what I was gonna put my mind to.

For as long as I could remember, I have seen my father rushing to the hospital in a white coat, answering pagers in the middle of important family conversations and attending night calls even in the most terrible weather. I had always wondered; what could be so important that it belittles every other responsibility in his life. It was only after many years of anguish and protests that it finally made sense to me. This defining moment of realization occurred when I first met a patient in his office. I saw how the gratitude in the patient’s eyes can provide a sense of fulfillment that triumphs all other feelings in the universe. It was human life that was most important. Being a doctor does not make you a mere healer but also gives you the responsibility of a caregiver. I had never felt more proud of my father and that was the day I felt the urge to relive this feeling many times over. It was there in that moment that I decided to pursue a career in medicine.

I wanted to be like the doctor helping people. I had went through middle school still wanting the same thing, then when it came to highschool. I wanted it more than anything. I searched for high schools here in Charlotte that could offer some kind of medical education that could possible help me pursue my dreams of one day becoming a doctor. I found a school called Phillip O Berry. It is a huge technology school, which also offers, Engineering and Medical Academies. I am currently in my last year here, I did follow through with the medical academy. I am in my last medical class I need. I really enjoyed being able to take these classes here. It has really opened my eyes to what it really is like being in the medical field and the obligations we have. This is just the beginning of the start of my medical career. I will go on until my title is Dr.

I did not realize I wanted to be a physician until three years ago. Once this realization occurred, I worked very hard to overcome the shortcomings in my undergraduate studies. I have maintained a job in order to pay for undergraduate and graduate coursework. This has forced me to enhance my time management and multi-tasking skills, which in turn have allowed me to be exposed to countless experiences and activities.

As I started my undergraduate journey, I never thought I would end up where I am now. When I entered college, I thought that my degree in chemistry would be a stepping-stone on the way to medical school. My one and only goal, at the start of college, was to work as hard as I could to ensure that I would one day become a doctor. However, along the way I figured out that medical school was not where my passions lie.

During my early years at school, I liked the subjects of biology and chemistry. I remember how my obsession with the fine detail of microscopic structures and memorizing whole periodic table in ninth grade made me feel content. I chose to pursue a career in medicine as the study of human body fascinated me. I got myself enrolled successfully at King Edward Medical University to achieve my goal. I consider it a blessing to serve my community through a career in medicine.

School has never been easy for me, however I have been able to succeed beyond even my own expectations. Through perseverance, teamwork, hard work, and sheer bull headed-ness I graduated magna cum laude and convinced myself that I am medical school material. There are things you learn in the class room that have nothing to do with the subject matter at hand. I learned that rather than being afraid or embarrassed to ask for help, asking questions and getting everyone involved and thinking is the key to success. My chosen course of study is medicine, but these principles are universally true. No matter where I go or what I do I will always apply these principles learned from school and work. Moving society forward, solving the problems of today and tomorrow is achievable and less daunting when we rely on each other.

Even through all of my years in medical school, I still could not come to an understanding that medical professionals could not save all of their patients. Julia’s death haunted me, I couldn’t sleep thinking of all the ways I could have saved her and when I did sleep I had nightmares of her death. I began to feel depressed, and lost my confidence as a physician. No amount of schooling could have prepared me for dealing with the physical and emotional stress of my first patient dying, especially one I had frequently treated. If I had been treating a patient in my own home, I would have dropped to my knees and sobbed. Something about the location of a hospital numbs emotion, and I felt like I wasn’t allowed to be upset at Julia’s death. The other nurses enjoyed working with Julia as well, but I seemed to be the only one unable to deal with her death. The entire community turned upset, Julia was inspiring to both medical staff and the other refugees who knew her from their escape. The atmosphere was cold, like a warmth had been stripped away from it. I began to distance myself from my patients, and the other staff who had worked with her took note and saved me from going into depression. The other doctors and nurses knew how young as a physician I was, and the likeness I had formed with Julia. They gave me the best advice on how to deal with a patient dying; death is inevitable and medical professionals are grieve but also have other patients in need of

Growing up, I wanted nothing to do at all with anything medical. I thought blood was disgusting, even tiny little paper cuts completely grossed me out. Instead, I wanted to be a teacher, more specifically, a kindergarten or first grade teacher. When my little sister and I played school I was always the teacher. I was determined that no matter what, I was going to be a teacher. During a seventh grade biology class, I became fascinated with the human body. I thought it was amazing how all the little bits and pieces of the body work together. That biology class changed my

Since early childhood, I have been fascinated by the complexity of the human body. The curiosity for its functioning and potential dysfunction led me to medical school and allowed me to successfully complete my training at the University of Brescia In Italy; far away from my family, fending for myself, learning a different language, living in a different culture and studying without help.

I began to realize that everything we had learned in Biology were things I was genuinely interested in. Because I have always been the person who asks the “Why?” questions, I began to wonder if I had been obsessing on the wrong thing. Like a phoenix being reborn from its flames, I realized what I am truly passionate about: science. While at one point, I was completely inconsolable that I would not be seeing the stage light, I became completely enthusiastic that I could be seeing a thousand-year-old star light in Astronomy. I discovered that understanding the formulas in Physics to calculate the speed of an object thrown off a cliff was more enjoyable than understanding the language used in Romeo and Juliet, singing a song for Chemistry to remember the 115 elements was more gratifying than singing a song about how much Maria loves Tony and, finally, learning about how the human species has evolved was more interesting than learning about how a character’s personality evolves throughout a play. This is why I am willing to shout to the world that I am indeed a failure because out of this misstep, since it was just that, I learned how to recognize the silver lining, even if it is hidden behind a rather large cumulonimbus