Nfcadem Personal Statement

Pursing a career as a medical doctor is an opportunity for me to mentor youth in underserved populations. As a child, I was raised in the low income, urban community of Roxbury, MA. Although not as notorious today, the neighborhood had garnered negative attention for its high crime rates. My mother emigrated from Haiti and raised me as a single parent. Due to our financial circumstance, Roxbury became our permanent residence. I have always felt there was something lacking in Roxbury in comparison to other towns I visited. My teenage years were largely spent in the suburban town of Stoneham where I attended high school. There was a literal difference in air quality and a psychology contrast in future prospects. While native students of

While interacting with current medical students pursuing the MD/MPH dual degree at a UTHSCSA student panel, I realized that obtaining an MPH would align greatly with my interests and career goals, allowing me to expand the scope of my medical education and enhance my critical thinking skills. I enjoy how public health combines various aspects needed to treat disease and improve health outcomes, and I know that integrating the MPH core concepts with my medical degree, will help me to become a well-rounded and better physician who approaches healthcare through both an individual and population-based perspective. An education in public health will provide me with various opportunities ranging from the creation and development of community health projects, to contributing to the modification of current health policies. I will seize the opportunity to work with professionals from all occupations including educators, clinicians, executives, and I will become an advocate and a credible voice for positive change through a better understanding of the healthcare system that is in place

My circumstances had changed from an inability to reliably obtain good healthcare, to good healthcare I could not access. In the last three years, my family's economic situation has improved, but I have only recently been able to obtain health insurance and begin regular physician visits. This entire process has sensitized me to the ease at which simple health issues can be compounded due to a lack of options and how much work remains to be done to ensure that the quality healthcare we strive to create is accessible to those who need it. This personal understanding of healthcare challenges and the sum of my experiences across distinct locations defines my interactions with others. At Columbia, I would be able to build on my experiences, receive an unrivaled and balanced medical education, explore my passions via the comprehensive P&S club, and grow into the physician I want to

Recent reports have noted that the racial/ethnic composition of our nation is projected to transmute drastically in the coming decades. Given this information, it is ergo consequential that our nation’s health professions amend their efforts to provide culturally competent care to all patients. My contribution to advancing diversity in the medical field includes expecting volunteering opportunities where I was not in the majority, but where I was the minority. You will note that throughout my years of giving back, I have always served in areas were I could reduce health-care disparities and/or serve in underserved communities.

I have had the opportunity while volunteering at M.E.N.D to be exposed to the various low-income patients with no health insurance and do not have the privilege of Medicare or Medical benefits. It came to my attention the lack of leaders within health care in underserved communities. There is a need of removal of barriers created by language and lack of knowledge of cultures and heritages that address the specific needs of the underserved. Since then, it has become my ultimate goal to become a leader in health care in underserved communities I plan to become an Orthopedic Surgeon and provide services to those who are unfortunate and cannot afford procedures. I plan to first earn a B.A. degree in Psychology at California State University of

Since coming to college, I have grown a desire to help create policies and programs to alleviate the disparities that exist in the US and globally. The understanding I have gained from sociology and ethics classes I have taken at UT has broadened my interest in health care and my volunteer experiences have solidified this classroom knowledge. As a student in the Health Science Scholars Honors Program, I have the opportunity to complete a senior capstone thesis project. This interest has had a major role in directing my research and I believe will effect the direction that I take in my career.

DGSOM is a multidimensional program which goals are to train the next generation of diverse physicians to serve an increasingly diverse Los Angeles population. Unfortunately, the current physician workforce is far from reflecting the city’s diversity. In consequence, the health disparity gap among African Americans and Latinos continue to widen, remain neglected, and unresolved. Keeping with the school’s mission to combat these health disparities by educating and inspiring minorities to purse and excel in the medical sciences, it is imputative to remind them of great physicians of color. It is highly probably that the general interest and passion in medicine among African Americans and Latinos would increase if the contributions of their ancestors

The Atlanta Harm Reduction Coalition interests me because of its mission to improve the overall health and wellbeing of marginalized communities. Personally, I consider the resources needed to maintain good health and wellbeing a basic human right. My passion and interest for working in the health care field in future is based in this believe. One of the major issues that plagued my community at home is the deficiency of education members marginalized have about health issues. Though my main interest is in mental health issues, I also value the importance of educating adults in the prevention, diagnoses, and treatment of: substance use, HIV/AIDS, STIs, viral Hepatitis, and other communicable diseases. Preventative medicine and healthcare is

To combat this, my goal is to raise more awareness about chronic illness management. I wish to become a family physician emphasizing wellness promotion. As a family physician, I can effectively communicate as well as have a stronger authority to guide community members to consider chronic illness management. During my process to become a physician, I want to be able to volunteer in clinics to gain relevant experience on community health. I plan to increase my knowledge to become an expert so that I am confident and capable of teaching and instructing others.

I am drawn practicing primary care for two reasons: the opportunity it provides to practice community-first health care, and to attain my goal to become the physician who does no harm. First, primary care provides me with an opportunity to play a larger role in public health and health policy areas impacting the community than many other specialties. My goal as a primary practice physician is to work in an underserved rural area where I could accept patients with little or no health insurance and build community based healthcare that revolves around long term patient relationships regardless of socioeconomic status or background.

During my time there, I worked mostly with families of low socioeconomic statuses with a wide range of conditions and gained tremendous clinical experience in every aspect of patient care. However, as one of two physicians in a 150 mile radius, I oftentimes wondered what I could do to improve our patient outcomes and reduce the number of patients presenting with conditions which could have easily been prevented by population based interventions such as clean drinking water, by early identification and treatment of risk factors for diseases like diabetes and hypertension or by practicing evidence based medicine. I quickly realized that irrespective of geographic location(be it in a 3rd or 1st world country), beyond clinical care, there was a need to incorporate healthy lifestyle choices and basic preventive measures while at the same time considering population based determinants of health such as poverty into my therapeutic approach in order to have successful patient outcomes. I realized that training as a family physician would enable me fulfill this need. Out of this experience also grew my interest in public

I have a confession, I love being an educator almost as much as I love being a community-engaged public health scientist. There is this happiness that comes from knowing that that research I contribute impacts health and there is joy that comes from knowing that my students will one day serve the greater community. As a child, I played school often with my stuffed animals trying to mimic my favorite teachers as well as my mother who was a high school teacher. Fast forward to adulthood and my first experience teaching at the college level occurred when I was a doctoral student. That experience changed my approach to inspiring students to learn using the research as a primer to motivate students into discussions about changing their communities. The purpose of this essay is to share reflection from two different experiences

As a first generation, college bound member in my family, being a physician was what I assumed as being the ultimate career attainable to reach success in healthcare. Therefore, my mindset was to get into medical school. Ironically, the Medical/Dental Education Preparatory Program (MEDPREP), a post-baccalaureate program, known for assisting economically and educationally disadvantage students get into medical or dental school, made me realize becoming a physician was not the best fit career with what I desired for a profession in healthcare. Although MEDPREP gave me the opportunity to prove I can be successful in a professional school, the program also made me recognize there are other successful careers in healthcare, which would be in par with the goals I set to accomplish.

By volunteering with medical students and other undergraduates, I had the opportunity to help children in underserved communities gain a deeper interest in science.

The field experience that I have received this semester has sincerely changed a part of my life. Oasis Catolico is a place I will never forget. I was able to follow the progress of several children throughout their semester and observe the numerous changes they went through. I learned very quickly that there are many things inside and outside the classroom that can affect a students learning. I also learned that not only was I observing the students, but they were observing me. The bond that I shared with these students was amazing. This experience showed me that even over a short period of time, I can have a tremendous impact on my students’s lives. It helped to prepare me for my future, and I was able to set many goals for myself.