One Stop Medical Scholarship

I came to America from Vietnam when I was just three years old. I spent a majority of my life with my grandma, who has always taught me the importance of helping others. She always told me to have; you must give, and if you have nothing to give, you can always give your time. This phase has been a huge guide in my life, and it has truly shaped me into who I am. At a young age, I always felt that my purpose in life was to help people. After attending many doctor visits with my grandma for her health check-ups, I was confident my future occupation would be in the medical field. During these frequent doctor visits, I had the chance to watch the interactions and cooperation among different healthcare professionals in different settings. Being in this inspiring environment, I hoped one day I could mirror them and make a difference in people’s lives and the community. Although I have always wanted to help those in need, I was uncertain of what specific career role would allow me to fulfill my passion for helping others.

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.

The medical field is a career path that brings about many options and opportunities of great value. The noble idea of being a doctor tends to cloud the diligent studying and precise training that is actually required for this career. I have wanted to become a doctor since a very young age, and now that the opportunity is here for the taking, I have fully researched what it takes to succeed in this profession and various specialties of the practice. The road to a medical degree is one filled with thousands of notes, years of schooling, and many stressful nights, but the reward is one incomparable to any other. Saving people’s lives on a day-to-day basis has been one of my dreams for as long as I can remember, so the rigorous curriculum

Living is a gift. Many people in the world are simply alive, but living is rare. There are people that are too sick to enjoy life, the disease that has manifested in the body slowly takes over the mind and rids the mind of joy and radiance. The glow of life slowly diminishes before our eyes and it is truly heart breaking. This person is not just a disease that happens to be hosted in a human. This is a human that happens to have a disease. This person is someone’s parent, someone’s child, someone’s sibling, and someone’s grandparent. This person has memories, hobbies, and loved ones. This person is your patient. Making a difference in just one person’s life is an incredible feat. Being a physician assistant would be making a difference in many

For as long as I can remember, I have always been interested in pursuing a career in the medical field. These interests were most likely brought to life from my desire to want to help people and learn more about the human body. The experiences I’ve had throughout my life have brought me closer to the belief that I can one day make a difference in the world through medicine. All though I am not completely decided on what I would like my future career to be, I have been able to narrow my options down to a few of the many choices available.

Growing up with my grandparents had helped me determine my decision of pursuing a career in the medical field. My grandparents were Chinese farmers who would always reaching out for our neighbors and providing them with life needs. By growing up with them, I obtain their personalities as well. They taught me to be humble, responsible and caring. I remember a quote by Stephen Richard, “When you reach out to those in need, do not be surprised if the essential meaning of something occurs.” This quote was later proven by my own experience, which I would get this indescribable gratification I get after helping someone. Therefore, I wanted to become someone who can reaching out for others as my grandparents ever since I was little. Being in the

Currently, I am in the process of earning my Bachelor’s degree in Biology with a pre-medical emphasis from Grand Canyon University. Upon graduation, I hope to attend either a medical or physician assistant school. My specific goal in the medical field is still up in the air, however, I am avidly exploring the fields of pathology, oncology, emergency medicine, and surgery. My interest in the medical field was sparked by my human anatomy and physiology class during my senior year of high school. Put simply, my life in high school was rough, and I was completely lost, as far as my career decisions were concerned. I enrolled in a human anatomy course, to fill a hole in my schedule during my senior

It was dark and there were so many noises around me as I slowly woke up and recalled I was in a hospital with abdominal pain. I then heard a familiar voice say “Sweetie, wake up! Wake up!” I opened my eyes to a blurry image of my mother. “Shhh… don't make any noises. We're leaving now. Just act like you are fine. We'll try to sneak out before anyone notices”, my mother said. She explained later that she could not afford to pay hospital bills, so we had to leave before any physician checked over. Living in Vietnam, I was filled with resentment towards their healthcare system, as people were rejected treatment and left to perish in the streets. As a child, I therefore never considered medicine as a career. My spark for medicine was unforeseen until I went on a high school field trip at INOVA Fairfax Hospital in Virginia. Hovering over the glass ceiling of the operating theater, I watched doctors performing coronary bypass surgery while witnessing the heart beat stronger and stronger. At this magical moment, I was overwhelmed by the power of medicine to save people’s lives.

I hope to use my good moral character in my future in medical sciences. I find my characteristic very important and essential to my passion for the medical sciences.

Initially I was preparing for pharmacy school, but I realized that it was not an active profession and the only way I could work with patients is to distribute prescribed drugs to them. I was young and immature and chose a profession based on financial benefit. After graduating with my bachelor’s degree in biology, I decided to explore the medical field by applying for a volunteer position supporting direct patient care at a hospital.

Samuel Hahnemann once said “The physician's highest calling, his only calling, is to make sick people healthy to heal, as it is termed.” Over multiple years of being posed the question “What do you want to be when you grow up? I have come to the conclusion that I want to become a physician or at least I think I do. Who wouldn’t want to help save lives? As a physician, I am presented with the opportunity to help better communities all around the world for the rest of my life. I always wanted to try to make a difference that people would appreciate. As I researched this profession, I discovered that because of physicians and their ability to use medical science, the life expectancy in the United States has more than doubled between 1990-2013

After beginning medical school, I quickly realized that for every one question we could answer there were about a dozen that could not be answered. I delved even deeper into my studies, determined to learn all I could to help my patients to the best of my ability. Suddenly, two of my close family members died, and with this my determination to find answers increased again. Something else awoke within me during the morning of these loved ones, as well. I truly understood what families were going through while watching their loved ones suffering, and my empathy, compassion, and bedside manner became even stronger.

Throughout my life, I have been offered many opportunities, including coming to America and being accepted into a private boarding school to further advance my education. I am grateful for the chances offered to me so far, knowing that everybody is not as fortunate as I am. Friends and family, who are proud of my accomplishments, continuously express how much they would sacrifice to be given opportunities such as mine. Since life has offered me such generous choices, I feel like it is only appropriate to give back by using all my resources to become somebody that can aide others. Knowing what the Mini-Medical School Program can teach me, this program is another resource I can use to help others. I don’t waste opportunities, I take full advantage

I aspire to perform Nobel Peace Prize winning research while providing compassionate care to my patients. Having both a researcher’s and a physician’s perspectives, I am motivated to bridge the gap between science and medicine by educating patients about their condition and treatment options in appropriate detail. As Albert Einstein said, “[I]f you can't explain it simply, you don't understand it well enough.” Being trained as a leader of both science and medicine at UCSF, my understanding will allow me to teach any patient and provide their right to educated healthcare decisions. With my balance of clinical work and research currently, I am excited to go to work every day since each day brings a new learning experience. Attending UCSF would transform my dream into my reality and keep this excitement in my life as I progress as a leader of academic

Since the time I was a young girl in elementary, I have known that my place to in the world is in the medical field. There are thousands of young people who desire to help others through medicine but may not have the funds to do so. Everyone deserves the opportunity to get direction towards their dream in spite of their financial