Personal Motivations And Understanding Of The Health Field

After observing my mother in at the emergency room where she works, I finally understand the difficulty of being a doctor. Doctors constantly having to take care of anyone who walks through the door on a stretcher. Doctors have to try their best to feel empathetic towards everyone, putting themselves in other people’s shoes and trying to understand their situation. Whether they are good or bad, it doesn’t matter, the main goal is to stabilize the patients and make sure they receive the help they need. For example, last night walked in a psychopath who had killed 3 people, who also stabbed himself in attempt at suicide. By some miraculous move by God he didn’t die, only required immediate medical attention. As I watched my mother operate

At three in the morning, the phone rang. A trembling voice relayed the news that my friend had fallen into a coma due to an inoperable brain aneurysm. A few days later, her family decided to stop life support after confirmation that she was completely brain-dead. The fact that nothing could be done for her in this day and age, despite all our technological advancements, was a great shock to me. In addition, the fact that she was younger than me made me realize how short and precious each life truly is. Her death inspired me to pursue medicine so that one day, others in similarly hopeless situations, would have a chance to survive. My dream is that one day, I will contribute to bringing medicine one step closer to curing someone with a

Throughout my life I have been a strong proponent of service to the poor, and my motivation to be in the medical field has come from the fulfillment of giving back. The impoverished have always been a segment of the community that have been neglected but in need of the greatest amount of care and compassion. During my undergraduate career I majored in Health Services and was involved in a service learning research project where I spent time in the McAuley Health Center Clinic in the metro Detroit area. I worked to promote and educate the community on free healthcare resources and preventative care services, food drives, and donations.

I have had a variety of experiences that contributed to my overall motivation to become a health care professional. My passion for medicine began when I was an adolescent being evaluated and taken care of by my pediatrician, Dr. Gonzalez. As a kid, I loved being active and playing several sports. However, I consistently had shortness of breath, wheezing, and tightness in my chest during my sports competitions, which my parents quickly noticed. I visited Dr. Gonzalez who knew from the symptoms and experience that I have asthma and prescribed both an inhaler and nebulizer for me to prevent further complications which allow me an opportunity to continue playing sports. I began succeeding playing all sports, and was extremely grateful for her medical knowledge, support, and advice. I was ecstatic knowing that she was going to ensure I stayed healthy and also become successful in various ways. . In middle school, I began looking into the health care careers to explore my options. Now that I am older, I envision myself in Dr. Gonzalez’s position one day. I know I have all the right qualities to be an amazing, caring children doctor.

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.

Since freshman year, I have taken college level health science related courses that taught me the technical aspects of medical terminology, along with the complex questions of bioethics. From a practical aspect, I learned about the values and perplexities of the Hippocratic Oath, while getting CPR/AED/First Aid certified. Through my extracurriculars, I learned the value of synergizing science and compassion. I learned the devastation illness has on family members when I volunteered at the Alzheimer’s Care facility. I danced to Marvin Gaye with the terminally ill residents as their family members looked on with a surreal expression on their face because their mom or dad was enjoying that very instance of their life. At my internship at a physical therapy practice, I learned the importance of patient autonomy from older patients who would forego major operations like hip or knee replacements to preserve their quality of life without facing the potential implications of a major operation. At the American Cancer Society’s annual Relay for Life, I learned how important holistic health care factored into the treatment process as cancer survivors and fighters emphasized the importance of a strong emotional and spiritual support network. These profound insights I learned outside the classroom brought my education full circle. At Georgetown, with the National

I further supported my studies in biology and my interest of assisting the needy by volunteering at my hometown’s emergency room. While I did find that working at the emergency room constantly catered to my passion for knowledge about medicine, it was my trustworthy and compassionate nature that allowed me a heightened ability to interact with patients in a reliable and effective manner. I continued my desire by shadowing physicians in the many different departments of the hospital. However, since the marvels of the heart always left me in wonder, I found myself drawn into the life of a cardiologist. While shadowing him in his private practice, I had the chance to appreciate the responsibilities, commitment, and satisfaction of a career in

The MBTI (Myers-Briggs Type Indicator) has given me insightful information over 4 different dichotomies: 1)Where I focus my attention 2) How I take in information 3) How I make decisions based on the information and 4) How I deal with the world. After completing the assessment, I was dubbed ‘INTJ’. This being 9% Introvert, 38% iNtuitive, 3% Thinking, and 31% Judging. To my surprise, after reading the detailed report, I found most of the information presented, to be ‘spot on’. According to the Center for Confidence and Well-Being, “Of all the personality types, INTJs are most motivated by “vision”. They have a great need to come up with a unifying idea of a future, improved state, which is then their job to realize. This inner vision can be so strong for INTJs and so individual that they are often reckoned to be the most independent-minded of all the types” (Craig, C., 2014). This provided me with great validation that I have been lucky enough to find myself in the right career. Currently, I am the interim Director of Quality at an acute care hospital in San Diego. Daily, myself and my team are looking for ways to improve hospital processes, systems, and relationships. Always striving for a future vision or ‘ideal state’ of how we would like to see our organization functioning to better serve our community. Many people have told me that they could ‘not do what I do’ simply because of the data collecting, analyzing, reporting, and

I became captivated by the opportunity to apply my knowledge of the biological and chemical sciences in a way that one day may save a life. Though my interest stems from my experiences, my passion to pursue this field lies elsewhere. Growing up in a family of low socioeconomic status in an area with few sources of acceptable health care, I saw my parents struggle as they aged to provide my siblings and I with a proper education. There were times they would ignore their own illness in order to save funds for an emergency for us. Observing this, I knew that no matter how difficult of a path I picked, regardless if it was pharmaceutical sciences or the medical field, my parents had concurred greater difficulties. Growing under such conditions, I began to realize the disparities in quality of treatments my parents received compared to those who of a higher socioeconomic status. This motivated me to pursue a career where I would be given the chance to offer care to individuals through unbiased views. Of course, there are a plethora of careers that can fulfill this but medicine has presented itself as very unique to me. It promises a lifestyle devoted to empathetic patient care, direct patient interaction, and a boundless opportunity to learn and experience something new. As the end of my undergraduate experience is forthcoming, I look forward to taking on the next phase of my life, endeavoring to join the ranks of tomorrow’s

To say that this incident was the defining moment as to why I chose medicine would be an exaggeration, but it had undoubtedly been an affirmation of my decision. To embark on a career in Medicine was not an easy decision, and it was certainly not something that I had aspired to be from a young age. In fact, it took nearly half a decade of careful consideration and exploration before I reached this conclusion. My motivation to become a doctor stems not only from my love for science, but also from the special connection that is established between a patient and a doctor during diagnosis and consultation. The opportunity for devoting a lifetime to alleviating illnesses stands as my inspiration. I believe that there is no other profession that can be compared to one which utilizes one’s acquired abilities to bring about a more immediate impact on someone’s life, just as this experience had

While in college, I developed an interest in health. I must say that my interest for health did not prepare me for the unforeseen health obstacles that I had to go through in order to complete my bachelor’s degree. My journey was rough. Especially, when I had doctor visits along with paranoia. Then there were the biopsies of the breast and this was my last year attending EIU. I commuted to school everyday, worked two jobs, and took care of my motherly duties to my two kids by myself. I was

I embrace the search for the effective, mutual beneficial relationships within medicine that aims to improve the lives of patients and fellow physicians to uncover the body’s complexities that are not always apparent through pure medical intervention. It’s not an endeavor that can be done with haste. Only with deliberate focus and care can I learn how to hone a person’s tale to their own telling and maintain their wellbeing. I look forward to the

My freshman year of high school I literally had no idea what I wanted to do when I grew up. That is, until one day, when I suffered a lot of pain at football practice. I never thought a broken hand would be so beneficial to my future. The next morning I had to get surgery and they told me I would have to see an occupational therapist to be able to use my hand again. I was not thrilled about this news because they told me therapy would be very painful. The first day of therapy was horrendous, I forgot to take my pain medication and she made me do all these weird stretches with my hand. I wasn’t looking forward to my next appointment. After awhile I started enjoying my appointments more and more, I got to the point where I was looking forward to going to my appointments. My occupational therapist was very helpful by telling me what all I needed to know about occupational therapy. Because of the improvement I could visually see, the way my therapist was always in a good mood, and the hands on work you do, is why I want to be an occupational therapist.

I grew up in Nigeria, where I earned a degree in Veterinary Medicine at the University of Nigeria. During the third year, my parents’ business went bankrupt which forced me to work on a farm to continue my education. Although this caused a hurdle, I caught the fire of education, prevailed and completed school. During this period, I overcame financial hardships which deepened my passion for helping others, serving as a peer counselor. In the counseling relationship, which remains close to my heart, I befriended and assisted a suicidal (classmate) student who had just been diagnosed with HIV. To this day, I still feel joy knowing that he took my advice to seek early treatment and is in good health– This experience is an example of the patient relationships I intend to

As a writer, I can offer a unique perspective. For example, when I plan stories, I must consider several factors such as culture and personality traits to design how the characters I create will realistically respond to various situations. These holistic thinking skills that I have developed over time coincide well with a physician’s treatment of the whole person. As a physician and writer, grasping this understanding of people’s psychological and social dimensions is critical to best care for them. In summary, interpreting medicine as an art of transforming empathy and science into healing is an outlook that I can contribute at GW.