Personal Statement: Improving Patient Care

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.

As a recent graduate of the Johns Hopkins University and a new Research Technician at the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, becoming more familiar with different healthcare settings and helping others in doing so have always been of my interest. From my experience of volunteering as a piano teacher for inner-city children in Baltimore, I have learnt that even a small commitment and emotional support can make a big difference in the daily lives and the happiness of those in need. I have briefly familiarized myself to the hospital environment by shadowing physicians and conducting biomedical research but have yet to translate my volunteering experiences and the lessons learnt from them to the healthcare setting. I am a friendly, optimistic,

Through the many trips that my family has taken to the hospital due to various reasons, I have become fond of the hospital and its many wonders. After all the things that the medical field has done for me and my family, I decided to contribute to my local hospital to volunteer and help out those who pay visits to the hospital. Through my exposure to various clinical populations, I want to improve my ability to serve others in this capacity that can guide me towards the medical profession in the future.

Through my compassion, responsibility, and teamwork I will be able to leave a positive impact on the patients, staff, and parents that visit this facility. Although I may only be a high school student volunteering a few hours a week at this local hospital and I may not be handing a scalpel to a doctor, what I do has the power to bring a smile to someone's day. This opportunity to make their experience better is definitely worthwhile. To conclude, I would also like to thank the Plano Presbyterian Volunteer Services coordinators and directors for providing this great opportunity for High School students like myself who are exploring the medical

“Follow your passion; it will lead you to your purpose,” Oprah Winfrey. My passion leading me to a degree in healthcare management has been the love I have for my son. Becoming a single mother, shortly before my son turned two-years-old, was life altering. Moving back in with my family, realizing I had no income, and no longer the team effort from his father, was an indescribable sense of failure as a parent.

I have had a passion for becoming a healthcare provider for children for quite a while (for a long time). Children are one of the most important individuals of society because they are the future and will one day be in charge of the world. Their health at a young age is indicative to how their health will be as adults. Childhood has a great effect on how a person turns out to be so I hope to help children I hope to use prevention and education to preserve and restore the health of my patients. My career goals are to prevent children from having to spend time in hospitals or in pain and to help them live out their life and dreams to the fullest extent. Children play a very large role in their families, and when a child becomes sick, the whole family becomes distressed. Pediatricians not only heal children, but they help and prevent a family from suffering. I love medicine and children, and I hope to combine these two passions by becoming a pediatrician.

According the the American Bureau of Labor Statistics, “...over 4.9 million Americans volunteered their time in a hospital or health-related organization [in 2011]” (Kendrick, “Sector Spotlight: Volunteer Management in Hospitals”). All those volunteers, also called Candy Stripers, made a positive change in their medical community and I was extremely honored to be one of those individuals. The ill stricken, misfortunate and even hospital staff need as much assistance as possible according to my experience. I encourage college students to take action and become hospital volunteers. When becoming a hospital volunteer, an individual will be able to assist nurses, support patients both physically and psychologically, provide funds to your local hospital and gain knowledge on how to serve the community positively in the future.

I began volunteering at the Hospital for Special Surgery, to get an overview of what is is like to work at a hospital. Volunteering at a hospital was an eye opening experience, because I got to encounter how physicians, and medical staff communicate, and listen to their patients. These two skills are essential to understand patient needs, and therefore make the right decisions in diagnosing diseases. My role at the hospital was to provide snacks, beverages, and aid kits to patients, families, and medical staff. I have witnessed families that stayed up long nights, because they had loved ones undergo surgery. Any person that has a loved one undergo surgery becomes worried and scared, because of the uncertainty that lies ahead. However, the imperative skills that I have learned and exceeded on was my communication skills. Communicating with these families, and patients was exceedingly important, because you have to place yourself in their shoes to understand the situation they are in. I met young patients, as young as 5 years old, that were in the hospital for days recovering from surgery, or undergoing

While shadowing physician assistants, I volunteered at The Mustard Seed Medical Missions, a nonprofit organization that provides medical care to those with financial hardships. My first day there I got to meet the staff who made it all happen – the two women who worked the front desk who answered phones and organized patient files, the nurse who manually took blood pressure and did a review of why the patient was attending, the phlebotomist who took blood in even the smallest of veins to run labs, the translator

My objective is to help people and those who need care and compassion. Volunteering at Maimonides Medical Center helped me to be courageous, mature, and resilient on the path that I have chosen to pursue my future career. It is not always easy for anyone to endure the essence of working and volunteering at the hospital. Being a patient-care volunteer have utilized my skills needed when it comes to interacting with patients. At Maimonides Medical Center, I was helping patients in several surgical departments.

Interacting with patients at St. Rose Sienna Hospital fulfills my sense of purpose; helping others. Coming across patients ranging from labor contractions to gunshots trains me to stay calm when they are frightened and apprehensive. I am often tasked with the training of new volunteers. Over time, I have been able to build friendships with peers and staff. My main responsibility is discharging inpatients. I do my best to communicate effectively by engaging them in conversation. I spend 15 minutes learning about life stories, current complications, and future plans. I am the last impression a

At thirteen I began volunteering at Rex Hospital, which afforded me the opportunity to give back to my community and gain exposure to the medical profession. As a teen volunteer, I worked in the hospital’s gift shop and managed the mobile gift store. Hospitals can be daunting places: the hum of medical machines, the sterile hallways, and the anxiety that lingers in waiting rooms; however, the gift shop is often a respite. It plays a large role in the healing ethos of the hospital,

As a dedicated father, volunteer, and mechanical engineer, I have always had an appreciation for science. For five years I have enjoyed it as an integral part of my profession. However, I often found myself asking whether or not I was performing the most meaningful and fulfilling work that I was capable of. Over the years, my wife and I would have discussions about what we genuinely wanted to do with our lives. We slowly grew to recognize that medicine is the best profession in which we could use our skills to the fullest, working with people to help people, while providing a service to communities in need.

“Nursing is an art, and if it is to be made an art, requires as exclusive a devotion, as hard a preparation, as any painter’s or sculptor’s work...” (Nightingale, 1868)

This past summer, the summer of 2016, I got a volunteer opportunity at the Johns Hopkins Hospital at the Simulation Department. I volunteered every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday from 8:30am to 4:30pm for seven weeks. The Simulation Department is a medical training facility that has a goal to improve the safety within the patient care. Therefore, there is a lot of doctors and medical students that would come for training and testing. My job in this department was to set up the rooms for the special classes, run errands, and communicate with the other workers. In addition, I helped by putting the various hospital equipment’s in the storage room. In this experience, I have learned a lot about how to help people in certain situations, how to help