Psychiatry Personal Statement

My passion and determination to undertake study within the mental health sector dwells from the insight I have been privileged to gain in my current role as a link care coordinator, working with people who suffer from a range of ailments within the mental health spectrum; from learning disabilities, Alzheimer’s, Dementia, OCD, Autism to name but a few.

I have always been thrilled by what goes around in people’s minds, but it was at the age of fifteen that I was first attracted to the field of psychology and particularly to clinical psychology. It was mainly because I read my favorite book When Nietzsche Wept by Irvin Yalom. This novel had a personal impact on me, as someone I know was dealing with depression, migraines, insecurities and suicidal tendencies same as happens so in the book’s characters.

After these two things, that person needs to take the MCAT, or the Medical College Admission Test, in order to gain admission to a medical school to finish their graduate school and get the M.D. they need to practice. Once they receive their M.D. they have to do a residency program that involves 1,000 hours of internship, mostly unpaid. After these 1,000 hours are completed, the person who accomplished these things has to go to a board, and get the board’s certification in order to be licensed and begin their practice. Becoming a psychiatrist takes a lot of time, money, and patience, but it is highly rewarding in the end. Through this research paper, I have realized some of the potential drawbacks, but I have also found many new benefits of this field that I had not previously noticed. This research paper helped me see that this is something that I would like to pursue, even though it will not be

I have chosen to enter the field of Mental Health Counseling at this particular time in my life because I would like to learn the skills needed to help people with their life and mental health issues. While attending the University of Saint Joseph during my undergraduate years I took various courses that have led me to making my decision. The courses I took focused on business, biology, social work, and psychology. After graduation I decided to take a year off and gain work experience in customer service and health care. I wanted to experience working with the people in my community. I was hired as a pharmacy technician at a Walgreens in Vernon. Working as a pharmacy technician has been a very rewarding experience for me and I learned a lot about people and their unique needs. I also learned about patient care and how to be pacient and understanding under stressful situations.

I am applying to your Masters of Clinical Mental Health Counseling program. I have earned my undergraduate degree in Biblical Studies from Mount Vernon Nazarene University. During my time earning my undergraduate degree I also minored in psychology. I am motivated to earn this degree because of the experiences that I have had while growing up in a home with a workaholic father and a bed ridden mother. This childhood has inspired me to work with those who are struggling emotionally and are in need of guidance and assistance.

I firmly believe in myself, in my capabilities, in my skills, in my character, and in my integrity. I also firmly believe in my abilities to achieve my educational and personal goals. I intend to achieve my goal of receiving Master’s degree in Mental Health Counseling. I will pursue this area of study in college, focusing on the necessary course work.

I am honored to apply to Montana State University, Mental Health Counseling program. As an alumnus, I feel not only connected to the University, but to Montana itself. My experiences as a student, volunteer and intern at MSU has solidified my decision to pursue my life long aspiration of becoming a licensed counselor. Why have you chosen this career path?

I feel that I would gain the most and also be most passionate about the mental health challenge. For a long time the functions and processes of the human mind have fascinated me as I have learned about them not only in the classroom but from first hand experience. Psychology was my favorite course that I took in high school and although it is known to be difficult, I did not struggle with it because it is easy to learn something that captures your interest so deeply. And personally, since I was young I have struggled with and worked through clinical depression, working with therapists and psychiatrists to understand the inner workings of my own mind, and I learned how to cope with and overcome my own mental disorder. Learning about other disorders

“Whenever the art of medicine is loved, there is also a love of humanity”. These few words by Hippocrates will forever resonate in my thoughts. My journey since childhood has been guided with a solid belief that a blessed life comes from serving others. My heart is filled with compassion every time I witness a person who is mentally ill. In my perspective, I feel a moral and an instinctive obligation to help a person with a psychological or emotional ailment. Caring for people is not only rewarding to me, but the hope is that one day, those people will contribute to “the love of humanity” by giving back in the same way that I wish to do in medicine. Thus, my decision was rather easy; my passion in serving the humanity prompted me to go into Psychiatry.

I have always known that I wanted to help people and this the reason I choose Mental Health Counseling as my major. After the classes I have taken at Long Island University (LIU), I have come to the realization that my passion lies in working with families. This is the reason I would like to change my major to Marriage and Family Therapy.

I came to the field of psychiatry circuitously. Being second birth of premature twins, having had frequent physician visits for infections; I believed physician is a magician who cures us with colored magic pills. As I grew up, I always chose medicine and my twin brother chose computer. It started as a play and then converted to a full-blown passion, as I was naturally inclined to biology more and would study hard and impress him with my knowledge. At an early age, frequent visits of psychiatrists for my grandmother’s dementia and depression made me believe that any amount of human emotional problems can be addressed by physicians.

As I am interested in research on epigenetics and psychiatric disorders, my likely career path includes a residency in psychiatry with the aim of pursuing academic medicine at the frontier of molecular biology and neuroscience. Though I aspire to elucidate the molecular basis of psychiatric disorders, I would seek satisfaction from the human interaction central to the healing process. For me, the most gratifying aspect of the medical profession is being able to directly impact lives of patients, ranging from helping them battle their illness to simply improving their quality of life. However, I am also aware that patient work brings with it the relentless frustration of failure, since regardless of skills and knowledge no physician or physician-scientist

I've been for the majority of my adult life in the counseling area, beginning in high school, where I finished an internship in a community mental health center. Working with substance abuse and the mental health field since 1982, I've lived since 2003 in the Asheville region. I graduated from Tennessee State University in 1996 with and M.S. In Counselling. Over time, I've worked in diverse settings, including several years as a school-based counsel at Enka Middle and High Schools, along with Hominy Elementary, and over a decade in home-based counseling program focusing on helping families avoid removing kids because of their delinquency, or misuse or neglect in the parent. I also have worked at large community mental health facilities, including

My interest in the human brain and behavior started long before medical school. I truly enjoyed the peer counseling and studies in psychiatry that I did as an undergraduate, as well as my preclinical psychiatry and behavioral science courses, but had not seriously considered psychiatry as a career before starting my clerkships. I was really surprised that, how much I loved my psychiatry rotations. In the locked psychiatric ward, working closely with patients and learning about their illnesses, I realized that I was deeply moved by their stories and devoted to doing what I could to help them manage their diseases.

Working with Victor and the spectrum of patients in the psychiatric ward really affirmed that this is the aspect of medicine where I want to strive to make an impact. I am confident that I possess the patience and humility necessary to help patients during the worst phases of their mental illness. Whether they are angry, depressed, demanding, yelling, or fearful. Whether it is in the addiction unit with a patient who has overdosed, or in the inpatient unit with a patient suffering a manic episode, I feel confident that I am able to treat each patient with compassion as human beings and without judgment. Working with Victor and his mental illness, and making a positive impact in his life gave me more satisfaction and joy than any of my other rotations.