Underprivileged Personal Statement

Wide reaching, nurses significantly outnumbered physicians as providers of health care often having utmost vast reach remoteness to underserved communities. Having personally lived in one of the underserved communities in my hometown Western Africa before moving to the United States of America and my life calling to be a nurse from a young age with the deep desire to make a difference. I plan to contribute and continue to contribute immensely to the underserved communities by delivering quality health care to remote regions around the world. I do volunteer service at several clinics in the Atlanta area with many well-known Emory physicians that care for homeless and underserved populations, these volunteer experiences provide me with opportunities and fulfillment to develop added headship skill and experience to meet my daily patients, needs.

Not only do I have a good understanding of the patient population I want to work with, I want to help reshape healthcare. I particularly want to improve the access of primary care to medically underserved populations. Everyone deserves equal access to healthcare and there should be no disparity in the quality of care provided. Therefore, each additional encounter I had with a PA or a patient has elevated my passion for helping people in need.

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

There are few certainties of what one will encounter during life. A common joke names two: death and

I have been given many opportunities to help others and make an impact in Johnson City through organizations like the Family Medicine Interest Group at ETSU, serving as the coordinator for student involvement in free clinics. I have also been able to make an impact through medicine in Cleveland, TN by way of the Good Samaritan Clinic. This is a free clinic in downtown Cleveland that I have been volunteering at for the past seven years. I have also been directly involved in the start-up of the Just Care clinic in Mountain City, TN, a medical student ran free clinic in rural Appalachia. I was also been able to spend time in rural Guatemala with a medical team from my undergraduate university helping diagnose, treat, and care for patients whom receive little to no regular healthcare. From my own first hand experiences in both Guatemala and my time spent in the Just Care and Good Samaritan Clinics, I have seen the impact that an inadequate health care system can have on a population. I hope to use my medical and public health training in areas that do not have adequate access to health

Providing legal services to underserved communities can be both challenging and rewarding. I anticipate such a career after graduating from law school. My upbringing and experiences influence my desire to serve rural areas with limited access to legal services.

As an African American male who was diagnosed with end stage renal disease, I was a patient in need of financial assistance while on dialysis, a patient who needed to use Medicaid to help pay for medical expenses, and a patient that needed a healthcare provider to understand the amount of stress and anxiety I was under. My experience has given me a deeper understanding of what is needed to provide care to underserved communities. Underserved communities are in need of medical providers that are attuned to the social, emotional and economic disparities these patients encounter. For me, from a patient’s viewpoint, everyone deserves to be heard and served fairly. I will use my personal experiences to provide the underserved community in my career as a Nurse Practitioner, so that the underserved population can receive the best care

As a future physician, I want to provide the necessary health care and guidance to children of low-income families, both here in the United States and in developing nations. Current advances in technology and medicine have allowed a vast majority of diseases to be treated, prevented, and even cured; yet, it is a grave reality that many individuals still do not have these innovations available to them. Ultimately, my goal is to act as a link between

During the first three years I will work as a nurse practitioner in an urgent care/occupational health care setting serving individuals living in low socioeconomic areas. Providing urgent care treatment in an underserved community is important to me, as these communities are in dire need of healthcare providers who speak their language and understand their culture. I hope to make a difference in these communities by encouraging prevention. In order to be worthy of serving this population, I will need to partner with a practice that will take me under their wing and help me reach my highest professional development potential.

As a young girl, I vividly recall writing about being a doctor; this dream became more of a pressing desire as I aged and noticed the increasing needs of my neighborhood. As an African-American woman growing up in South Los Angeles, I am aware of the lack of educational, financial as well as health opportunities in my community. I want to become a physician-advocate who is sympathetic to the needs and circumstances of residents, as well as one who is active in the improvement of communal wellness. As a first year student within the Charles R. Drew/UCLA medical education program, I have been provided a foundation that will equip me with the tools needed to be an effective community-based physician, but it is my belief that participation in the GE-NMF Primary Care Leadership Program (PCLP) will offer a challenge and a gift that will mold me into a great doctor of service to the community.

Having grown up without access to affordable healthcare, I am dedicated to returning to underserved communities like my own to help others as a primary care physician. Raised in a dual-culture life, coming from both the Hispanic and Appalachian communities, I understand how difficult it can be to find affordable quality healthcare. I recognize that my future patients may similarly hesitate to visit a physician due to reasons including language barriers, finances, immigration status, lack of coverage, and lack of geographic access. I will use the skills I gained as an educator, as well as my personal hardships, to find creative ways to dismantle these complex structural barriers for marginalized populations. The longer I am in the educational and medical systems, the more I understand why so few are able to make this same commitment to primary care. I am sincerely, personally, and deeply devoted to this area of practice, and that is why I am asking for you to support my pursuit of these

As a recipient of this scholarship, I would like to contribute to the mission of the NHSC by providing an environment where patients feel that they are welcomed, a priority, and receiving high quality healthcare. This is important because the large patient demands found in clinics in underserved areas create an environment where patients receive less face-to-face time with their doctors, provided they get seen at all. Because I have the work ethic and compassion to make a difference in underserved areas, I believe that I would be a helpful addition to any clinic. Bringing caring healthcare professionals into communities will allow more patients to receive quality care as well as impact these areas by allowing everyone to live healthier, more

My talents and experiences have prepared me to support the Metropolitan State University School of Nursing mission and prepared me for graduate education. I currently work in healthcare as a certified pharmacy technician and work with diverse and underserved population daily. Unfortunately, I can see how communication barriers, access to health care, physical barriers, and monetary barriers can prevent individuals from living up to their full health potential. I have had patients call our pharmacy to tell us they are unable to pick up their medications due to a lack of transportation access and an inability to pay for their medications. I have also had patients who are unable to take their medications regularly also due finances and an inability to read or understand the directions of their medications.

In our lives, we have to make important choices, and sometimes our choices determine our happiness or sadness. As a Filipino, our families tell us to do well in school and to not make bad choices because they want us to be successful and to have ethical morals. Growing up as a Catholic, I was taught to be obedient and respectful to my family which has shaped who I am today. Yet, I too made some mistakes, and I learned from the consequences. From my failures, I learned to not belittle myself, but to grow.

I have a wide range of skills and knowledge that I have acquired throughout my personal and professional life. I can communicate with different types of people regardless of age, race or class. I have accessed a huge range of courses that have enabled me to develop interpersonal skills including negotiation and dealing with different types of people and personalities. I also have the knowledge, drive and enthusiasm to work alone when required as I am self-motivated and can meet targets and deadlines. I believe that challenges are best met positively by developing and improving knowledge and skills and through professional reflective dialogue that leads to change. I am very hard-working and reliable. I work well under pressure achieving a high standard of work. I have practical and organisational skills and I can find solutions to problems and face challenges confidently.