Why I Am A Doctor

Prominently featured in the mission statements of virtually of every medical school and medical institution in the world is the call for empathetic doctors. These institutions wish to train medical professionals that possess qualities of sympathy and compassion, and hospitals wish to employ health professionals that showcase similar qualities. The reality, however, is starkly different, as physicians, jaded by what they have seen in the medical world, lose the qualities that drove them to medicine in the first place. In Frank Huyler’s “The Blood of Strangers,” a collection of short stories from his time as a physician in the emergency room, Huyler uses the literary techniques of irony and imagery to depict the reality of the world of a medical professional. While Huyler provides several examples of both techniques in his accounts, moments from “A Difference of Opinion” and “The Secret” in particular stand out. Huyler uses irony and imagery in these two pieces to describe how medical professionals have lost their sense of compassion and empathy due to being jaded and desensitized by the awful incidents they have witnessed during their careers.

Shortly after enrolling in college I obtained a job as an emergency department (ED) scribe. Working as a scribe challenged me to think harder about what I wanted to do in health care. It was what I witnessed during my first code that inspired me to pursue a career in medicine. A patient had come into the ER with hypertension and bradycardia. Shortly after the doctor and I had finished completing his assessment, the patient went into cardiac arrest. While I was impressed by the responsiveness and intervention of the nursing staff, my eyes, like many others in the room, were fixed on Dr. Crowder. With an unusual calmness he systematically called out orders “defibrillate…. okay, continue chest

For as long as I could remember, I have seen my father rushing to the hospital in a white coat, answering pagers in the middle of important family conversations and attending night calls even in the most terrible weather. I had always wondered; what could be so important that it belittles every other responsibility in his life. It was only after many years of anguish and protests that it finally made sense to me. This defining moment of realization occurred when I first met a patient in his office. I saw how the gratitude in the patient’s eyes can provide a sense of fulfillment that triumphs all other feelings in the universe. It was human life that was most important. Being a doctor does not make you a mere healer but also gives you the responsibility of a caregiver. I had never felt more proud of my father and that was the day I felt the urge to relive this feeling many times over. It was there in that moment that I decided to pursue a career in medicine.

Mr. Zhao taught about the human body with such zeal and overwhelming passion, it encompassed me from day one. Though I had already planned on a being a pediatrician because I loved to care for kids, Mr. Zhao made actual medicine in relation to the human body another aspect of a health career to explore and love. You’re probably thinking, “Well yeah, you can’t just like people in the healthcare industry”, yet patient care, compassion, and sympathy play a definitive role in such a field. I’ve witnessed these elements of healthcare first-hand volunteering at Texas Children’s Hospital. I volunteered during the summer and do so now during the school year.

I want to be a MedServe Fellow for several reasons, with the ultimate goals of improving my community and providing a stepping stone between college and medical school. One of the main things I want to do during my gap year is gain clinical experience, something I believe I need before applying to medical school, and this program fulfills that desire. I could do research in my gap year, but working in a primary care setting would be the most beneficial in preparing me, not only for medical school, but for my career. My career goal is within primary care, and while I also could gain experience via an EMT route, I feel that MedServe provides a unique opportunity to truly experience and understand primary care. I want to have a more active role

Anything could have gone wrong. A Japanese soldier murdering my grandmother as they marched into her small village during the Rape of Nanking. The Communist forces dropping an aerial bomb on my mother’s home before the Fall of Saigon. My father’s old fishing boat capsizing in the South China Sea while escaping Vietnam before his miraculous landing in the Philippines. From time to time, I reflect upon my family’s fortuitous circumstances in the darkest periods of war and their tumultuous journey to America. Being the eldest child of second-generation war refugees has significantly impacted my life decisions and aspirations. Neither of my parents finished their education due the Vietnam War, so I have the privilege of being the first in the

As a volunteer in the emergency room, I was exposed to various medical procedures performed by the technicians, nurses, physician assistants and physicians. I was surprised to see how a place that seems to be constantly chaotic can still give every patient the care they need. It was not until I spent more time volunteering in the emergency room did I realize that although it seemed to be chaotic, the healthcare providers had a well established routine along with teamwork. I was shocked when I saw a physician assistant delivering lunch to a patient, as this is usually done by the nurses or technicians. It was through this that I understood how teamwork is essential to providing excellent care. The health care professionals in this emergency room never pulled rank or established clear cut responsibilities, everyone just did what they could and this was how simple their routine was. They didn’t let their pride prevent them from what needed to be done, after all every healthcare worker only has one responsibility; and that is to care for the patient to their fullest

When faced with a tough, and timed emergency situation, there are many directions a heath care provider can go in from there. They can freeze, act improperly, or not quick enough, but some will also act professionally and correctly perhaps saving a patient's life. What determines the direction a health care provider will take is their experience. From knowledge to observation, a medical professional can learn the most efficient ways to work. But one way in particular, past medical experiences and the patient, provider relationship, can influence the decisions a health care provider will make. This can be demonstrated by both Atul Gawande, author of Complications: A Surgeon’s Note on an Imperfect Science, and within Courtney Davis’s The

The emergency lights light up the hallway as the ambulance pulls in, everybody's hearts are racing but composure is held, that bay door opens and the EMT’s rush in doing chest compressions while steering the stretcher with precision the patient is safely transferred to another bed, the CPR continues and another team takes over all with the intent to save this life. This is a brief description of the teamwork involved in emergency medicine. This is the typical thoughts one may have about an emergency situation, but what they don’t realize is all the teamwork involved in medicine in general. I chose to do my career investigation project on becoming a Physicians Assistant.

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

My journey toward achieving my passion of providing high quality compassionate care to patients has been an amazing time in my life; I married my wife, moved to New York, and started PA school. I was thrilled about my experiences in the ED as a scribe, but I promised myself to keep an open mind about all the medical specialties while in PA school; however, it quickly became clear that I had already found my passion. As time went on, I would regularly think of the excitement and fascinating medical cases seen on my emergency medicine rotation.

Traditionally, the physician was expected to use all of their talents and training in an effort to save the life of their patient, no matter the odds. More recently, the physician’s role has been redefined to preserve the autonomy of the patient. Now physicians must give life saving care only in so far and to the degree desirous of the competent patient.

The rest of the day was a blur, too many worried faces, too many bloodshot eyes to remember any details. There was restless waiting and relentless encounters with doctors that seemed to never end. Although, despite all of the action throughout the day, it was all ended when the head Cardiothoracic surgeon came out and told us that he had repaired a bleed coming from my Uncle’s heart, and that he would survive. I had never felt more joy in my life, and that was the moment that I knew I wanted to be a surgeon. If I could feel that much of a rush just thinking about saving a life, there was no doubt in my mind that being a surgeon was what I was destined to do. Being able to save another person’s life and bring that amount of joy and relief to their family was

On a mid-September evening in 1994, a LifeLion medevac helicopter landed at Hershey Medical Center, carrying a critically ill infant patient with an abnormal cardiac rhythm. Now, almost 21 years after that flight, that same infant, now a healthy adult working in emergency medical services, has transferred his own critical patients to the care of a medevac crew and flown as an observer aboard the aircraft. That infant was me; this parallel is just one example of how my life experiences with healthcare have shaped my dream to become a physician.

I sought out a community volunteer opportunity at The Hospital for Sick Children in the Cardiology Inpatient Unit. With the overwhelming sight of residents, fellows and attending staff bustling around me, I quickly fell in love with the intricate communal environment of the hospital and the technologies of medicine. However, during my shift, I came across an unfortunate situation in which a parent had signed a Do Not Resuscitate order for their child. It further emphasised that medicine was nothing compared to its depiction on t.v. where the patients were cured by the end of the episode. Moreover, I was becoming aware of the level of mental and emotional stability doctors require to empathise for patients, inspiring me into pursuing a medical degree.