For all y'all that have been clamoring for it (okay, so it was just my mom...), here is the famous "Personal Statement" that the residency programs will be receiving from yours truly.
In my dream life, I am a world renowned actress, have several best-selling novels under my belt, and spend my free time doing good deeds. I can also sing like an angel and am as graceful as a swan. In reality, I can’t act, haven’t the wherewithal to complete a novel, and sing more like an android than an angel. Plus, I am a bit of a klutz.
I realized early in life that I may not progress terribly far with a singing and acting career, so I focused on “doing good deeds.” By the age of twelve, I knew I’d be a pediatrician. Why? Because, as the regular neighborhood babysitter/game inventor, I knew that I liked kids, and I knew that doctors did good things. It sounded logical to my concrete brain.
Fast forward a few years to college where I joined the masses of pre-med students, striving to make myself a good applicant. The only problem was that my motivation had not changed since I was a junior high student: I liked kids and I wanted to do good. I had developed abstract thinking skills since I was twelve, but the reasoning behind my ultimate goal was still very concrete.
And then medical school started.
And it was everything I expected it to be, and nothing at all like I expected it to be. Everything was new – the people, the language, even the smells were completely foreign. It was all overwhelming at first, but I slowly began to see that saying “I want to go into medicine” was just as vague as saying “I want to do good.” This realization forced me to finally apply abstract reasoning to my decisions.
It was during third year that I was really able to put my motivation into actual words, and at the same time moved beyond liking pediatrics just because I like kids. While I enjoyed learning about diseases and treatments on a pathophysiologic basis, I found that I was even more drawn to the patients’ histories, trying to identify ways in which we could have prevented the disease in the first place. I found myself getting frustrated when I met patients suffering from avoidable illnesses.
Pediatrics to me, has come to mean more than simply diagnosing and treating sick children. It requires caring for entire families, and teaching them how to raise healthy children. I think anticipatory guidance is just as important, if not more so, than choosing the correct antibiotic to treat a sinus infection. It is the ultimate form of preventative medicine. While I do want to learn how to more accurately diagnose and treat children, I also plan on getting a Masters in Public Health at some point to better equip myself in promoting children’s health and welfare. I look forward to being a strong advocate for my patients.
My personality is ideally suited for both pediatrics and preventative medicine. In my third year rotations, I excelled in the categories involving rapport with others - patients and peers. I listen well, and am generally able to get my own message across without being condescending or mean. Working with children and families requires patience, creativity and a good sense of humor, attributes which I believe I can use to my benefit.
I can think of nothing more fulfilling than to spend my life helping and teaching children. They are full of surprises and joy and promise. How could any day be boring when there is a four year old in it? Is there anything more challenging than trying to get a fourteen year old girl to open up? Unless perhaps it is trying to look in the ears of an uncooperative eighteen month old?
I am no longer the concrete-thinking child who wants to be a pediatrician simply to “do good.” I have learned and grown a lot both in life and in medical school, but in the end what it boils down to is this: I like kids and I want to do good.
The twelve year old inside me is very happy.
