I'll post it here, since residency match finished and I'm not too concerned about anonymity from two cycles ago haha. It feels weird to read things I've written years ago, and rereading it now I want to tweak or change things, but i got a good amount of interviews back then so it was ultimately successful
Good luck everyone, and again anyone else feel free to post yours as well
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Blanche Dubois stuck out to me during my first read of "Streetcar Named Desire". Her
background and identity distance everyone around her. In the final scene of the play Blanche
is taken to a psychiatric ward because no-one believes her accusations against her
brother-in-law of sexual assault. She slowly becomes the antagonist in her family and
community, which makes her vulnerable to the actions of others around her. I chose to take
on the challenge of directing the play. I wanted to place myself in Blanche's position in order
to understand why she behaves and speaks the way she does. Directing provides me training
in empathetic connection, which is necessary to develop complex and important characters. I
want to use this training in my medical career to foster honest communication and effective
lifestyle changes with my patients.
Connecting with the Blanches of the world is an interest I also pursue in my professional work.
When I entered Johns Hopkins University I reached out to the Multicultural Student Affairs
center, which referred me to work in public health at the Center for Health, Identity,
Behavior and Prevention Studies at NYU. There, I transcribed interviews of men who had
contracted HIV in the early 1980s. They spoke about specific instances where they were left
with a deep sense of isolation and neglect. One participant was fired from his position as a
nurse when his sexual behavior and illness became known to his colleagues. He lost his home
and watched his friends pass away. In order to cope with his situation he began using drugs.
He eventually met a group of other survivors who worked together to secure jobs and housing.
This group filled the huge hole that his family and community left in his life.
His story was especially poignant to me based on my own experience with my sexuality. Two
months before I graduated high school I revealed to a friend that I am gay. When I started
receiving texts and calls from strangers, I realized she told others. Someone had put my
number on Craigslist. It was very hard to go back to school every day, and I eventually came
out to my parents so that I could find a solution to the bullying. I found an LGBT group, and I
was able to talk with people who had similar experiences and challenges as me. They helped
me feel more confident entering college and connecting with the LGBT community.
I think about how despite the response I got in high school, my LGBT group did a powerful
thing for me by encouraging me to comfortably rethink my situation in a safe and intimate
setting. I used my experience at NYU Steinhardt where I was also offered the opportunity to
interview and offer advice to young men who have sex with men (YMSM) regarding their drug
and sexual history. I needed participants to be open with me about personal topics, and I
wanted them to feel comfortable with the suggestions I was giving about healthy lifestyle
changes that could lower risk of HIV contraction. My experience with the high school LGBT
support group gave me a good foundation of insight into their backgrounds, and I tried to
approach the subject of their sexual and drug history with confidence and sensitivity. Some
participants were open to more explicit questioning and suggestions while others were uncomfortable going into detail about their lives. Flexibility in my approach and personalizing
my interactions with each participant helped me establish more open and productive
dialogues. Once, a participant told me he had no sexual history over the past three months,
and he made a comment regarding how embarrassed he was. I joked that I could think of at
least ten different things off the top of my head that are more embarrassing in the sex
category. He laughed, and it helped establish greater openness. By the time I was speaking
about ways to prevent HIV contraction, he was asking me specific questions he had about
certain sexual activities and their associated risks.
I no longer feel like the "Blanche" of my community, and overcoming my personal struggle in
high school has affected the way that I interact with others and the activities I pursue.
Currently, I am biking across the country to connect with and raise money for others my age
with cancer. The $5,000 I've raised has given a cancer survivor the opportunity to finish the
Cancer to 5K run, which helps participants to envision a normal and healthy life after beating
the disease. I've also met face to face with many patients and family members who have
shared their experiences battling cancer with me, and each day I dedicate my bike ride to
one or more of these strangers whose stories have touched me. One patient and his wife at a
Hope Lodge have been without their daughter for six months as they seek treatment in
Michigan. They spoke about how the genuine concern of their primary physician and her
proactive involvement in all aspects of their medical experience has helped them carry
forward in an incredibly difficult situation. I look forward to using my background to provide a
caring and personalized approach that will offer patients the support that they need to
overcome their difficult situations as well.
