- Joined
- Feb 24, 2009
- Messages
- 995
- Reaction score
- 138
It seems like there are so many "why medicine" things in my life that I can't narrow it down easily!
- Interested in the body and health from an early age (have amusing examples of intense specific questions I would ask my dad about how medicines worked on a cellular level) and Jewish values about learning (I had a book as a kid that told me that "a child would receive his first book dipped in honey, so he'd know how sweet learning is").
- Taught myself web programming - especially important because I got a lot better at asking relevant questions, challenging my assumptions, and building on previous knowlege.
- Worked in a hospital for three years, progressing from data entry to designing retrospective studies and organizing focus groups. Of note were studies relating to patient perception of risk (to maximize the "informed" part of informed consent) and a focus group of teenagers with hypertension about issues affecting their adherence to their medication regimen. Developed respect for the complex realities of the lives of patients and how their decision making doesn't always match up to what their doctors assume they should decide to do.
- Had to take orgo series twice at two different colleges because I did badly the first time - spinning it as a positive because I did really well the second time and became a tutor and telling orgo students who were in despair about how I got Ds and Cs the first time around seemed to really improve their morale and help them see the path from being confused to getting an A.
- Shadowed a primary care DO and saw them save a life because a patient who looked outwardly just a little tired and sweaty was in fact having a heart attack, which nobody noticed except her because she knew his usual demeanor and identified that this was very different for him. Emphasized to me the importance of continuity and personal connection in care.
- Applied to med school previously but only to one school, got waitlisted then rejected.
- Was super broke after divorce so had to work a customer service job in a store for a few years. Actually really liked the job because it was a health food/supplements store and I got to talk to people about health-related things a lot, also learned a lot about the quack products Dr. Oz recommends.
- Tried a career in programming, became pretty successful, but ultimately also became pretty bitter and unhappy because the things I create aren't of much real value to society. Learned a lot about the ways projects can go wrong when expectations are not well communicated. Saw some of the administrative inefficiencies of universities and hospitals, who made up a lot of our clientele. Contributed some code back to the open-source community that's still being used. When I got let go from my job for "not being happy" it lit a fire under my ass to re-take the MCAT and start a new med school application.
- Have lived for years with a partner who has epilepsy, have experienced by his side some of the most traumatic things that the medical establishment has to offer when he was almost killed by medical neglect in a hospital a couple of years ago. Have also learned a lot about disability justice via his involvement in both the political advocacy and academic study sides of those issues. Have become intimately familiar with the everyday realities of long-term chronic disability and illness management, and its psychological as well as physical demands. Saw the ways in which patients need an advocate in the system, and how they run the risk of being dehumanized by hospitals with poor communication structures, even when the individual doctors are good. Will forever be grateful to the chief trauma resident who saved his life by doing a follow-up check that was not technically his responsibility.
- Traveled to rural Honduras with a medical mission trip for a week to observe surgeries and ultrasound, saw a variety of surgeris from a c-section to placement of ear drains. Also saw firsthand the cultural and ethical issues that arise when the doctors lack idiomatic understanding of the local language, and when the cultural expectation of the patients is that the doctors will make all decisions for them instead of consulting them. Also engaged in discussions with senior staff about the ethical dilemmas of medical mission work itself.
