Polio news has me feeling like a clown

[Miky617]

Just a bit of a vent post. On my AMCAS "Why MD/PhD" essay, I wrote to the effect being inspired by Salk's work and how we were on the verge of defeating polio for good.

With the recent news of poliovirus spreading in New York and potentially infecting hundreds or more, it feels like my application aged like milk.

It definitely goes to show the ongoing struggle that doctors and scientists face when pushing against both the nature of infectious agents and the nature of humans, too. It's given me a lot to think about and it's frustrating on many levels to see these kinds of developments take place, especially with how bold the antivax stance has gotten in the wake of Covid. It feels like measles all over again.

I just hope that ADCOMs won't read my essay and feel put off by the poor timing of it all.

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[fd25]

Just a bit of a vent post. On my AMCAS "Why MD/PhD" essay, I wrote to the effect being inspired by Salk's work and how we were on the verge of defeating polio for good.

With the recent news of poliovirus spreading in New York and potentially infecting hundreds or more, it feels like my application aged like milk.

It definitely goes to show the ongoing struggle that doctors and scientists face when pushing against both the nature of infectious agents and the nature of humans, too. It's given me a lot to think about and it's frustrating on many levels to see these kinds of developments take place, especially with how bold the antivax stance has gotten in the wake of Covid. It feels like measles all over again.

I just hope that ADCOMs won't read my essay and feel put off by the poor timing of it all.

I’m no Acdom but it’s certainly not your fault that Polio has resurfaced. I don’t think you’ll be faulted by speaking about the way the work has inspired you. It still inspired you, whether Polio was defeated once and for all or not. I wouldn’t let it keep you up at night

 

[dastr]

I feel like any good adcom wouldn't read your statement and jump to "this person doesn't have a clue what they're talking about bc look at what polio is doing right now." If anything, they might be more likely to notice the current relevance of your inspiration and make note, since it would be interesting to chat to you about polio's resurfacing and your thoughts/feelings on it- which prerequisites an II

Idk, I agree; this is not a worry lol. You'll be laughing about it from the other side of an A soon enough

 

[Miky617]

I feel like any good adcom wouldn't read your statement and jump to "this person doesn't have a clue what they're talking about bc look at what polio is doing right now." If anything, they might be more likely to notice the current relevance of your inspiration and make note, since it would be interesting to chat to you about polio's resurfacing and your thoughts/feelings on it- which prerequisites an II

Idk, I agree; this is not a worry lol. You'll be laughing about it from the other side of an A soon enough

You're right, it would certainly be worth talking about at an interview if they bring it up. Maybe the unfortunate timing and relevance will end up making my application more memorable as a result that does help to make me feel better, I appreciate it!

 

[Goro]

Are you referring to monkeypox virus????

 

[Goro]

Just a bit of a vent post. On my AMCAS "Why MD/PhD" essay, I wrote to the effect being inspired by Salk's work and how we were on the verge of defeating polio for good.

With the recent news of poliovirus spreading in New York and potentially infecting hundreds or more, it feels like my application aged like milk.

It definitely goes to show the ongoing struggle that doctors and scientists face when pushing against both the nature of infectious agents and the nature of humans, too. It's given me a lot to think about and it's frustrating on many levels to see these kinds of developments take place, especially with how bold the antivax stance has gotten in the wake of Covid. It feels like measles all over again.

I just hope that ADCOMs won't read my essay and feel put off by the poor timing of it all.

You'll be fine.

 

[Miky617]

Are you referring to monkeypox virus????

This morning Reuters released an article stating that poliovirus has been detected in New York wastewater, indicating that people in the area may be shedding the virus at higher levels than the infection has been tracked so far. Looking more closely at the article it looks like there hasn't been any confirmed cases aside from the one confirmed at the end of last month. It's also being detected in the United Kingdom. I may have came across a bit doomy as it's still early enough that we could get it under control, but my big concern is that with the best weapon against it being a vaccine, a lot of people polarized by anti-vaccine sentiment due to coronavirus will impede efforts to control the spread.

For a long time I've been tracking both polio eradication and guinea worm eradication, and seeing articles sprout up that point to state-side spreading of at least one of those is a little disheartening

 

[Goro]

My understanding is that it's a vaccine strain, and hence was imported from Pakistan or Afghanistan.

It's not a failure of public Medicine, for sure.

 

[wook]

I would not focus too much on the timing of polio. It sounds like you provided a cogent essay on what modern medicine can accomplish with population health.


Wook