In my personal statement introduction, I talk about how I have escaped a major natural disaster in a foreign country unharmed and how it elicited my pursuit of a career in medicine. I have spent thousands of hours since in the emergency department as a scribe and a technician. I have also volunteered as an EMT with the Red Cross Disaster Health Services and responded to natural disasters across the country. I have become very familiar with death and suffering (I have seen some really fu***** tragic stuff).
I want to talk about the balancing act between being emotionally resilient enough to "get the job done" and keeping my humanity. In the ED I care for patients who do not always survive and then I have to walk into the next patient room with a smile on my face.
I also have various other reflections I could talk about such as:
- Bioethics of advanced directives/ethical decision making as a physician
- Accepting death and defeat (Think, Atul Gawande's "Being Mortal"). It is tough resuscitating a 97 y/o on a ventilator.
- Gratitude and appreciation of my health and my family's
Personally, these experiences have given me a "military-like" mindset. I generally approach things in life such as academics with the idea anything is possible with grit. I am a strong person, but I work hard to empathize with the very real human experiences of patients and people in general.
I could see how I could take this essay either way, and I'm not sure which would be best.
I want to talk about the balancing act between being emotionally resilient enough to "get the job done" and keeping my humanity. In the ED I care for patients who do not always survive and then I have to walk into the next patient room with a smile on my face.
I also have various other reflections I could talk about such as:
- Bioethics of advanced directives/ethical decision making as a physician
- Accepting death and defeat (Think, Atul Gawande's "Being Mortal"). It is tough resuscitating a 97 y/o on a ventilator.
- Gratitude and appreciation of my health and my family's
Personally, these experiences have given me a "military-like" mindset. I generally approach things in life such as academics with the idea anything is possible with grit. I am a strong person, but I work hard to empathize with the very real human experiences of patients and people in general.
I could see how I could take this essay either way, and I'm not sure which would be best.
