Thoughts on my diversity essay topic?

[Bored_Conscious]

Need some feedback on this potential diversity essay topic.

Working in the ICU, I have seen many terminally ill patients, mourning families, and nurses who struggled with a loss of a patient. In addition, my minor in philosophy provided me an opportunity to learn a lot about decision-making capacity and informed consent and how bioethics plays a role in medical decision making (wrote a 15 page research paper on this for a major seminar).

Working with people who are constantly ill and/or dying can be a struggle and often times I think of my own morality and, more importantly, the possibility of my loved ones (dad, mom, and sister) getting ill. It has made me grown closer to my family and taught me a lot about what death means to some people, their expectations, and how to support those who are going through this extremely difficult period of time. I think my experiences could prove valuable to new medical students who may or may not have had this kind of exposure.

What do ya'll think? Is this an okay essay to write about? Anything I should try to avoid due to its controversial nature? Is this even a diversity essay topic?

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[Goro]

I think that it will work. Very few pre-meds get up close and personal with our mortality.

 

[Bored_Conscious]

I think that it will work. Very few pre-meds get up close and personal with our mortality.

Sounds good. Thank you!

 

[Catalystik]

Need some feedback on this potential diversity essay topic.

Working in the ICU, I have seen many terminally ill patients, mourning families, and nurses who struggled with a loss of a patient. In addition, my minor in philosophy provided me an opportunity to learn a lot about decision-making capacity and informed consent and how bioethics plays a role in medical decision making (wrote a 15 page research paper on this for a major seminar).

Working with people who are constantly ill and/or dying can be a struggle and often times I think of my own morality and, more importantly, the possibility of my loved ones (dad, mom, and sister) getting ill. It has made me grown closer to my family and taught me a lot about what death means to some people, their expectations, and how to support those who are going through this extremely difficult period of time. I think my experiences could prove valuable to new medical students who may or may not have had this kind of exposure.

What do ya'll think? Is this an okay essay to write about? Anything I should try to avoid due to its controversial nature? Is this even a diversity essay topic?

I like it, too. It's not controversial.

 

[DNAJB6]

I would obviously defer to the adcoms (Catalyst and Goro). With that said, I think the topic would be better suited for an adversity essay rather than a diversity essay. Why does working in an ICU and confronting death make you diverse? There are many premeds with clinical experience with terminally ill/mortally wounded patients.

 

[Bored_Conscious]

I would obviously defer to the adcoms (Catalyst and Goro). With that said, I think the topic would be better suited for an adversity essay rather than a diversity essay. Why does working in an ICU and confronting death make you diverse? There are many premeds with clinical experience with terminally ill/mortally wounded patients.

I can see what you are saying. However, I disagree. There is a difference between seeing/encountering death briefly/occasionally versus seeing a countless number of patients at the bedside for long-periods of time. When I say long-period of time, I refer to the difference between seeing a patient struggle to stay alive for weeks on end with families coming in and out arguing with each other as to whether or not to remove care versus suddenly seeing a patient die of a heart attack or die mid-surgery.

Many premeds gain their clinical experience through hospital volunteering, MA, scribing, etc. and these experiences, albeit good, is not the same as the experiences gained in the ICU. Interestingly, there was a recent Reddit poll on r/premed that asked "Have you seen a patient die before?". It was a 50/50 split. If my experiences could help those 50% learn something new, then I think I have achieved what medical schools are looking for in terms of "diversity".

The reason I don't think this essay is appropriate to be an adversity essay is because I haven't experienced familial death personally or the death of my own patient. Nor do I view this experience as overcoming a hardship of some kind. It was more of a realization/learning opportunity. Hope that answers your question.