My heart transplant, how much will it mean?

[JerMass]

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I recently received a life-changing heart transplant. The experience I had was unforgettable as well as inspiring. My medical staff always took tremendous care of me and they enabled me to live a healthy normal life, and I feel that I need to give back. I feel that I have the medical exposure necessary to be empathetic to others who may go through a similar process.

This is not the place for me to give my entire personal statement as to why I want to be a doctor, but my specific question is whether potential medical schools will appreciate what I went through and will it carry any weight in their decision of whether or not to accept me? I obviously understand that I will have to maintain good academic work as well as a good MCAT score. I would just like to know if my unique situation will stand out impressively?

I feel that with my life-changing experience I will be able to give back that much more appropriately than someone who may not have went through such an ordeal. Being that I was born with a rare congenital heart defect, I always had the desire to be a physician. But the experience of the transplant, while I was a young adult, solidified that desire that much more.

 

[Crystaal]

From what I've heard, that sort of theme isn't looked upon very favorably. But idk.

 

[SurferBearMD]

Just saw this dude on a Spanish documentary, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christiaan_Barnard

Maybe if you do the research about the doctor who pioneered this and fluff up your personal statement with your experience in addition to the history behind heart transplants, it would probably help tremendously. Just don't say "I received a heart transplant and now I want to be a doctor," I guarantee they see that stuff every fifth application. I know this pales in comparison but it's almost like "I had acne as a teen and I'm pretty sure that would make me a good dermatologist."

 

[industrialeng]

I think that your experience can only help you when writing a heartfelt personal statement, however, I do not think it will help you with admissions. It also might come up in an interview but it won't have a direct impact on your chances when compared to other applicants. Just my thoughts.

 

[FrkyBgStok]

I will say that a good personal statement can make this good for you, but it will not make up for a subpar application. If you are asking if this will cover the clinical experience, the answer is a definite no. It can be a "turning point" thing, but you better have the grades, the mcat, the shadowing, the volunteering, and the clinical experience to back it all up.

 

[Goro]

100% wrong. This makes a compelling story. I've had several students with organ or bone marrow transplants.

From what I've heard, that sort of theme isn't looked upon very favorably. But idk.

 

[plumhill]

Yes, this will be an extremely compelling story, as long as you don't take the pity route (so your attitude shouldn't be "please accept me because I had a heart transplant.")

 

[flodhi1]

As previous posters suggested this will be a compelling story and will make for a great personal statement. However, you will still be required to keep a decent GPA with a decent MCAT score. Also you will have to volunteer and shadow physicians. All this heart transplant incident does is make a great first impression and bring attention to your application so as long as the rest of the application is decent then you should be fine.

 

[ljpm8224]

"I had acne as a teen and I'm pretty sure that would make me a good dermatologist."

^^ DARN IT, now I have to re-write my entire essay!!!!!! 😡😡😡😡