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Essay Question:
Describe briefly how you selected your undergraduate school and major area of study.
Portland State University allowed me to remain at home where I am able to enjoy the presence of my family. Their emotional and financial support allowed me to spread my academic wings and take full advantage of my undergraduate experience. Through their support I have matured significantly during the past three years. After nearly a year and a half of study I decided to major in Spanish language and literature. Through both volunteer and work experience as a Spanish/English medical interpreter the need for culturally sensitive communication in medicine became obvious to me. A major in Spanish was a natural choice. This decision also allowed me the chance to study a field that would not be addressed in my future medical education. In retrospect, I feel this was the right choice; my Spanish studies have allowed me to more fully develop my communication skills in both Spanish and English.
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Essay Question:
Briefly describe your most rewarding experience or some achievement of which you are particularly proud
By far, I think my volunteer work as a medical interpreter for international disaster relief brigades and development teams have been my most rewarding experiences. The loss and desperation of earthquake and hurricane victims made every small word of comfort and gesture of aid valuable. The extreme poverty and desperation of some people shocked me, but at the same time I was also inspired to realize that many people only needed a small amount of care to drastically improve. I also felt that my skills as the interpreter were integral to the care of many, which was very gratifying. Because of the sheer number of people that were given help and the degree of relief we were able to offer, I think this volunteer work has had a remarkably valuable influence on the people we served, which I find encouraging and motivating.
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Essay Question:
Are there any areas of medicine that are of particular interest to you? If so, please comment.
Being able to address someone in their native language is quite disarming and patients feel encouraged to discuss uncomfortable issues. I have found being female, in addition to speaking Spanish, beneficial in many situations. Often times when the physician is male, the female patients will not mention anything about their 'personal' problems until he leaves the room. Then they will proceed to tell me 'why they really came' to see the doctor. I always feel relieved when they pull me aside and we are able to reach to core of their health problems and healing is able to begin. This is a rewarding experience and I enjoy being able to develop trust with the female patients. For this reason, I am currently interested in the area of women's health. I love the opportunities I have to empower women with education and break many of the cultural stigmas that marginalize women's health issues in other societies. I feel my compelling blend of communication skills and femininity make me especially suited for this area of medicine.
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Essay Question:
AMCAS "Personal Comments" Section
Around five hundred people roasted in the sun waiting in line to see a doctor. I was so hot that I couldn't understand why I hadn't melted in a puddle by now. The tent smelled like sweaty bodies and my mouth tasted dry. But as the interpreter I had to keep talking. In the steamy foothills of the coffee growing regions of Colombia, an earthquake had leveled the city of Armenia a month earlier. My job was to facilitate communication between the victims and the US medical providers. Few times in my life have I worked so hard. The sticky air was physically draining and interpreting was very mentally intense. As the interpreter between the Colombians who had been in the earthquake and the doctors, it was emotionally exhausting to hear, see and share the pain and loss of so many people. But out of this ordeal, I got a taste of what medicine is like on a crude, unglamorous and humane level. I saw that the doctors were there because of a profound, genuine love for other people. Ant I experienced the power that touch and humility have on physically, mentally, and emotionally suffering people. It was then I decided I wanted to go into medicine. I haven't always felt enthralled with the discipline of medicine. My mother was an ER nurse. So the sights, sounds, smells and general bustle of the hospital never offered me any enchantment. For a while I had entertained the idea of becoming a doctor and consistently volunteered at the hospital where my mother worked. But with little patient contact and virtually no opportunity to be a part of, or even observe the doctor-patient interactions and relations, my exposure to clinical medicine was unenlightening and uninspiring. However, my experience confirmed that there was more to health care than making copies. Throughout out time in Colombia our patients returned to tell us that they were better and they had been healed. One man told me that he had never seen gringos touch people like the way we did. My old perception of medicine blew up in my face and the tiny grain in me that had compassion for those in need swelled into the current desire to lead a life of service. After I got back from my travels abroad with a refreshed sense of motivation, I launched myself into a flurry of community work with the Hispanic population. My new set of eyes revealed suffering that felt too close to home. It hurt my pride to admit that I was blind to the true state of this community before my trip to Colombia. The most rewarding and engaging community activity was medical interpreting. The work was so gratifying. I got to see first hand how my skills benefited people in need. It also had another unexpected side effect: it placed me in an especially fascinating vantage point to view the dynamic between doctors and their patients. From osteopathic pediatrics to ophthalmology to urgent care I saw how the RN, MD, MA, PA and physical therapists interacted with the men, women and children of the Hispanic community in Oregon. Through the Honors Program at Portland State University, I was presented with the opportunity to pursue an internship. I arranged to work with a community clinic in Washington, DC. As a clinic that served uninsured and low-income Hispanics; it was a natural choice. My work with the executive director of the clinic, Juan Romagoza, gave me an understanding of the inner- workings of a non-profit agency. I relished the opportunity to work with a nutritionist and Dr. Romagoza in developing a curriculum for the training of community health promoters in nutrition and the prevention of disease. This experience gave me the opportunity to experience how interaction and communication takes place within the professional community. But, perhaps more importantly, opened my eyes to a new level of community involvement. Through this special internship opportunity and my volunteer experiences, the importance of clear, simple and culturally sensitive communication became obvious. Consequently, I decided to major in Spanish and obtain a BA rather than a BS. I wanted to develop and concentrate on a skill that I might not have another chance to develop in medical school. Although the focus was communication in Spanish, I firmly believe that you must be able to effectively communicate in your native language before you can begin to clearly convey your thoughts in a second language. I think that communication is an integral part of medicine and I feel that my communication skills in English as well as Spanish would be a great asset to me as a physician. Since my first experience in Colombia I have continued to be a part of international disaster relief teams and have gone on two different medical brigades. July of 2003 I will go with a team to the Misquito Coast in Honduras. I am looking forward to the mental and emotional challenges that these adventures always present! But most of all I treasure the opportunity to be a small part of a big impact in someone's life. Every one of these experiences further solidifies in me the passion to serve other people. I hope one day to be more than simply the mouthpiece; I hope to be the one who touches with humility and helps to heal.
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Essay Question:
Major Essay: Personal Statement: AMCAS Prompt: III. Personal Comments Consider and write your Personal Comments carefully; many admissions committees place significant weight on this section. Some questions you may wish to consider while drafting this essay are: Why have you selected the field of medicine? What motivates you to learn more about medicine? What do you want medical schools to know about you that has not been disclosed in another section of the application?
I would like to introduce you to a very special friend of mine named "Lumpy". He isn't much to look at; his head is made from a special effects silicone product alled 'Dragon Skin' and houses several balloon catheters which simulate cancerous nodes in the mouth and neck. Lumpy also lacks a body. You see, Lumpy is actually a medical device, the result of my belief that there had to be a way to detect oral cancer in people before it was too late. The idea of Lumpy was sparked after I read a rather startling statistic while waiting in the lobby of my dentist's office: 85% of the people suffering from oral cancer are diagnosed when the tumors are considered 'late-stage' and have progressed beyond the point of medical aid. The article continued on to state the mortality rate of oral cancer is higher than that of cervical cancer, cancer of the brain, liver, kidney, or malignant melanoma. I was rather taken aback by this, knowing that oral cancer treatments are typically 80% effective when discovered early and detecting unnatural lumps in the mouth seems straightforward. After probing a bit further, I finally uncovered the root of the problem: oral cancer detection training was practically non-existent in dental schools across the country. These facts were difficult for me to fathom . . . How could a malady be so treatable, yet completely ignored? I decided to investigate the possibility of creating a cancer model; a device that would mimic various stages and types of oral tumors and could be used to train dental students and physicians in early detection methods. I took it upon myself to fabricate such an instrument, and thus Lumpy was born. In order to make Lumpy as life-like as possible, I worked with a dentist who specialized in geriatric lymph carcinoma. Shadowing the oral cancer specialist gave me the opportunity to interact with patients and exposure to many different types of tumors and diagnostic techniques. I was able to replicate each of these morphologies in Lumpy, creating the most versatile and realistic repertoire to train physicians and dental students alike. This dynamic device was computer-controlled and could inflate balloon catheters that were filled with various substances to imitate a particular tumor's feel and appearance. Although I interacted with hundreds of individual patients, when I reflect back, one unique encounter comes to mind. It was during this experience that I came to know Sid, an elderly smoker who had developed severe lymph cancer in his mouth and trachea. With very few treatment options available to him, Sid had accepted his prognosis and decided to devote his remaining time to spreading the word about oral cancer and the dangers of smoking to others. Due to the severity of his condition he was hardly able to speak, instead he communicated through gestures and facial expressions that I soon learned to interpret. In spite of this handicap, he became a stout advocate of oral cancer detection and opened his heart to hundreds of other cancer patients. It was during one of our many conversations that the topic of oral cancer detection was brought up, along with the lack of screening mechanisms and public awareness regarding the disease. Over the course of our discussion, I brought up Lumpy, describing his purpose and implementation in the near future. Sid was very supportive, and thought Lumpy was a brilliant idea. He even lent a hand to ensure that representative stage-three tumors were as realistic as possible. This process involved several iterations of comparing his tumor to the simulated one, until we both felt confident that we had created a clinically accurate model. My interaction with Sid was bittersweet. He was suffering from a disease that could have easily been treated had it been caught earlier, and yet he was happy to know that through his efforts fewer lives would be lost. Spending time with Sid reminded me that treatment is both physical and emotional. I realized that medicine isn't just about MRIs or antibiotics; rather there are many aspects that contribute to the process of healing. There are many people like Sid who will benefit from the implementation of Lumpy; their cancer may be diagnosed at an earlier stage, resulting in more encouraging prognoses and an improved quality of life. After two years of development, Lumpy is patented and visiting dental schools across the country to demonstrate several detection techniques and tumor types. The success of this project stemmed from combining several different fields, the synthesis of engineering, mathematics, anthropology, and medicine. My experience with Sid and Lumpy reinforced my belief in the therapeutic nature of the patient-doctor relationship.
