Essay Category:


Essay Question:

Personal statement 


I consider myself a questioning person.  When I was younger, I was extremely
curious; always reading and asking questions.  I would bring books to the dinner
table and read in-between bites (to my parents' combined amusement and dismay). 
I would always ask the why and how of whatever I saw: 'How can squirrels climb
trees?  How does an airplane fly?  Why is the refrigerator cold?'  My parents
would always try to satisfy my curiosity, but as I got older and my questions
got
more complex, I would find myself looking more and more within for answers to my
queries.  My questions were no longer limited to 'how does this work,' but
rather
developed into more introspective questions of motivation and desire.
	
Two such questions arose in high school and college that mirrored one another in
their complexity and scope.  Each dealt with choices that would continue with me
for the rest of my life.  I first struggled through deciding my faith, waiting
until the age of nineteen to receive my First Communion despite the fact that I
was born into a family of Roman Catholics.  My resolution to accept Catholicism
as my religion paved the way for the second of my difficult decisions: did I
really want to pursue a career in medicine?  Both processes were fraught with
doubt and uncertainty, but my ability to question and evaluate alternatives
guided me in making these decisions.  

With both of my parents raised in South America as Catholics, most assumed that
I would follow the classical course of religious education: CCD on Sundays,
followed by First Communion, and culminating with Confirmation as a teen. 
However, instead of pushing me forward without a full understanding of what each
of these events truly meant, my parents decided they would wait until I had the
maturity to grasp the importance of such a commitment.  When the expected time
came, though, I was wary of taking on a label which represented views with which
I did not fully agree.  Without resolving my concerns with the church, how could
I honestly devote myself?  I could not justify blindly entering into a faith
without proper investigation.  At Harvard I decided to explore my religious
options independently and more fully, going to Catholic mass and engaging the
priests in conversation and debate.  I spent some time with one of the priests,
and after some months of a modified CCD- a one-on-one seminar of sorts with
Father Tom Brennan- I decided that I would receive my First Communion during the
spring of my sophomore year.  Father Tom taught me that while Catholicism had,
has, and will continue to have its uglier moments, connection and devotion to
the
Catholic ideology can win out.  

Shortly thereafter, I was presented with the reality of deciding my future
profession.  A definitive choice needed to be made- was medicine truly right for
me?  Finishing introductory pre-med organic chemistry and cell biology, I began
to question my career choice, as I had my religion.  While I was reviewing
electrophilic aromatic substitution and blastocyst formation, my friends and
roommates were at the Fleet Center watching the Celtics or following the Harvard
hockey team to upstate New York.  I began to wonder whether the nights spent in
my dorm room were truly worth what I was missing.  However, my junior year I
enrolled in higher level biology courses, specifically in immunology, which
reminded me of my true passion for the medical world.  Along with the clichi
motive of wanting to help people, I found myself enthralled by the mechanisms of
preventing and combating infection.  

Invigorated with fresh studies that truly challenged my curiosity and interests,
I re-examined my convictions.  While I recognized that there would be the same
temptations in medical school that there were in my first and second years of
college, I came to realize that these were minor sacrifices compared to my
pursuit of my long term goals and interests.  

I am suited to be a doctor because I firmly believe, along with my love for the
sciences, that my questioning nature is perfect for the successful practice of
medicine.  Practicing medicine is dynamic- what works for one patient may not
for
another.  Practitioners must take into account a plethora of factors when
determining what the best course of action is to keep people alive and healthy. 
To that end, a physician must constantly hold himself to the highest of
standards.  He must continually question, challenge, and examine himself, so
that
his decisions and choices fulfill the responsibility of his position: answering
to his patients, his peers, and himself.  My personal characteristics of
questioning and evaluating will serve as advantageous tools in a medical field
that is constantly evolving with the challenges of new information and
technology.  In committing to a career in medicine, I am not silencing my
curiosity.  Rather, I am integrating it with a profession that demands only the
most questioning and analytical of minds.

Essay Category:


Essay Question:

Use the space provided to add any personal comments to your application. 


As a child, physical principles always fascinated me.  I remember how excited I
became when I first understood the concept of velocity by studying how the
speedometer on our family car measured speed in wheel revolutions per minute. 
Enthusiastically, I embraced learning mathematical and scientific facts. 
Likewise, the experiences my parents shared about their work as Emergency
Medical
Technicians (EMTs) fascinated me.  My desire to follow in their footsteps found
me earning my EMT license at age sixteen.   I approached each training session
with zeal, eager to learn all I could about treating medical emergencies. 
Similarly, I threw myself fully into the challenge of each call for emergency
support, anxious to do my best to stabilize the patient.  The passion to become
a
doctor began unfolding.  Enhanced by my college studies in biomedical
engineering, this passion has become my primary goal. 
During the past three years of college, a second passion has emerged & a passion
for teaching.   

I first experienced the rewards of teaching while participating in a study group
during my freshman year.  I found myself explaining scientific principles to my
classmates using analogies that were familiar to them.  I enjoyed the challenge
of building these analogies and watched with great satisfaction as my friends
grasped concepts because of them.  Best of all, I found that in assisting others
to learn, I deepened my understanding of the material.  What became apparent is
that learning and teaching go hand-in-hand. 

My first opportunity to formally engage in the dual role of instructor and
student came in the spring of my sophomore year of college.  I was elected to
the
position of Assistant Field Director of EST, embarking on my greatest learning
experience to date.  My challenge was to organize all of the medical information
I had accrued from my work as an EMT into a training program for my EST peers. 
I
found it difficult to prepare for the first training sessions.  Although I
thought I knew the material, I found gaps as I prepared for each class.  I began
researching the finer points of my presentation so that I could explain not only
what one does in response to a given medical condition but also why it is the
preferred treatment.  I quickly learned that the role of instructor brought with
it the responsibility to stretch my knowledge of the subject matter to
considerable depth.  I was a student as much as an instructor.  The unexpected
benefit of this experience was a marked increase in confidence that accompanied
me on each emergency call, allowing me to evaluate and treat my patients with a
self-reliance that I had not previously known.  

I found additional opportunities to work as an instructor through an outreach
program sponsored by Washington University.  As a tutor and mentor for Si, a
middle school student from a local neighborhood, I have enjoyed the rewards of
seeing this young man grow both academically and socially over the past three
years.  In his quest to learn, Si challenged me to find new ways to explain the
academic principles he struggled to grasp.  He also challenged me to evaluate
and
express my position on the many moral and social issues that teenagers tend to
confront.  Consequently, we both learned and grew from these interactions.  I
anticipate that as a doctor, interactions with my patients will be equally
complex and rewarding.  While my professional responsibility will be to tend to
each patient's physical well being, I must respect the fact that each patient is
a complex collage of unique experiences and opinions and that these factors will
affect their interaction with me.  To be successful, I must be prepared to
explain medical conditions and treatments on a variety of levels so that they
are
understandable to each patient.  I must respect the impact that each patient's
ideological beliefs will have on his decision to follow the treatment that I
prescribe.  

My greatest challenge as an instructor/student occurred this past year. 
Preparing to serve as a Resident Advisor to a group of freshman students, I
received formal training in mediating conflicts, strengthening my confrontation
skills and sharpening my listening abilities.  I quickly learned that the
information I acquired through formal trainings was a basis for my advising
experiences but that I had to adjust my approach to each individual depending on
their unique situation.  From guiding residents to respect others personal
space
to calming their fears after 9/11, this job stretched my skills and taught me to
appreciate the diversity of the student population.  I imagine that this
experience is similar to that of a new physician: the lecture and textbook
trainings build the foundations for learning how to treat patients.
	
There is a curious excitement in entering a field where you can spend twenty
years learning from every book written and still have a lifetimes worth of
knowledge to explore.  There is a unique satisfaction received when helping
others to grasp a new concept that they can later put to use.  There is an
enduring fulfillment in applying ones knowledge to benefit another in need. 
The
medical field integrates all three experiences into a lifetime of challenges and
rewards.

Essay Category:


Essay Question:

Select one experience from your list in part B and describe in a brief essay how it impacted on your decision to go into medicine. Do not exceed 400 words. 


My involvement with the Emergency Support Team (EST) has had the most influence
on my decision to pursue medicine as a career.  I have always been interested in
medicine, but not until I became a member of EST did I realize the passion I held
for providing medical care and for teaching others about medicine.

Learning about the human body in my biology and biomedical engineering classes
provided an excitement that I rarely found in other classes.  However, I quickly
realized that my excitement was based on the experiences I had gained as an EMT
and those that I foresaw having while caring for patients on EST or as a doctor. 
I found it interesting to learn about the symptoms and treatment methods for
right bundle branch block, but only because I knew that I could look at an EKG
monitor and actually see a real patient with that condition.  The practical
aspects of medicine that I have had on EST have reassured my strong desire to
pursue a career as a physician.

As a training officer and as the assistant field director of EST, I had the
opportunity to teach my peers about emergency medicine and the protocols under
which we work.  Helping others to understand why they should be caring for a
patient in a certain fashion also helped me to understand why I should be doing
the same.  The challenge of explaining my reasonings to others caused me to
reexamine why I provide care in a given manner and sometimes even change my
practices to improve the care I provide.  This type of dynamic interactions where
I get to teach and learn at the same time is a driving force for pursuing
medicine.  I know that I want to enter a career that will always be growing and
changing so that I will also have to grow and change with it. 

When I look back over my last three years of college, many of the experiences
that come to mind first are times when I was on call, assisting other members of
the Washington University community through my services on EST.  The patient
contact I experienced while working on EST has motivated me to continue my
pursuit towards attending medical school.

Essay Category:


Essay Question:

Major Essay: Please describe your career goals and how your education has supported your future in medicine. 


Innovation, engineering, and surgery are the concepts that best exemplify the
intent of my career goals. Our understanding of functional neuroscience is just
beginning and technology is finally able to contribute to healing the
neurologically impaired. It was eighty years ago that the father of
neurosurgery, Dr. Harvey Cushing, joined efforts with Dr. William Bovie, a
physicist, to develop one of the most revolutionizing surgical instruments of our
time, the
monopolar cautery. Initially, the idea of a neurosurgeon and physicist operating
side-by-side seems foreign and misplaced. And while it is true that a physician
may independently care for a patient, the advancement of medicine requires the
culmination of milestones from many distinct fields. Deep brain stimulation,
implantable microelectrodes, and cortical mapping are all progeny of
interdisciplinary medicine. I stand in a confluence of knowledge, poised to
seize my imagination, creativity, and desire to develop the next generation of
medical
technology. Trained in engineering and soon medicine, I am passionately equipped
with a unique perspective to assess urgent clinical needs. I fully intend to
maximize my resources in achieving this goal. 

Since the initiation of my educational training, neuroscience has been my
primary focus. As an undergraduate at Johns Hopkins, my degree in Biomedical
Engineering provided me with a framework for developing new ideas, solutions,
and maintaining fresh perspectives on the needs of spinal cord injury patients. I
dedicated several years to working with Dr. X to examine the regenerative
potential of spinal cord neurons following treatment with a hydropolymer hybrid
gel. Supported by the Provost's Excellence in Research Award, I developed an
algorithm to analyze the neuronal growth pattern of animals subject to spinal
cord injury. This experience was enlightened by time spent with Dr. Y in his
neurosurgery clinic, evaluating the status quo of implantable spinal devices. My
experience in the laboratory sparked my creativity and harvested my passion for
device design, translational medicine, and neurosurgery. 

My aspiration to impact the lives of many Americans is only partially fulfilled
by my future surgical career. As a surgeon, I may only directly improve the lives
of those who immediately surround me. However, as an entrepreneur, I will benefit
the lives of far more people. Through device design I hope to make greater
strides towards curing disease and restoring health. My history as an
entrepreneur began once I obtained my fundamental engineering skill set. Driven
in part by the loss of a dear classmate to oral cancer, I devised an oral
carcinoma training device which is used to teach aspiring dentists and
clinicians the detection techniques for early stage oral carcinoma. The
translation of this device into industry was an enlightening experience, one that
instilled upon me the symbiotic relationship of healthcare and industry in
America.

My innovative spirit expanded to neuroscience as I constructed a series of
intervertebral disc repair systems using novel photopolymers. Through these
efforts I interacted with neurosurgeons from Yale and Hopkins to dissect the
needs of modern day degenerative disc disease. Our ideas culminated in the
incorporation of WW, a company dedicated to advancing spinal technology. As
co-founder and consulting engineer, I am responsible for the intellectual
direction of our research goals. The experience of designing an implant to be
used by thousands in the medical community opened my eyes to a career that
channeled leadership and innovation to facilitate the progress of medicine.

My desire to cultivate innate feelings of creativity and ingenuity is a
demanding burden to place on any academic institution. Continuing my hands on
engineering, participating in a flourishing entrepreneurial culture, and
obtaining an outstanding medical education were all fundamental reasons for
choosing X. As a medical student, I am currently utilizing state of the art
imaging tools in the Clark BioDesign Center to investigate the next generation of
targeted cancer therapy. The unique X curriculum engages students to continue
their study in a field related to their research interests. Having completed a
scholarly concentration in bioengineering with a focus in neuroscience, I refined
my engineering knowledgebase and affirmed my belief in collaborative medicine.
X's pioneering curriculum is a perfect match for my visions of a career as a
future clinician-scientist.

Over the past year, I received a number of grants and fellowships to support my
investigation and creation of novel anti-cancer therapeutics. Currently funded by
the American Heart Association, X University Medical Scholars Program, Genentech,
and the Goodrich Foundation I am consulting with experts in the Molecular Imaging
Program and operative specialists in neurosurgery to design molecular probes
capable of exclusively targeting brain tumor cells. These molecular probes embody
the future of cancer imaging, targeted drug delivery, and patient selection. I
have prepared and published a total of eleven manuscripts, all of which highlight
my dedication to a career in academic neurosurgery. Each publication, from the
very technical basic science manuscripts to the insight presented in the
literature reviews, demonstrates my multidimensional approach to understanding
neurosurgery in practice and science. The most recent results from my therapeutic
study were presented in the Select Abstract Session at the 54th Annual Congress
of Neurological Surgeons Annual Meeting in October 2006. 

My notion of medicine, its humanity, its evolving demands, and its potential to
affect millions shaped my career goals. The diseases I study today may not be
those I face ten years from now, however my training stwill prepare me to
generate solutions for new ailments as they present. The culmination of
experiences with my mentors, in the research laboratory, and with patients at
their beside has confirmed my devotion to neuroscience. As an academic
neurosurgeon, I anticipate a career filled with teaching, experimenting, and
problem solving. Upon graduating from X, I intend to complete a residency in
neurological surgery and subsequently a fellowship in neurosurgical oncology and
minimally invasive spinal surgery. I envision myself as an attending physician at
an academic institution where I may bestow my skills upon a younger generation of
neurosurgeons as well as advance the field of neuroscience.