Essay Category:
Essay Question:
Personal Statement
As I rested on the summit of Mount Falourde in the Alps of southern France, I looked out over the surrounding countryside and saw the tiny peasant villages that have existed for hundreds of years practically untouched by the passage of time. I began to think that for all of that time, many men have sought to change the face of this environment and searched for a way to make a lasting impression in this world, yet the continuous march of nature has quietly erased all existence of their endeavors from the planet. I realized that the only lasting impression that a person can truly make in their lives is by touching the lives of those around them. This philosophy is what makes me strive to become a doctor, which for me is the profession that allows an individual to make the greatest impression of all: to help others live a healthy and pain-free life. After working this summer at l'Hopital Archet in Nice, France, I was able to closely view the workings of the French medical system as well as improve my French language skills. I shadowed Professor Dellimonica in the Infectious Disease Unit, witnessing the power that a doctor exercises over the lives of his patients. By seeing the course of treatments during my 6 week internship, I saw that the physician's mere presence instilled so much hope and comfort in all of the patients, forever ingraining his work in their memories. My work at the hospital only further solidified my desire to eventually become someone like Professor Dellimonica, a physician who is conscious of the needs of his patients and takes the time to comfort them emotionally as well as physically. Every time that I gently held a patient up for an exam or just lent them my arm to lean on for support, I cherished the little smiles or the simple 'merci' that showed that they valued the aid that I gave them. By empathizing with these patients, I developed the bed side manner that is imperative to the establishment of a healthy doctor-patient relationship. After fully immersing myself in this medical environment, I formed the commitment and passion for medicine that motivates all members of the health profession. Direct interaction with the patients is not the only way that a person can change their lives for the better; the research performed in the laboratory generates information that is the basis for every innovative treatments. Last summer I worked with Dr. Thomas Ferguson in the Department of Ophthalmology at Washington University in St. Louis, researching the effects of blood sugar levels on the development of diabetic retinopathy. This disease is extremely common in many individual affected by diabetes, making it an area of intense interest. Using an animal model, we looked for methods to inhibit the growth of vascular tissue in the eye that eventually leads to the blindness. I analyzed antibody levels in the animals after laser incisions in their eyes induced the growth of the blood vessels. I learned the value of perseverance through the countless trials, knowing that my successes as well as my failures would lead to further understanding and hopefully a cure. This experience taught me to look beyond my personal project and to view medicine as a worldwide institution, integrating knowledge from every corner of the planet for the benefit of all mankind. By reading dozens of journal articles, I became more informed on the status of my area of research and developed the craving for learning. This characteristic inspires me to search out the answer in every aspect of my life, especially those that are the most elusive, and will benefit me greatly as a physician. My summer of research also taught me to evaluate every question from multiple angles, not simply to attack from the first available pathway. While the appreciation that a patient develops for their doctor is a positive consequence of the physicians work, the desire to change the quality of life for that patient remains the physicians principle motivation. This innate characteristic initiated my interest in the field of medicine and my subsequent experiences only solidified my desire to continue helping others. For me, the capacity to ameliorate a patients illness seems a worthier endeavor than trying to make a lasting mark on the entire planet. My aspiration to become a physician is firmly rooted by my desire to touch the lives of all my future patients, thus positively changing their world.
Essay Category:
Essay Question:
Why do you want to attend Feinberg, including reference to: 1) collaborative curriculum (PBL and PPS), 2) the organ-based approach, 3) any other specific factors.
Feinberg School of Medicine's uniquely formed curriculum lends itself quite well to my style of learning. The PBL system inroduced medical students to issues and case studies from the first year, allowing students to test themselves and their problem-solving capacity, building up the much-needed confidence they will need as MDs. The commitment to small groups and student-centered learning, with access to faculty, was also essential for my decision to apply to Feinberg. Lectures are obviously a necessity, but the presence of small-group discussions and tutorials complementary to the lectures is extremely appealing. Arriving at Harvard from Choate Rosemary Hall, I saw my the size of my graduating class balloon from 200 to 1600 students. While I was aware of this change when I applied, and came to embrace the size, my favorite educational experiences remain in the intimacy of my smaller courses at Choate, and the seminars and tutorials of my upperclassman years of college. The PPS program follows in the same category of student-centered learning, and addresses the issues of physician-patient interaction. I believe that in recent times, the issue of patient trust in their physician has become an enormous one, with the nightmares of managed health: a cynical public image of MD's concerned more with the bottom line than with the best course of action for their patients. The more a physician can be educated in not only the medical aspect of being an MD, but also the health policy and public health issues of the day, and the importance of his interaction with his patients, the more effective, accessible, and hopefully trustworthy he will be to his patients. FSM's organ-based curriculum is also extremely appealing. It presents the enormous amount of knowledge a physician must absorb in discrete and manageable packets. In any major problem or endeavor, the most prohibitive of steps is the first: the decision on where to begin. FSM offers a curriculum that breaks down the intricate workings of the body along logical lines, the organ systems. Learning first the basics of the organ systems, then layering on the various pathologies of the systems, allows for a foundation to be established. In the first years, the basics are laid out, andonly then does one advance. Analogous to building a house, FSM's curriculum makes sure that the basement of a home is completed, prior to working on the first floor. I believe that FSM's approach works extremely well for my learning style, allowing me to learn under conditions that will aid, rather than overwhelm. Broken down into packets, the intricacies of the human body and the medicine behind healing makes the task of becoming a physician appear infinitely more manageable.
Essay Category:
Essay Question:
Describe an out-of-classroom activity that has influenced your personal development.
My main extracurricular activity in college has been my involvement with Project
HEALTH. Started relatively recently at ________ (the organization is less than
ten years old), Project HEALTH is a program that serves to aid underprivileged
children through a variety of programs. HEALTH is actually an acronym for
'Helping Empower, Advocate and Lead Through Health.' It began here in Boston in
affiliation with Boston Medical Center, and has expanded to Providence, New York,
and Washington D.C. I have volunteered for Project Health since the beginning of
my sophomore year, rising to the level of Project Coordinator for the SportsNut
program. I began as a volunteer for that same program, which focuses on
underprivileged children who have been diagnosed with morbid obesity by the
clinicians at BMC. The volunteers meet with the children for two hours in
Dorchester, twice a week, teaching them about nutrition and the importance of
exercise. This past year SportsNut merged its curriculum with a new clinic at
Boston Medical Center, the Nutrition and Fitness for Life.
The NFL clinic was founded with the same goals as SportsNut: fighting the
obesity epidemic among inner city children. The children now enter into our
program along with attending the clinic every couple of months to meet with
nutritionists and their primary care physicians to monitor their progress.
During the summer of my sophomore year, while coordinating for a summer SportsNut
recruitment program, I also volunteered for another Project HEALTH program, the
Family Help Desk. FHD is an advocacy program situated directly outside the
pediatric ward at BMC, in charge of helping needy families find food, jobs,
housing, and legal counsel. FHD deals with families facing issues ranging from
immigration issues to domestic violence to paying the gas bill.
Through my experiences with Project HEALTH, I believe that I have most sought to
achieve an understanding and a perspective that I do not get at school by
reaching out to other communities, and integrate these into my own. Through the
programs we have had guest speakers and lecturers explain the scope of the myriad
issues facing the underprivileged. Thus, Project HEALTH has allowed me to expand
my horizons in perspective, and to pursue goals for community service.
