Essay Category:
Essay Question:
Medical School Personal Statement
Will it be a Rembrandt, a Picasso, or a mishap? The instruments are carefully laid out so the artist can begin. The subject is coughing, wheezing, wincing, and flushed in the face, every aspect critical in the depiction. The artist meticulously works around the subject sculpting an image to stand perfectly for the portrayal. The subject is given instructions for how to move, stand, and lay at rest. The artist then begins to paint upon which the blank canvas turns into either a masterpiece or a mishap. The finished product is shown to an intent audience of family members and peers who decide whether the work is worthy of praise or rebuke. The doctor is the painter whose paintbrush is the stethoscope. He employs the instruments of science and communication to paint a depiction, a diagnosis, on which the patient's life depends. I am interested in medicine because I want to be the artist, the creator of masterpieces, whose final outcome, cured patients, surpasses that of all other works of art. My experiences have verified my interest in the medical field and have provided me with qualities that will allow me to be a strong artist of this great profession. As a volunteer in the operating room at the University of Washington Medical Center (UWMC) I witnessed the making of a great masterpiece for the first time. Nurses, physicians, and technicians crowded into a small room and squabbled away as the patient laid with his chest wide open. The surgeons probed and cut away extraneous tissue to find the aorta which was about to explode. With everyone wearing glasses in case of a rupture the doctor carefully grafted the aorta protecting it from bursting. Just moments before I had talked to the patient and now I could only watch as he bled profusely just one knick by the scalpel away from dying. The surgeon performed a lifesaving operation, a work of art that would certainly never be forgotten by the patient and those who witnessed it. The ability to see operations such as these during my time as a volunteer where the drama could not get more intense and the outcomes no more incredible provoked me to enter the field of medicine. Yet, as I witnessed in the operating room, the field of medicine is not simply a profession where the patient unconsciously awaits the doctor to operate. Behind the success of the operation is an amazing amount of communication with the patient and health professionals to ensure the patients pain and symptoms are correctly understood. As a volunteer leader and student assistant running the information and escort desk at UWMC, communication, similarly, was equally critical. I had to communicate as clearly as possible to volunteers, patients, hospital staff, and visitors so patient care would not be jeopardized. Poor communication could lead to the loss of important lab specimens, irate visitors, bewildered patients, and injured volunteers. The communication skills I gained working in the volunteer department were further enhanced as an English teacher in Thailand and as a ski instructor. In Thailand I attempted to teach English to school children, monks, and hospital staff while being unable to speak their language. I found myself drawing out pictures and acting my lessons with the reception of blank stares and laughs. Ski instructing was also quite similar, but instead of blanks stares I had a lot of lost skis. Yet, through a substantial amount of demonstration and explanation the stares slowly turned into English and the stumbles into cruising. Teaching, however, as I quickly found, involved much more than saying just a few words. Effort had to be made in preparation and much energy had to be spent during the lesson to ensure the students understood. The quality that often became most important was diligence. Being able to work through the various problems to find the solution was critical. Diligence was a quality that I steadily developed while working to complete two degrees and a minor often complicated when working two jobs and volunteering. Despite feeling the pressure of being overloaded I managed to work through my stressful situation and achieved honors in biology. However, honors was only achieved by patiently and diligently working to solve the problem of plasmid cloning. I spent countless hours, month after month, attempting to create a retroviral plasmid cloning vector. A quarter and a half went by while trying one way after another to create two plasmids and finally nearing the end of my second quarter I constructed them. I was then able to begin some fascinating research on two genes in the Kaposi's sarcoma herpesvirus genome. By having the perseverance to continue the project I laid the groundwork for exciting research on two genes potentially responsible for inducing angiogenesis in Kaposi's sarcoma. Medicine is the finest of arts where the canvases are people and the masterpieces are cured patients. The instruments of communication, diligence, and science that I acquired through my experiences will allow me to be an artist of this great profession. I want to use the art of medicine to turn the many incredible blank canvases into masterpieces like Picasso and Rembrandt.
