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AMCAS Personal Statement
'We eat dog.' 'You what?!' 'Dog. It's a local delicacy.' Culinary habits aside, I was certain I was as much an oddity to South Koreans as they were to me. My blonde, six-foot frame towered over my darker, petite hosts. Despite the cultural differences, common goals for understanding carcinogenesis and improving patient's health overcame language barriers. Being a foreigner was nothing new. My parents, immigrants from the former Czechoslovakia, moved from Canada to California when I was six years old. While most of my 7th-grade classmates would have their papers proofread by their parents, I was editing my mother's letters as well as completing my own homework. But my international background also created an awareness of the world beyond my little community, and I dreamed of exploring the East Coast of my adopted country. Armed with an athletic scholarship, I chose to study at the University of Massachusetts for its strong academic reputation and excellent tennis program. From my earliest childhood career ambitions, medicine was always a strong interest. As the tomboy who gathered frogs and lizards, more than one science teacher had labeled me as the class scientist because of my inquisitiveness about the fundamental workings that kept my pets alive and healthy, and the knowledge of what caused them to become sick. When I entered college, I sought to satisfy this curiosity by studying biochemistry. I engaged in research, finding my own answers to questions, sharpening my logical approach to problems and learning to critically analyze the work of others. As my work progressed, I was increasingly interested how research results applied to human health and treatment. I engaged physicians in long discussions that bridged the laboratory and the clinic, and as a result my interest heightened in the application of medicine rather than research alone. However, I did not limit myself to studying biochemistry. Since I have always been curious about people, whom I view to be more complex than a collection of chemical reactions, anthropology seemed like a natural adjunct to my scientific training. Immediately after graduation, I applied my training by joining a research team for a menopause study in Slovenia. As an interviewer/interpreter, I talked with women about their health and the issues of aging. These conversations sometimes extended to invitations for coffee or dinner; most women were eager to speak because people rarely asked about their health or answered their questions frankly. For a moment, I was a part of these women's lives, and I loved the human interaction. However, my role as a biological anthropologist was to observe, to gather data. Though I would relish assisting the people with whom I had such close contact, collecting information and understanding the situation are the first steps towards assistance. My first opportunity to integrate my anthropological and scientific training came with the Fulbright to Singapore and South Korea to study gastric cancer. Although overall incidence rates of gastric cancer are globally decreasing, certain Asian nations remain disproportionately affected by a cancer that is relatively rare in the West. The pertinence of the gastric cancer study to my host countries, combined with availability and ease of access to tissue samples, contributed to my decision to develop gene-expression profiles of gastric tumors. But beyond genetics, gastric cancer has a strong environmental component - epidemiological studies consistently show that consumption of fresh fruits and vegetables correlate with declining Helicobacter pylori infection and gastric cancer rates. As an American living and traveling in Southeast Asia, I saw how globalization and better refrigeration methods have diversified local food consumption, decreased spoilage, and expanded peoples access to a healthier diet. I realized that health is not simply about genetics and medical treatment, but includes social conditions and lifestyle choices. During the SARS crisis in Singapore, I was impressed how my physician colleagues compassionately addressed fears of the public, and placed themselves on the battle line of the epidemic both in research and in the clinic. SARS highlighted the increasing integration of the world, how illnesses in seemingly remote regions can affect people in the United States, and what it means to be a medical professional in an increasingly global society. The study and application of medical science now has a special appeal for me. I am particularly interested in oncology, infectious diseases, and public health, but I believe each persons quest for good health cannot be fragmented. Whether we eat dog or hot dogs, doctors need to combine knowledge of a patient's cultural background and social situation with medical science and compassion to plan truly effective treatments for our afflictions. Health is intimately linked to our quality of life, and a clear need will always exist for dedicated doctors who understand this relationship. I feel that my background has prepared me well for the rigors of medical school, and I am eager to undertake the challenges of modern medicine.
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Write about a clinical experience.
My nose detected the odor of searing flesh and disinfectant. My ears heard the rhythmic breathing, the beeping of the machines, and the occasional murmured order. My eyes could see a man prostrate on the table, as doctors and nurses hovered over him. I stepped on a stool, and peered over the surgeon's shoulder. Throughout my Fulbright, I had read detailed research reports about stomach cancer ranging from molecular pathways to patient care. My project dealt with novel gene expression technology applied to gastric cancer, potentially resulting in tailored chemotherapy and treatment specific to a patient and a disease. Yet seeing a patient undergoing gastric resection was humbling experience and placed a human face onto my work; the reason I was conducting research was to help patients like this man. My observation of this surgery occurred in Korea, where stomach cancer is the leading cause of cancer death. Being in this environment, I observed hospital life and conversed with physicians about the educational and work demands of the medicine, both in the research and clinical field. During my walks down the hospital corridor, I could not understand what was said, but I could see physicians comforting fears of patients in illnesses and deaths, and sharing joys of births and recoveries. The way that the doctors compassionately addressed the patients seemed universal to healing practices, cementing my decision to pursue a medical career.
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Describe a community service activity that you were involved with.
In transit between school and home, I biked past the basement of the church countless times before I discovered the soup kitchen. This shelter was a warm environment for the Massachusetts winters - volunteers and visitors cooked a hot lunch and ate together, clattering dishes and laughing. The conversations reflected the diversity in the backgrounds and experiences of altruistic students, elderly wanting company at meals, as well as a homeless population that needed the kitchen's resources to survive. My views of volunteerism at the shelter shifted when I entered the Citizen Scholars Program with eleven other students interested in community service. In the classroom, we explored concepts of utopian communities and an individual's relationship to society. We also interacted with faculty and community leaders, directly learning about our local community's issues and how to make a difference. Through this education, I began to notice nuances in the kitchen camaraderie and the unstated purpose of bringing people together to promote understanding within the community. Food was a universal need. I also learned to respond to more ambiguous situations like the requests of an alcoholic mother who needed money for diapers, but generally spent the cash on the bottle. Obvious solutions to social problems rarely exist, but within medicine I find a similar philosophy of altruism and commitment to affect change.
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Describe a research experience.
'Are you ladies single? I have a son about your age.' More than once, this grandmotherly babuska, bustling with a tray of cookies, attempted the matchmaker role with a sly wink. We laughingly declined, for we were in this rural Slovenian mountain town for a different purpose - to learn about menopause. The goal of this project was to gather preliminary information about age and symptoms of menopause, the first published study of its kind to be conducted in Eastern Europe. By studying the communities in three different rural mountain villages located at various elevations, we hoped to confirm a previous correlation between higher altitudes and earlier age at menopause. Included in a team of two anthropology professors and one Slovenian Public Health official, I was the student and interviewer/translator of the group. Interviewing strangers about their health is a difficult task, especially in a foreign language. I initially felt hesitant in asking very private, personal questions, but I was pleasantly surprised by the enthusiastic responses and elaborations. I discovered that many women rarely had the chance to speak about the aging changes in their bodies or have their questions answered so frankly, and the interviews provided an opportunity to voice their concerns. Despite the marriage proposals, I loved the human contact and the brief moment of being a part of these women's lives, and I believe the medical profession will provide similar interaction with people.
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Describe a leadership experience.
Hundreds of students milled in the lobby. As the first day of 2001/2002 International Student Orientation at the University of Massachusetts, the staff encountered problems ranging from lost luggage, clogged toilets, to culture shock. Some incoming students were, for the first time in their lives, over 100 miles away from home. More than one person walked up the to desk and simply burst into tears, needing a hug and a reassuring word. As a senior student coordinator, I worked with the new staff members as well as the incoming students to alleviate their concerns. During staff assignments, I sought to pair more experienced workers with new people, and periodically checking to see if the programs were running smoothly. Realizing that the greatest fear is the unknown, I familiarized the staff and the students with the campus and local businesses as well as the university culture, organizing and leading discussion sessions ranging from class registration to dating. For a moment, I could see American culture and university anew, as if viewing through the eyes of the new students. My interaction with these students continued throughout the year through various advisory positions. Although I developed my ability to organize programs and manage people, invaluable skills to a practicing physician, my greatest asset from the programs were friendships that spanned over continents and cultures.
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Describe an organized extracurricular activity.
My mind conceptualized beautiful works of artistry, but attempts to apply my thoughts to a palate inevitably ended in a 'disaster' of childish scribbles. I resigned the title of artist until high school, when I discovered photography, an art that suited my aesthetic eye but inept hand. My work garnered enough respect to place in minor art contests and earned the recruitment of friends to document gatherings. During my travels, I explored the relationship between the human subject and the photographer. The camera could project a sense of voyeurism, capturing a moment in time and potentially violating the subject's privacy. It was always curious to see people's initial reaction to camera - some individuals welcomed the tool or embraced a moment of vanity, while others shied away. Despite fears of losing the natural candor of a moment, I learned to ask for permission before taking a person's picture, and to accept 'no' as an answer. The greatest feeling was gaining the confidence of an individual who initially declined to be photographed, but before the departure wanted a portrait with myself. Some people speak about the camera as a shield from the world, allowing photographers to witness and document difficult scenes. For myself, the camera never was a barrier. Photography developed my awareness of the uniqueness in the human race. My pictures provided a medium to share my experiences to others, and to humanize my experiences abroad by showing the face behind the story.
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Describe a work experience.
My mother, a tennis professional, introduced me to the sport when I was six years old. I competed nationally in tennis as a junior and collegiate player. Athletics complemented my academic studies, both in providing a physical release for stress and in developing my understanding of human psychology and physiology. Through athletics, I felt confident and empowered in my body, and I wanted to share this positive influence in my life with other people. Teaching was a different matter. As an accomplished player, I was invited to run clinics and help with instruction. I discovered that some people understood verbal instruction, others visually observed proper technique, and others needed a teacher's touch to guide them through the motion. I also learned to communicate with different age groups. Children liked running around, playing games, hugs and having fun. Many adults were more serious and intellectual in their pursuit of the sport, wanting explanations and competition. A student's improvement required practice, and my role as an instructor was to develop that self-motivation. In medicine, the physician plays a similar role of providing tools and resources, but the ultimate responsibility resides with the patient to undertake the proper steps towards health. Through tailoring my teaching experience to suit individuals, many of my students continued to play tennis, and most left with an appreciation for the game. I believe that I can assume a similar role in the clinic.
