Internal medicine personal statement

I would like to share a story that had a profound impact on my desire to become a physician. During one of my nights on duty as a medical student in 2007, the 30 yr old son of a 63-year-old patient came to the nurses’ station and asked if one of the nurses could come and see his father in his room.  I joined the nurse, and while we walked toward the room, the son told us “Dad has been having trouble breathing.”  I grabbed the file and we rushed toward the room.  The man had been admitted for management of his CHF.  I listened to his complaints; auscultation of his lungs revealed extensive coarse rales.  I advised him to sit upright and ordered 40mg Furosemide IV (stat) and put oxygen on him (he was already taking Digoxin and Enalapril). I stayed beside his bed, keeping a constant check on him, as well as talking to him and his son every half hour.  He started feeling better, but I kept checking on him regularly. The next morning, I walked into his room with one of the cardiologists on our morning rounds. My patient said, “this young doctor saved my life last night!”  We finished the rounds and came out of the room.  The cardiologist turned toward me and asked, “What did you do?” I replied, “I really don’t know sir; all I did was administer the Furosemide ordered in the chart.”  But that day I loved my work more than ever and knew medicine was more than just prescribing drugs. I knew that there were real people who desperately appreciated life and we physicians were fortunate enough to be able to help heal them.

Very early in my school years, I discovered my passion for helping others and my aptitude as a natural leader. Our high school had social divisions or “Houses” like they had at Hogwarts in Harry Potter, and I was elected the house captain for my house for five years in grades 6-10. My family home became a favorite meeting place for House Captain Meetings, club meetings, and sports meetings. Friends, classmates, and family members came to me to seek my counsel. I organized study groups and hired teachers to meet with them at my house or looked up medical information and composed questions for relatives to ask at their next medical visits. I always felt a great sense of pride when I was able to impact another life positively.

My mother is a high school teacher with 2 masters’ degrees and my father is a successful businessman, so I developed excellent study skills and competed successfully in my classes. My passion for helping others as well as the rigorous academic challenges of the science of medicine attracted me to apply to medical school. I secured a high rank on the national medical entrance exam (in the top 10% of applicants) and was accepted to study at ABCD Medical College. Our grading system is quite different from that of the United States. The top 7% of students make grades around 70-74. My grades were in the mid-60s, and the average student earns grades of 50-60. Passing is 50. Approximately, one-third to one-half of students repeat one or more years of medical school. 

In medical school, “hands-on” clinical experience started in my second year. I spent three hours each day in the hospital wards and outpatient clinics from then through the final year of medical school (our medical school lasts 4 ½ years).  After I completed my classwork, I did a one-year internship at R L Jalappa Hospital.  My training there included rotations in Community medicine (3 mo), Internal Medicine (2 mo), General Surgery (2 mo), Obstetrics and Gynecology (2 mo), Forensic Medicine (1 mo), Blood bank/Pathology (1 mo), Otorhinolaryngology (2 wks) and Ophthalmology (2 wks). My curriculum also included afternoon seminars, case presentations, educational tours of primary care clinics, hospitals, and rehabilitation centers, and Anganwadi, i.e., government-sponsored, and maternal-child health centers in India.  I also participated in health camps and immunization camps for children. These were organized by my medical school and supported by the Government of India. After being trained and tuned academically and clinically for five and a half years, I was awarded my diploma in March 2008. Armed with knowledge, compassion, humility, and a passion to work, I was set to heal and set out on a different phase of life.

I next joined the WXYZ group of hospitals, one of the biggest chains of corporate hospitals in India in July 2007 as a junior resident doctor (essentially a hospitalist) and worked with the team of Drs. XYZ and BCD, one of the finest teams of cardiac surgeons and cardiologists in India. I also worked for teams of internists, general surgeons, neurologists, nephrologists, and urologists, and my work was well-received and appreciated by fellow doctors and attending physicians. Very soon I was well known in the hospital for my friendly attitude towards patients and staff. I worked there off and on for approximately 11 months, taking some time off to study for residency exams. Subsequently, I worked in a rural hospital for 11 months, again as a general hospitalist.

As much as I loved my work, I dreamed of coming to the United States and furthering my medical skills and knowledge. In order to achieve this goal, I needed to stop working in India, take my USMLE exams and gain clinical experience in the United States. I  traveled to this great nation alone, with no friends or family in the USA; only a determination to learn and to be trained by the best. By networking with friends in India after I arrived here, I came across the opportunity to shadow Dr. TH at his private practice, Riverview Obstetrics, and Gynecology, in Washington State. I also shadowed Dr. E and Dr. R. Working with Drs. H and T, I saw obstetrical and gynecologic patients and improved my OB/GYN histories and pelvic exams. With Dr. K, I saw and followed high-risk pregnancies. We also performed focused ultrasounds to monitor normal fetal growth and rule out malformations such as Down’s syndrome.

I passed the first two parts of USMLE, Steps 1 and 2CK without difficulty. Unfortunately, I suffered a significant disappointment when I did not get a passing score on my USMLE STEP 2CS on one of the subsections. I even tutored two other FMGs in the process and they both passed. Dr. B tells me I was over-prepared and used the wrong method to showcase my skills. Like it is said, “The strong fall down but the weak stay down.”  I have never failed anything before, and I have no intention of letting my failure or inability to perform well on one exam become an obstacle to my eventual success. Eventually, I was able to pass my step 2 CS and USMLE Step 3 through Connecticut Medical Board.

Determined to pursue my goals and dreams, I came to Dallas in 2010 and sought an opportunity to volunteer at the A Clinic at GM Church. At the A Clinic, I worked with Dr. B and many other physicians from UVWY and experienced nurse practitioners. We provide primary care to a wide variety of indigent patients who lack access to basic medical care. We attempt to provide a holistic approach and see medically indigent patients from all cultures. Several days a week I also work at Dr. B’s private practice and learn clinical concepts of allergy, asthma, clinical immunology, and internal medicine.  At A clinic, I had the opportunity to attend one of the health fairs organized by the Dallas County Medical Association for the promotion of health services in low socioeconomic populations. Working at A clinic, I have worked with BSN and Master level nursing students as well as volunteers from different walks of life. Many times, while working with nursing students I have the chance to teach them basic concepts of human physiology and pharmacology along with their clinical applications. While working at A clinic, I have made friends who have become like my family. Because the professionals and volunteers at A Clinic and Dr. B’s private practice appreciate my work and my personal values, I have fallen in love with society,  which has strengthened my desire to be a part of  US society and culture. While working at A clinic I also participated in an STD clinic organized by Dallas County Health Department. I  am also actively involved in many fund-raising events organized by Agape.

Several days a week I also work at Dr. B’s private practice and learn clinical concepts of allergy, asthma, clinical immunology, and internal medicine. Unlike the A Clinic, these patients are well insured and have the means to pay for extensive testing and diagnostic workup. In my practice, I feel I experience the best of two worlds the “haves and have nots”.

I have always enjoyed medical science, but what attracts me to Family Medicine is the complexity of each patient’s problems and the opportunity to evaluate them holistically. Each person I meet either at the A Clinic or Dr. B’s private practice has his or her own back story which has led them to our care. I have come to realize that every detail, including how the person came to seek care, contributes to the bigger picture of what is best for the patient and that sometimes listening is the only therapeutic intervention required.

Hearing the patient’s presenting complaint, taking a thorough history, and performing a relevant physical examination helps me formulate a working diagnosis and treatment plan guided by evidence-based medicine. However, most often, the patient doesn’t present with “cookie-cutter” physical signs and symptoms, which makes the evaluation much more of a challenge. I have found that it is especially important to listen to patients and include their significant others as we piece together the puzzles of their cases. The various conditions which bring patients to see us and the patient as a person can be understood using medical science. This has reinforced my decision to seek a residency in Internal Medicine.

My desire to enter the ABC University Internal Medicine Residency Program is due to ABC University’s reputation for compassionate care and excellent medical training programs. I have proven that I am a hard worker and have a passion for helping the indigent with limited access to healthcare as well as those with unlimited resources. However, my desire is to make a difference for the medically underserved with limited access. I am a team player and a leader who is eager to increase my skills and education. I want to become a physician who can understand and assist the most complex patients at a minimal cost to the patient and health care system.

My clinical skills have been fine-tuned by amazing doctors across India and the USA. Armed with knowledge, extensive clinical skills, and work experience ranging from caring for those in tertiary care hospitals to rural Indian clinics to caring for both well-insured and uninsured Americans in the United States; I am ready to take the next step and start my residency. I also bring my ability to be a self-starter, passion, dedication, work ethic, and ability to “watch one, do one, teach one.”

My fondest dream is to one day see myself working with MSF (Medecins Sans Frontieres, or Doctors Without Borders), a French organization working around the world to serve the poor and medically underserved   I was offered a position with the organization’s Indian chapter but had to decline as I want to be thoroughly trained before I sign up with them. I envision myself doing mission work while I am young and then I would like to settle down somewhere in academia and teach other doctors what I have learned. I see myself as a doctor who’s work is reaching those who need my skills the most. I would like to be part of an institution like  ABC University training and teaching young physicians about clinical skills and the fundamentals of medicine. As the global population continues to age, only a well-trained physician can deliver these services and I desire to be one of the well-trained physicians and a resident in ABC University.