My Personal Letter for Medical School - Admission/Application Essay Example

Essays for Medical School UCSF Medical School Please write an essay explaining your interest in the UCSF School of Medicine Pilot PRIME-US program (Please visit the website http://medschool.ucsf.edu/admissions/degrees/Curriculum.aspx#prime for more information about the Pilot PRIME-US program). Include a description of your experience in underserved communities, community-based work, leadership roles, and commitment to working with the urban underserved, including your goals for participating in the pilot PRIME-US and your future career interests. (425 words or less) My choice of the Pilot PRIME program has been one made from prudent consideration of the thrusts advocated by the program and my own. I believe that the institution has a high regard for the underprivileged and the minority, which is a very important feature I have considered in my choice of a learning institution. Apart from the recognition of cultural diversity, I seek a university which places high premium in leadership development. I have been actively engaged in both school and community work that represent a strong sense of service to others. One such stint was my stay with the American Red Cross Bloodmobile through which I have seen the value of serving indigent minorities. Another community initiative I took part in is Tutor Experts which is a venue for providing high quality tutoring for the youth who want to improve their academic performance. I have had a similar teaching stint with the Making Changes Freedom School, emphasizing more complicated facets of adolescent development such as coping up with the challenges of violence, drugs, and alcohol. One program that allowed me to showcase my leadership skills is my membership with the Chicanos in Health Education, a student-run group at UC Berkeley that focuses on minimizing health disparities that confront the Latino community. To allow me to have a realistic preview of the medical profession, I undertook a summer internship at The California Pacific Medical Center in San Francisco in 2003 followed by another internship at the Sharp Chula Vista Hospital in San Diego in 2005. I have also created and facilitated a Decal (Democratic Education at Cal) class entitled “Introduction to University Life: An Immigrant Perspective.” This course addresses some of the main obstacles of the immigrant student. I have helped create the Peer Mentoring Program to give voice to the needs of Cal students from immigrant backgrounds in adjusting to Berkeley’s complex learning environment. A similar program I have spearheaded is the Community College Resources and Education for the College Application Process Program (CCRECAP) which aims to provide the necessary information to students undergoing the transfer process. To develop my knowledge further, I have attended several pre-medical conferences at Stanford annually from 2002 to 2006. Moreover, I had the chance to attend the UCSF Dia De Los Muertos Gross Anatomy Conference in 2004. I have decided to honor’s thesis in behalf of the Center for Childrens Environmental Health Research in U.C. Berkeley. Focusing on the Latino community, I am researching dietary and environmental pesticide exposures in low-income children in agricultural and urban environments. State University of NY Downstate Medical University: 1) Since you are not from the New York City metropolitan area (Five Boroughs), describe what personal experiences prepare you to live and study in New York City, and what will be your personal support system? (500 words or less) My upbringing and previous experiences have equipped me with the values necessary to adjust to living and studying in New York City. Tracing my roots from ethnic origins, I have had my fair share of ostracism and poverty. These experiences have taught me how to be sturdy and mature in my approach to life. And yet despite all these, I take profound pride in ultimately being able to excel in my academic life at the University of California in Berkeley. I believe that with all these behind me, I can conquer all obstacles, including that of adjusting to life and study in New York. More than anything else, it is my strong resolve to become a successful doctor in the future which compels me to struggle and overcome the hurdles that come my way. I have seen the health care disparities that confront the Latino community and feel that I can make a real difference along this area by becoming a doctor. As proof of my authentic desire to serve them, I have been actively involved in various initiatives that have this same advocacy for minority communities. I have also been part of volunteer work with Sharp Hospital, California Pacific Medical Center and the American Red Cross. In my college days, I have been co-Creator of The Peer Mentoring Program, facilitator for a DECAL Class, and co-developer of an Education Program (CCRECAP) at U.C. Berkeley which have all allowed me to use my own personal experiences, skills and knowledge to help others in the urban and immigrant communities. My past leadership roles with the Making Changes Freedom School, Tutor Experts, and Center for Science Excellence have ingrained my appreciation for diversity, innovation and integrity. Finally, my Public Health and Molecular and Cell Biology double major has provided me with insight into the social issues that affect the provision of healthcare. On a more practical note, I have spent eight years in San Francisco, a city that is in some way arguably similar to New York City. This experience helped me understand the dynamics of city life. I attended school, worked full-time and engaged in a range of volunteer activities in San Francisco. During my studies in New York, I have no doubt that my personal support system would continue to be my family in California. Being a non-traditional student has allowed me to enhance this personal support system over many years and many miles. Currently, I live in the Bay area and my family is in San Diego but our connection is as if we are together despite the miles. I do not see this changing if I am in New York. I have always been active in every city I have lived in and I expect that this would hold true in New York as well. I have a firm belief in the power of community and know that we all have our place if we know what to look for and where to get involved. 2) If you have a specific reason why you wish to attend medical school in New York City, please explain. (500 words or less) In planning for my future medical practice, I am bent on choosing the inner city and urban life in general. I would like to apply my experience to practice within a large, metropolitan city or inner city milieu. Attending school in a large metropolitan city is the key to this goal and I studying in New York would be ideal. There is no way that one can truly know about urban life if one does not live it. Studying in a rural area with the hope that it can prepare you for the realities of an urban practice would be folly. The earlier I get a realistic preview of what life in this setting entails, the sooner shall I have a more resolute decision of practicing in such a location. Besides this consideration, I am of course considering the medical school’s capabilities of equipping me with the necessary practitioner skills. New York boasts of Ivy League medical schools that capably develop their students into competent doctors in various fields of specialization. This strong credence in the academic excellence of New York medical schools is yet another factor which I have weighed in my decisive choice. I also chose this location because again, it will allow me to interact with more patients as it is closest to my ideal of a large, urban setting. I wish to practice medicine in a setting where I could cause the most positive impact. Finally, I would like to be part of a New York school that has quality patient care at its core; if possible prioritizing care for the marginalized and for minority communities. And I feel that several schools within the location do hold these thrusts within their missions as learning institutions. Pragmatically, I have drawn from reflection whether I will be able to cope with New York city life should I be accepted in a medical school in this location. I have been able to answer this with a resounding yes. Humility aside, my experiences as an immigrant and as a minority have taught me well. I have grown enough fortitude to surpass this need to adjust to a new environment. This is also helped by the fact that I am accustomed to living miles from my parents, who shall continue to be my support system should I qualify as a medical student in this location. It is implicit that New York city life is not a bed of roses, but I am proud to say that I am used to such diversity. No matter how cliché it may sound, I do believe that diamonds have undergone a process that involved extreme heat and pressure. So goes with exemplary individuals. Experiences of diversity do transform them into diamonds. And so if staying and studying in New York – with all its challenges – would bring me further into this metamorphosis, I would gladly and willingly undergo it. 3) What is your specific reason why you have chosen to apply to SUNY Downstates College of Medicine, please explain. (500 words or less) I trace my own roots from a Hispanic heritage and perhaps because of this, minority issues are important to me. I know that SUNY Downstate’s College of Medicine is an incredibly diverse school and through its activities espouse the thrusts of minorities within and outside of the college. As the first one in my family to attend college, I know that I will not be alone in my experience if I am in Brooklyn. The “threefold mission of education, research and patient care” is of great interest to me. In all of the work and volunteer activities I have done, I have seen the interconnectedness of these three factors. I believe foremost that SUNY will be able to equip me with the ‘hard’ skills that will allow me to deliver competent service. I also am keenly interested in medical research and hope that this interest is stimulated further in hopefully becoming part of this learning institution. In addition to having technical expertise, it is also important for an aspiring physician to have passion and heart for the profession. I feel that the bottom line in medicine is reaching out to others and being of service. I understand that SUNY Downstate’s College of Medicine, despites its location in an area of incredible population density, strives to instill the concept of personal quality care to each and every individual patient. I see this as an essential part of medicine. Still part of developing myself more holistically, I also seek a medical college which offers relevant extra-curricular activities to be able to educate its students into being well-rounded medical practitioners. At the University of California in Berkeley, I have been fortunate enough to be involved in various organizations with worthwhile causes, notably those which are related to minorities. I wish to continue my personal advocacy for the poor and for minority groups through the activities of the college. In providing quality patient care, I feel that the practitioner must have both functional and soft skills to do so. He must be dexterous at listening, showing empathy, and even reading through what is not being said. He has to be sensitive both to the needs of his patient, and of the context in which he operates. This sensitivity is crucial. I have high expectations that SUNY would be able to develop in me all these skills that are requisites of successful medical practice. When combining with my desire to learn and practice in an urban setting with SUNY Downstate’s College of Medicine’s diverse student population, history of excellence and equal attention to education, research and patient care, there is no doubt to me that this would be an ideal environment in which I could grow and become the best doctor I can be. Stony Brook University School of Medicine: 1) In your opinion, what contemporary medical issue needs to be addressed in the U.S. healthcare system and why? (500 words or less) I believe that one of the biggest issues in medicine today, whether we look at the US or other parts of the world, is the disparity in health care services for the underprivileged. There is not doubt that people from financially deprived backgrounds suffer from illness at rates and levels that far surpass the norms in more financially secure populations. When a poor or otherwise marginalized person is ill, he has less access to the treatments that could potentially help them. This is due to unavailability of funds to pay for treatments, lack of information about potential treatment and potential racism in the healthcare system that defines concepts such as “deserving” and “undeserving.” Less educated and therefore less likely to ask questions or take control of their health issues, people in poorer communities are forgotten. Perhaps, there is no better way to resolve this issue than through personal involvement. Looking through my past experiences, I am fortunate to have been exposed to volunteer work that has made me realize the reality of these healthcare disparities. My volunteer experiences at the American Red Cross Mobile and my internships have reinforced this insight more. Similarly, my volunteer stints as a tutor and mentor at the Making Changes Freedom School and at Tutor Experts has given me the chance to listen to the woes of parents which have to do with the concerns of the indigent and of minority communities. It is a sad, but real fact. Diabetes, obesity and heart problems plague minority and marginalized populations at rates unseen in the mainstream. But the severity and frequency does not have to be so high. Proper education for healthcare workers and patients as well as more attention to funding for healthcare for marginalized populations would begin to address this issue. As a first generation Mexican-American I know first hand about the types of diseases that afflict families in the Latino community- mainly diabetes. I have a strong desire to find and create ways to advance diabetes healthcare through scientific discovery. Still reflective of my advocacy for minorities, I am currently doing research dietary and environmental pesticide exposures in low-income Latino children in agricultural and urban environments. In becoming a medical practitioner, I wish to be involved in both research and practice that may have an effectual overall impact on the Latino and other minority communities. If I will not start with my own small actions, no one will. While there are those who start with idealism and end with disillusionment, I will struggle to keep my passion alive. That in the course of my medical practice, that only the sincere desire to help drive me through each day. Neither recognition nor fame. 2) What non-medically related experience has been most influential in your life? (500 words or less) Teaching and tutoring have been a passion of mine ever since and this has been reflected in my active involvement in voluntary teaching groups. Through teaching, I have established credibility amongst my colleagues, developed my self-esteem, and made a real difference in the lives of my students and those of their families. This has spurred my engagement in two groups which espouse teaching the youth, namely, the Making Changes Freedom School and Tutor Experts, which aim to help youngsters develop intellectually and emotionally anchoring from a holistic framework of development. Because of my personal advocacy for the underprivileged and minorities, I have helped conceptualize the Peer Mentoring Program, which is a venue for expressing the concerns of Cal immigrant students. Aiming to address their difficulties in the adjustment process, they are oriented about their new environment and are introduced to support staff whom they would frequently interact with during their stay. This effectively heightens their awareness of pertinent student issues, including academic support programs, career planning, professional and graduate school advising, and student life programs available to them. In addition, the program is a forum through which students may discuss issues relevant to immigrants at the university level. A transfer student from a community college myself, I also applied my experiences to help create and organize the Community College Resources and Education for the College Application Process Program (CCRECAP). The objective of the program is to provide transfer students with information and access to the experiences of former transfer students, admissions officers, and transfer advisors. Through this active interaction, I believe that I have helped to create a program that assists community college students to create strong networks within their future universities and maximize their access to the vast resources available to them during and after the application process. These volunteer activities have been extremely rewarding to me and have been strong determinants of my decision to pursue a medical career. The feeling of helping others is quite addictive, and helps me self-actualize. The insight that one is able to derive from personal experience and translate it into a concrete program that changes the lives of others is something else. I feel more complete as a person having known that I have made people’s lives easier somewhat. I am willingly taking on the sweet responsibility of taking care of minority and poor patients; medicine is perhaps the single most potent profession I could choose which could have a strong impact among those involved – apart of course, from teaching. My experiences seem so much more meaningful when they can be applied and used to make a difference in someone else’s life. I now see the potential dissemination of this program as it continues after I have left Berkeley and it is rewarding to know that something I created with a couple of others will be built upon and expanded in the years to come. 3) In your intellectual development and preparation for a medical career, which non-science college course has been most valuable? Why? (500 words or less) I personally feel that a career in medicine is a vocation or a calling more than anything else. It is a herculean task indeed to study for a significantly lengthy time and to dedicate sleepless hours in the name of selfless service. Thus, apart from being functionally competent, it is important that an aspiring doctor have the heart for the profession. Along this line, I find my teaching and education classes relevant in developing in me the ‘heart’ for medical practice. I have no doubt that every single one of my education classes has been invaluable to me in my intellectual development and preparation for a medical career. My education classes have allowed me to not only learn educational theory and ideology but also more importantly have allowed me to apply this knowledge in a variety of fields. I have further developed my skills as a critical thinker as have learned how to challenge others to do the same. I have been able to take these skills and apply them to my extracurricular work in the “Introduction to University life: An Immigrant Perspective” (DECAL) course that I teach. As a facilitator, I teach through “problem-posing,” a tool that strengthens critical thinking skills. Utilizing an inductive questioning process, I structure dialogue in the classroom, diversifying subject matter and using the students’ own thoughts and insights to develop critical understanding of personal experience and societal conditions. The technique represents an empowering philosophy, enabling students to translate life experience into thoughtful, purposeful action. I use these skills in all of the volunteer work I do and find that they even seep into my personal and private interactions making my relationships richer and more insightful. The frequent student interactions have allowed me to develop my interpersonal skills extensively. I have learned how to listen and to empathize with people’s concerns. Through teaching, I have likewise acknowledged and even espoused respect for diversity and the human person. The love for teaching comes with the belief that all individuals have the potential to learn and to be trained. The teacher just has to respond to the challenge of patience and technique to be able to realize such potential. I believe that all of these learning may be useful in being a more competent and patient-centered medical practitioner. Apart from being competent in terms of hard skills, the doctor has to have empathy, good listening skills, to be articulate in expressing himself, and to manifest the value he places in the human person. I am certain that all these may be adopted in the context of medical practice. I see this as an extension of the techniques and tools that I have used when facilitating discussions during the DECAL class. Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine: 1) Please share with us your thoughts on specialties and how you plan to choose yours. (limit of 250 words). I have been fortunate to be around children in the course of my volunteer work and it has given me immense satisfaction to form part of their development. I have mentored youths from marginalized communities and children do have a soft spot for me. This penchant for dealing with them has made me consider pediatrics as a specialty. And yet I am also seriously evaluating internal medicine as another viable option. With my current research in dietary and environmental pesticide exposures among low-income Latino children in agricultural and urban environments, I see both as a feasible directions I may follow further into my career. Making links between the environment and health – especially in the context of children and minorities – is something that I am keenly interested in. Whichever specialty I ultimately choose is an outcome of a thorough evaluation of factors. First, I would like to engage in a specialty that I am authentically interested in – children, for instance. I would also like to have strong impact among underprivileged communities, and have as much expanse as I could in terms of helping others. Still on substantial impact, I would like to specialize in a field where I would be able to have a significant contribution to both research and actual medical practice, and am seeking a field that lends itself to such flexibility. Taken together, I feel that either pediatrics or internal medicine are both good alternatives as areas of specialization. Ohio State University College of Medicine 1) Please define altruism and provide an example or two where you exhibited altruistic behavior in your past activities. (600 words or less) Altruism is an expression of genuine selflessness; it means reaching out to others, without expecting anything in return – not anything material, at least. I have felt a strong sense of altruism in my experience as a volunteer at the American Red Cross. I feel blessed in being able to participate in providing relief for victims of disasters, and in helping or responding to people involved in emergencies. Moreover, I feel honored that I was able to use my facility in the Spanish language in explaining the procedures to be followed by donors. This has caused me to take greater pride in my Spanish roots. It is also through this role that I realized that no kind act could be trivial. One such altruistic experience has been my contribution in the creation of the Peer Mentoring Program at UCBerkeley, to extend authentic assistance to Cal immigrant students. The program has a clear vision of according assistance to this group, and to expedite their assimilation within Berkeley’s complex learning environment. The program aims to raise their awareness to the various academic support programs, career planning, professional and graduate school advising, and student life programs available to them. In addition, the program is a forum through which students discuss issues relevant to immigrants at the university level. Because of my own background and the challenges I faced entering university as a minority, non-traditional student, I wanted to help new students lead balanced and well-managed college lives. I believe that using my own experiences, as springboard for assisting others to help themselves has been positive for the students who have participated in the program. Still along this thrust, I have helped create and facilitate a Decal (Democratic Education at Cal) class entitled “Introduction to University Life: An Immigrant Perspective” which envisions a more expeditious and smooth adjustment to university life for immigrant students. A transfer student from a community college myself, I also applied my experiences to help create and organize the Community College Resources and Education for the College Application Process Program (CCRECAP). Through synergy among the parties involved in the transfer process, students may be empowered in carrying out what the transfer procedure entails. These volunteer activities have been extremely rewarding to me because I have witnessed how the lives of those I have served have changed somewhat through my efforts. The wealth of experience from which my contributions were derived and seeing that I have helped others has made all the efforts worthwhile. I also feel that I am able to help change immigrant students’ views about their ‘inferior’ status, by being an example worth emulating. That is, when they see that I have survived despite the odds, they will feel encouraged to go on as well because they are edified by my example. Underlying all the work is my sincere intent to help them adjust to their new environment – in a hassle-free manner if possible. My experiences seem so much more meaningful when they can be applied and used to make a difference in someone else’s life. I now see the potential dissemination of these programs as they continue after I leave Berkeley. It is truly rewarding to know that something I created with a couple of others will be built upon and expanded in the years to come. Somehow, that will be my legacy. In reaching out to others, I have had the joy of seeing people develop, grow and smile. Through these, I have realized that neither money nor any credential may come up to par with personal meaning and fulfillment in helping others. 2) In the space provided, describe your motivation for a career in medicine and experience you have had that helped confirm this desire. (600 words or less) My interest in a career in medicine began early on during the fifth grade. My teacher relayed to us stories of poverty, suffering, hunger and disease, during the Vietnam War. The vividness with which he described these scenes left a lasting mark in my mind. A few years out of high school, I had the opportunity to witness these scenes in a trip to Southeast Asia. In this part of the world, you see how dire and real poverty and suffering is. I understood how pressing the need is for quality healthcare, basic sanitation, and medical facilities to these areas. During college, the financial hardships that my family experienced compelled me to put my studies on hold. I worked as an animal laboratory technician with Pfizer Global Research and Development and then at PTRL West. Both of these experiences exposed me to the tedium and rigor of scientific inquiry and the research exercise. Apart from directly helping patients in the clinical setting, I also wish to conduct research– to discover new treatments for disease. I am currently doing research into dietary and environmental pesticide exposures in low-income Latino children in agricultural and urban environments through the Center for Childrens Environmental Health Research in the School of Public Health. In 2003, I earned a summer internship at The California Pacific Medical Center in San Francisco. I was in my element! My 13-hour days seemed to pass in minutes. Interning affirmed my desire to pursue a career in medicine by exposing me to clinical procedures. This gave me a new perspective on what my future life as a doctor could be. I loved every part of this experience. The most important aspect was direct patient contact. Contact with regular patients and with new people forced me to improve my interpersonal skills and friendly and professional bedside manner. I also realized the essential role that teamwork and organization played in this profession, as well as the capacity to manage competing priorities. In the summer of 2005, I was again involved in an internship. I shadowed an internist at Sharp Chula Vista Hospital in San Diego. This would prove to be an unforgettable experience as well. As I familiarized myself with the hospital, I met a young mother being consumed by a voracious cancer. As with many terminal cases, the medical staff worked to help relatives accept the situation. I came to appreciate the team working to handle these complicated cases: social workers, chaplain’s staff, and health educators. I gained my first view into true multidisciplinary patient care and the challenges of providing quality patient care without being influenced by non-clinical or business factors. My attendance to annual pre-medical conferences at Stanford from 2002 to 2006 have encouraged me further. I have also had the chance to attend the UCSF Dia De Los Muertos Gross Anatomy Conference in 2004. Finally I have decided to honor’s thesis in behalf of the Center for Childrens Environmental Health Research in U.C. Berkeley. Focusing on the Latino community, I am researching dietary and environmental pesticide exposures in low-income children in agricultural and urban environments. These were the experiences that planted the seed to pursue a medical career. I believed as a child as I do now that I have to help people in concrete, tangible ways – and what best means to help them than by addressing their medical needs. At the end of the day, my natural inclination towards the profession, my desire to help others directly, my heart for the sick and the suffering, and empathy for the poor have all driven me to become a doctor. Read More