Personal history statement - Essay Example

Personal History ment I am Yu-Wen Huang and I come from an ordinary Taiwanese family. I, therefore, know how it feels to be materially deprivedat times, and I can appreciate blessings when they come. I have an older sister and a younger brother and of course my parents who are still around.Under the long influence of Buddhism, one of the religions that spread to Asia, I have learned to respect every life. This was my parents' religion that through it, I and my siblings have formed habits of purifying and training our mind, conditioned always to perform the positive.

I guess this is where I am thankful to have been trained in harmlessness and moderation that I could very well relate with people of different cultures. I found this to be true in my past experiences with patients of different socio-economic levels. Especially so, since my work dealt with Parkinson's disease, I had much to do with geriatric patients all needing extra patience.I like music very much and I can play piano. I am an amateur trombonist in Taipei Civic Symphony Orchestra, also a tenor singer in Taipei philharmonic chorus, one of the most prestigious choruses in Taiwan.

I enjoy the moment when every member plays or sings together to make our music really touching. Music not only relieves me but also energizes me. I saw, too, that I can do things with music in crowds where people need comfort and even healing of the soul. It can be a luxury but it is also free and therapeutic and can help many.What drove me to become a doctor is my father's colon cancer when I was 18 years old, preparing for application for college. During my father's admission in the hospital, I realized the importance of being a doctor because doctors could really help their patients.

My father recovered well after surgery and chemotherapy. Then and there, I dreamed I could also become a doctor someday.Aside from my Taiwanese language, I can speak and write English very well because I am given to reading books. From there, I have learned the cultures of other people aside from what I came to know from my travels to other places. A doctor goes anywhere a patient calls. Knowledge of the international language has facilitated too, my access to other people groups and it works very well.

I know it would be able to help me also in my studies as it had helped me do research and carry on with publications.If I would be so blessed to be admitted, I can guess my classmates would be a whole bunch of different cultures and personalities. There is quality in diversity and experiences can be enriched with different ideas. One thing sure, people approach things from different angles. There is where the innovativeness of the Taiwanese can come in, which quality I am lucky to have. From where I come from, folks have that McGyver skill of rapid, adaptive qualities and thought.

I can come in ready with this innovativeness for my group.Needless to say, I have lived with collective wholes at home, in my culture, or at work where teamwork is much appreciated to be able to survive fairly. Most of the time, if not all, we need to think we are together, in bliss or in trouble. In fact this is what disease is always teaching us: to be together to fight it out or it wipes us out. There is synergy in joining forces as against doing it alone.In the class with which I am hoping to study, I know I will also be enriched by my classmates with what they bring with them.

Most especially, together we can learn as a group - as we join hands to realize our reasons for striving to get educated in this University.Curriculum VitaeYu-Wen Huang, M.D.Room 1516, East Physicians' Dormitory,No.7, Chung-Shan S. Rd., Taipei, Taiwan 100alvinh@ha.mc.ntu.edu.tw(886)2-23964396(886)968662191PROFILE Dedicated neurologist, devoted to the research field of neuroscience, now applies for Neuroscience Graduate Program this fall come 2006.

Has been awarded the Taiwan Merit Scholarships for pursuing advanced study of neurodegeneration.-Born: Aug 21, 1977 Kaohsiung City, Taiwan-Citizenship: Taiwan, Republic of ChinaEDUCATION -Residency (Neurology) July 2002-Present Department of Neurology, National Taiwan University Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan Board-certified, Taiwan Neurology Society, October 2005 -Doctor of Medicine September 1995-June 2002 National Taiwan University, College of Medicine (conferred in June 2002) Clerkship: University of Pennsylvania, exchange student, February 2001-June 2001 National Taiwan University Hospital, September 2000-January 2001Internship: National Taiwan University Hospital, rotation July 2001-June 2002GPA: overall: 3.

93, major: 3.94, last 60 credits: 4.0GRE (June 2001): Verbal 640(91%) / Quantitative 800(98%) / Analytical 750(94%) TOEFL (October 2005): Total score 260, Listening 24/Structure28/Reading26/Essay5.5GRE biology subject (November 2005): pendingREASERCH EXPERIENCE -Lab N517, Institute of Molecular Biology, Academia SinicaConducted research into mesenchymal stem cell therapy with animal stroke model, including differentiating mesenchymal stem cells (Wharton's Jelly) into neurons, glial cells, fibroblasts, adipocytes, or osteocytes, and manipulating mice with ligation of middle cerebral artery.

I have learned various techniques, some of which include: polymerase chain reaction (PCR), reverse transcriptase PCR (RT-PCR), Northern and Western hybridization, agarose and SDS-PAGE electrophoresis, protein extraction and purification, plasmid mini- and midi-prep, DNA sequencing, histochemical staining, cell culture and counting.-Lab of Movement Disorders, National Taiwan University HospitalConducted research into differentiated umbilical cord blood cells transplantation in animal model of Parkinson's disease, including manipulation of rats stereotaxically injected with 6-hydroxydopamine (6-OHDA), stereotactic injection of differentiated dopaminergic neurons (positively stained with tyrosine hydroxylase) or umbilical cord blood cells into rats' striatum, and evaluation of behaviors and motor function.

I have also learned perfusion, fixation and preparation of brain tissue, immunohistochemical staining, and genotyping of transgenic mouse lines.-Neurosonological Lab, National Taiwan University hospitalDesigned and conducted original researches into substantia nigra echogenicity under transcranial ultrasound imaging in the diagnosis of Parkinson's disease, and autoregulation of cerebral blood flow in patients with stenotic carotid arteries. We are the first group in Asia to apply transcranial ultrasound in Parkinsonism.

I am an active member of Taiwan Neurosonology Society and Taiwan Stroke Society.HONORS -Taiwan Merit Scholarships http://studyabroad.nsc.gov.tw To promote future excellence in research, the terms of the scholarship are to cover the scholar's tuition fees and a stipend of amount U.S. 18,00020,000 dollars per year. As per his/her contract with TMS, the scholar is obliged to return to Taiwan and complete a residency requirement within ten years after the contract takes effect.

-Best Residents' Papers, National Taiwan University Hospital June 2004 & June 2005-Best Interns of the year, National Taiwan University Hospital July 2002-The Presidential Award, National Taiwan University, three times, July 1995, 1996 &1999PUBLICATION -AbstractTranscranial Doppler Imaging Study in Patients with Idiopathic Parkinson's disease and Vascular Parkinsonism Huang YW, Jeng JS, Tsai CF, Chen LL, Yip PK, Wu RMJournal of Clinical Neuroscience, Volume 11, Supplement 1, November 2004 Measurement Reliability and Distribution of Hyperechogenic Area of Substantia Nigra by Transcranial Doppler Imaging (abstract)Huang YW, Jeng JS, Tsai CF, Chen LL, Yip PK, Wu RMJournal of Clinical Neuroscience, Volume 11, Supplement 1, November 2004-PresentationTranscranial Doppler Imaging Study in Patients with Idiopathic Parkinson's disease and Vascular Parkinsonism (Platform presentation)The 11th Asian & Oceanic Congress of Neurology, Singapore, November 2004 Transcranial Doppler Imaging Study in Patients with Idiopathic Parkinson's disease and Vascular Parkinsonism (Poster presentation)Scientific Meeting of 4th Asian Chapter Neurosonology Research Group of the World Federation of Neurology, Singapore, November 2004Dynamic Cerebral Autoregulation in Patients with Severe Internal Carotid Stenosis (Platform presentation)Taiwan Stroke Society Annual Meeting, Taipei, Taiwan, April 2005 Impaired Dynamic Cerebral Autoregulation: A Risk Factor of Ischemic Strokes in Patients with Severe Internal Carotid Stenosis (Platform presentation)The 12th Neurosonography Research Group, Osaka, Japan, July 14th, 2005-Submitted and in preparationTranscranial Doppler Imaging Study of Substantia Nigra in Patients with Young-Onset Parkinson's diseaseYu-Wen Huang, M.D.; Jiann-Shing Jeng, M.D.; Chung-Fen Tsai, M.D.; Li-Ling Chen, B.S.; Ping-Keung Yip, M.D.; Ruey-Meei Wu, M.D., Ph.D.Impaired Dynamic Cerebral Autoregulation: A Risk Factor of Ischemic Strokes in Patients with Severe Internal Carotid StenosisYu-Wen Huang, M.D.; Jiann-Shing Jeng, M.D., Ping-Keung Yip, M.D.REFERENCES -Please refer to the 3 letters of recommendation.