This was my personal statment...some may call it lame, but I got accepted.... and I am not sure I will be or want be a pediatric cardiologist any more...but this is it:
Dr. John Ochsner will forever remain one of the most prominent persons in my life. He is the reason I am alive today, and the memory of his genteel bedside manner and his profound medical knowledge fuels my desire to become a physician. At age fifteen, after years of suffering from hypertension, lethargy, and overall discomfort, I was finally diagnosed with coarctation of the descending aorta. I was told that if I did not have an operation to correct my coarctation, my life expectancy would only be to age twenty-one or twenty-two. The Cardiovascular Institute of the South recommended Dr. John Ochsner because he had, in his career, operated on one teenager/young adult with my condition. No other cardiac surgeon in Louisiana had ever operated on a patient with coarctation of the descending aorta in my age group. Dr. Ochsner obviously succeeded, as I am here writing this letter today at age twenty-seven.
My desire to be a physician was not one that began immediately. In college I toyed with the idea of studying medicine. I took the MCAT in 1999, scored poorly, and decided that perhaps medicine was not my calling. However, I was deceiving myself. After my triumphant operation - from which I proudly bear a 15” incision that beautifully curves from under my left breast to the bottom of my shoulder blade on my back - I was often preoccupied by the idea that my being an adolescent at the time of surgery was problematic. Dr. Ochsner told me as much, and I often wondered what other ways adolescents might present challenges to medical care. After years of wandering in various fields, I have decided that I want to be like Dr. Ochsner and make a difference in young people’s lives. I want to reach out especially to those adolescents who are between adult and pediatric medicine.
Over the years, I have transitioned from a research biologist, to an environmental scientist, to a mother living in a foreign country all the while denying my true occupational desire. About a year ago in Trinidad, where I currently live, I began to have trouble sleeping at night. At first, I thought it was the tropical heat and foreign sounds, but four months ago, I realized that my problem was emotional not environmental. I finally understood that I had not been true to myself with my career choices, and I knew that I needed to realize my dream of becoming a physician, albeit a little belatedly. I am now like a racehorse with blinders who can only see the finish line. My finish line is to become a pediatric cardiologist. This application and acceptance are the first of the hurdles I must jump.
Dr. John Ochsner will forever remain one of the most prominent persons in my life. He is the reason I am alive today, and the memory of his genteel bedside manner and his profound medical knowledge fuels my desire to become a physician. At age fifteen, after years of suffering from hypertension, lethargy, and overall discomfort, I was finally diagnosed with coarctation of the descending aorta. I was told that if I did not have an operation to correct my coarctation, my life expectancy would only be to age twenty-one or twenty-two. The Cardiovascular Institute of the South recommended Dr. John Ochsner because he had, in his career, operated on one teenager/young adult with my condition. No other cardiac surgeon in Louisiana had ever operated on a patient with coarctation of the descending aorta in my age group. Dr. Ochsner obviously succeeded, as I am here writing this letter today at age twenty-seven.
My desire to be a physician was not one that began immediately. In college I toyed with the idea of studying medicine. I took the MCAT in 1999, scored poorly, and decided that perhaps medicine was not my calling. However, I was deceiving myself. After my triumphant operation - from which I proudly bear a 15” incision that beautifully curves from under my left breast to the bottom of my shoulder blade on my back - I was often preoccupied by the idea that my being an adolescent at the time of surgery was problematic. Dr. Ochsner told me as much, and I often wondered what other ways adolescents might present challenges to medical care. After years of wandering in various fields, I have decided that I want to be like Dr. Ochsner and make a difference in young people’s lives. I want to reach out especially to those adolescents who are between adult and pediatric medicine.
Over the years, I have transitioned from a research biologist, to an environmental scientist, to a mother living in a foreign country all the while denying my true occupational desire. About a year ago in Trinidad, where I currently live, I began to have trouble sleeping at night. At first, I thought it was the tropical heat and foreign sounds, but four months ago, I realized that my problem was emotional not environmental. I finally understood that I had not been true to myself with my career choices, and I knew that I needed to realize my dream of becoming a physician, albeit a little belatedly. I am now like a racehorse with blinders who can only see the finish line. My finish line is to become a pediatric cardiologist. This application and acceptance are the first of the hurdles I must jump.
posted by sweetpeapotts at 4:48 PM
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