Example Anesthesiology Residency Personal Statement #3

It felt strange coming out of the airport. The air was cold, less humid, and smelled different. I finally emerged from the labyrinth that is Dulles Airport, built on the outskirts of Washington D.C.. I was born, raised and spent more than 16 years of my life in Large CIty, India, and immigrated to the U.S. in 1999. As a teenager, the transition from my native culture to a completely unknown place and culture was very dramatic. The change was frustrating in the beginning, but I knew that ultimately it was up to me to adapt to my new environment and build my identity. My accent slowly devolved, my new wardrobe collection evolved, as my name Rajiv, a traditional Hindu name simultaneously simplified into the single letter “R”. [ad#bannermain]As a novel immigrant, I chose to adapt to this new culture rather than acculturate from my nativity. I knew that adapting was going to be difficult because it came with the demands of displaying qualities such as maturity, resilience, and persistence.

Analogous to my adaptation to American culture, anesthesiologists encompass the same adaptation at work everyday, whether it is alleviating the concerns of a parent or taking care of a child who gets hypotensive on the operating table. Furthermore, anesthesiologists serve as primary consultants for several departments in a hospital setting. From starting an epidural in L&D to placing a popliteal block for orthopaedic surgery, or from performing an endotracheal intubation on premature infant in the NICU, being able to adapt and compliment that situation with confidence is a crucial attribute to have in an anesthesiologist. The ability to adapt in a variety of situations while applying my knowledge and training skills is an attribute that I possess and my past experiences have prepared me well to take on the challenges in displaying and executing these versatile qualities.

I believe that the transition from an individual with a medical degree to a physician occurs when that person develops sincerity, honesty, maturity, and above all, the desire to take care of patients. Anesthesiology is a field that allows for the nurturing of my innate passion in taking care of a patient as a whole rather than a specific procedure or an organ system. The desire to serve holistic care to a patient has stimulated my interest in pursuing a further training in the form of critical care fellowship upon completion of resident training in anesthesia. A critical care specialist has the responsibility to simultaneously manage a challenging patient with numerous complex medical and surgical issues, and the anxious family in the waiting room. Throughout my clinical rotations as a medical student, besides providing utmost care to a patient, I constantly made an effort to insure that family members were appropriately involved and informed in the care of their loved ones.
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Besides applying broad based clinical knowledge, the “hands on” approach and ability to perform procedures in a variety of situations has been a major attraction for me. It is fascinating and inspiring to know that from starting the IV in the pre-operative unit to their stable transfer en route for post-anesthesia care unit, I am going to be present by the patient. This aspect makes anesthesia unique because it is the only specialty that devotes 100% effort to ‘active’ patient care, especially in critical points in a patient’s care, albeit for a short period of time. I believe that my strong base in medical knowledge and the desire for the continuous improvement in refining my procedural skills as a medical student have allowed for an ideal platform to build upon my training as an efficient and caring anesthesiologist. I am thrilled to have this opportunity to embark on this excitable journey of training in anesthesia and become part of a very special fraternity of physicians.