Family Medicine Personal Statement #2
It is my fervent hope to pursue my career as a primary care physician. I was assigned to an anesthesia residency program without a choice after medical school in China, and spent more than ten years there. Anesthesia practice in China provided me great professional fulfillment in successfully helping acute, critical patients pass safely through their most important surgical interventions. At the same time the field left me frustrated because I had seen so many people suffering from critical or advanced disease that could have been prevented or treated early by primary care physicians.[ad#bannermain-plain]
In addition my short-term interventions did not allow me to learn the final outcome of my patients. I realized that I could achieve greater personal and professional satisfaction if I could utilize my knowledge and clinical experience to help patients become health conscious through education, life-style modification, regular care and treatment. These ideals lead me to family medicine.
Since there was no family medicine specialty at most hospitals in China, I was unable to pursue training in the field. After I came to Big University to receive my postgraduate training in 2002, I realized that I could freely pursue my career in the US.
In order to prepare myself in the US healthcare environment, I first completed a one month anesthesia observership, an area I knew I would be comfortable in at the VA Medical Center. Then, I started family medicine observerships at Community Health Center. During my observerships, I was deeply inspired by the family practioners who combined their broad medical expertise with a personal commitment to provide healthcare to an underserved population. There, I learned the uniqueness of different cultures, ethics, personalities, and fine-tuned my interpersonal skills further. In addition to the diseases themselves, I also learned the importance of social and personal issues to a patient’s overall health. I believe these experiences will help me prepare for family medicine residency training. I also believe my cultural background will help me identify with minority patients and to provide valuable access and service to those patients.
With my prior clinical experience, I am confident I will be well suited to primary care, both intellectually and personally. Clinical anesthesia practice in China provided me not only the broadest clinical knowledge in a wide array of medicine disciplines, but also the ability to rapidly build a rapport with patients of diverse ages and backgrounds, the ability to quickly analyze and confidently handle the critical changes in case of emergency and the ability to communicate and cooperate effectively with people.
Finally, my current postgraduate research training provides me further confidence. Within a short period of time, I successfully accomplished the transition from clinical medicine to basic medicine with publications in many joournals. Most importantly, from this transition I have learned and gained the ability to face challenges, while cultivating a thirst for knowledge and an intellectual curiosity that will promote a lifelong professional growth. As medicine continues to undergo constant evolution and change, I want to remain dedicated to learning, and gaining a solid foundation of medicine in order to assist my patients.
I seek a well rounded residency program with broad based training and a high level of responsibility that will prepare me to practice in diverse settings. My goal is to find a family practice residency program that shares a passion for teaching, mentoring, and showing residents that family practice is not just a practice of medicine but also a practice of how to work with people. I look forward to starting my family practice residency with enthusiasm and a willingness to work hard. I am confident that I will benefit my residency program because I have learned how to work and interact well with patients, families, and colleagues through my prior life experiences.
