ObGyn Obstetrics and Gynecology Residency Personal Statement #1
Becoming a mother in medical school has fostered some unconventional, albeit resourceful, moments.There was the time I “wore” my oldest daughter in her baby carrier to the pathology lab after hours so I could study slide specimens while she slept. Or the day I had to use my lunch break during a USMLE exam to pump in a study room. And then there have been the nights on call when I phone my daughters to sing them an off-key lullaby before bed, all the time wondering what the student in the next call room must be thinking of my warbling. [ad#bannermain]Like many of women I will provide care for as an obstetrician and gynecologist, I endeavor a full life and know that my rich experiences as a mother will help me offer compassionate attention to women at various stages in their lives as well.
The decade between college and medical school set the precedent for the non-traditional years that followed. After obtaining a dual degree in political economy and English literature from Large US University, I worked as both a newspaper reporter and television anchor, ascending from small market TV correspondent to a larger market morning show personality. Trading my early hours in front of the camera for the early hours in the hospital, I found I was adept at the primary care management and manual skills required for obstetrics and gynecology. I also found I was drawn to the concept of how both preventative care and surgical interventions could make such a marked difference in a woman’s well being. This extended beyond my required obstetrics and gynecology clerkship. Time and again, I found myself volunteering to follow and read about patients other services deemed complicated: a pregnant teen with suicidal ideations during my psychiatry rotation or a middle-age woman on my internal medicine rotation needing a paracentesis to manage the malignant ascites caused by her ovarian cancer. During my fourth year sub-internship in maternal and fetal medicine, I was able to develop my clinical skills and knowledge base further by appreciating the impact systemic diseases and various conditions have upon obstetrical management and participating in interventions that directly improved the lives of mothers and their unborn children.
To that end, recently I helped design and implement perinatal research, working closely with residents and faculty on the impact of multiple nuchal cord loops and neonatal outcomes. Throughout medical school, I have volunteered for various clinical outreach programs and participated in a longitudinal rural family medicine program with a busy obstetrics practice with an underserved patient population. I have also started a mentoring project for other mothers at my medical school. Each of these extracurricular projects has furthered the academic, leadership and clinical skills I bring to my future training.
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I realize that having two children during medical school is by no means a unique act. I do believe attempting the balance of motherhood and medicine, with the encouragement of an accommodating and capable husband, has been a defining achievement of my education. I am excited by the prospect of continuing that education in a supportive, dynamic residency program and would like to further explore my interests in maternal and fetal medicine in the future. While my medical school experience has not been traditional, I know I will be a better physician for it. Learning to balance my professional and personal lives has yielded lessons in patience, compassion and fortitude that I will bring to my training in obstetrics and gynecology every day.