Anesthesiology Residency Personal Statement #1
It is often impossible to predict where life will take you. While a senior at the University of MidWest, I never expected my life to take me to a place where I’d learn the realities of poverty and disease. As a rural health care volunteer in northern India, without portable machines or diagnostic equipment, I experienced medicine and surgery at its roots: my hands and ears were my most valuable tools. I gave children vaccinations, assisted with births, administered epidurals and helped end stage cancer sufferers with pain management. This experience taught me how to remain calm during emergencies and to endure the pressures of handling crisis. The enthusiasm of combining the mental rigors of medicine with the challenging depths of surgery brought out a certain energy and passion within me. I believe a career as an anesthesiologist will allow me to pursue that energy and apply it to patient care.[ad#bannermain-plain]
My love of traveling and learning about new cultures cultivated my decision to attend medical school in England. Living in a foreign country, I learned to be resourceful and flexible while taking on new challenges. Along with tremendous mental and physical stamina, I developed strong interpersonal and communication skills. The experience taught me how to multitask efficiently and acclimate quickly into unfamilier places. As a resident, I will use these skills to handle a fast-paced and demanding workload without becoming stressed.
My clinical rotation in anesthesiology and pain management at County Hospital cemented my decision. The rotation ended up being one of the most enriching experiences in my medical education. I loved the dynamics of epidurals and emergency c-sections. I learned to rapidly incorporate sound judgment, pathophysiology and pharmacology into caring for two lives. In the end, it was truly a humbling experience to witness the relief of a woman’s pain during childbirth. Being exposed to the challenges of perioperative risks, I became familiar with the skills of quick assessment, hemodynamic management and of manipulating a patient’s physiology and anatomy.
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At County, I was exposed to patients from various multi-cultural and socio-economic backgrounds. I never shied away from the many complex social issues that confront an anesthesiologist with such populations. To fulfill these social convictions, I attended workshops in recognizing and addressing domestic violence, high risk obstetrics, alcoholism, the ethics of pain management and substance dependency. I often performed the duties of a first-year resident, including blood draws, placing IV lines, history-taking and post operative care. I developed confidence in handling a multitude of presenting complaints and procedures.
Anesthesiology is a field where my perseverance, dedication, respect, and compassion will flourish. I have genuine enthusiasm for working hard and making a positive difference. I am seeking a residency program that will allow me to develop independently and as part of a team. I value excellent faculty and the opportunity to approach cases with a blend of compassion, wisdom and academics in order to optimally care for each patient. There are days I think about my experiences of working in India and how not all people were able to have the comforts of epidurals, analgesia or cancer pain management. I plan to use my training to work in areas where a good anesthesiologist is needed. I understand what a privilege it is to receive the type of medical training your program provides, and I will take advantage of every opportunity to learn and develop during my residency and exceed expectations.
