Medical School Personal Statement Assignment | Online Assignment

-It must be 5,300 characters long including spaces, so it must be condensed -I talk about 3 things in it: 1-Military Service in Cuba which gave me medical experience and made me realize doctors are more than illness treaters. 2-Coming to US. Here I can talk about the incident written about and how it taught me the value of accurate communication and social justice. 3-Working at Neuroscience lab and how it taught me the value of team working. -The conclusion is undone. -Things in cursive could be integrated but paraphrased. Anything in cursive needs to be paraphrased if left.

Intro

Loaded onto a crowded truck on a hot day of August, destined to one of the most remote locations of Havana City, Cuba, I was about to embark in an experience I had been dreading since I knew about it- the mandatory, Cuban military service. I was a 125 lbs, eighteen-years-old introvert, and nothing made me more uncomfortable than living away from home. I have no business at the military, I remember thinking repeatedly. I would soon realize I was wrong.

Military Service

After 45 days of military training, I arrived to military base 2063 where I was assigned to work at its clinic. The captain took into account my career choice, pharmacy, to make this decision. Truth is, I wanted medicine but choosing this path could have affected my future immigration process. I was excited to work in an ambiance I wanted to thrive in. Time passed, and I became comfortable at the clinic. Most days I would spend recording demographic information, vitals, and body measurements for every clinic visitor, before they met with Dr. Dayana. Many new soldiers that would arrive every week shared my feeling of discomfort and nostalgia from being far away from home. I remember Manuel. With his 6-foot height, he did not strike me as someone who would feel uncomfortable in this situation. Yet I noticed how nervous or out-of-place he felt, but I continued to try to form a bond. I made conversation while I was working with him. When I was working at the clinic it was easy to forget where I was. I assumed a role I loved performing. I noticed that inadvertently I had put aside my owns feelings to help someone else feel better. I think this was the first time my desire to be a doctor was justified.

It was easy to keep in touch with Manuel. He would often come to the clinic for his inhaler refill and tell a joke that would even make the doctors laugh. I truly would never forget the next time I saw him. We all heard about it when it happened. There had been an electrical accident while five soldiers were working with aviation machinery. One of them was Manuel. It was complete chaos. Officers would not stop running in and out of the clinic. I noticed black patches of burned skin in the soldiers’ limbs while doctors tried to apply bandages and maintain the injured in a stable condition. I smelled a coppery, metallic smell so thick and rich that it was nearly a taste. My stomach started turning, but everything was happening so fast, I did not have time to feel sick. For five minutes while the ambulances arrived all I did was to attend to what the doctors were telling me to handle them. I couldn’t avoid but to feel a bit impotent in the moment. This situation was out my hand. I lacked experience, and I lacked training to help more directly. I rode on the third small ambulance with Manuel and Dr. Dayana. Guided by a feeling of unexplained guiltiness, and a desire to provide comfort to my friend, I grabbed Manuel’s arm since his hands sustained burns. He turned his head toward me and smiled at seeing a familiar face. I looked at Dr. Dayana who nodded and let out a loud breath. At that moment I realized there’s always something I can do. I comprehended a doctor’s job is much more than treating a condition. I realized a doctor needs to be there for the patient emotionally. Unfortunately, only two of the soldiers survived that day, including Manuel. The other three passed away since they sustained grave burns. That day I realized I had one more factor that it takes to be a doctor. I understood Manuel’s pain and I was able to realize he needed more other than just medical treatment. I understood that many times the tirelessly work of a doctor can still result in an unfavorable outcome, and even though it was devastating, I understood that it was an intrinsic part of being a physician.

Coming to the United States

In 2013, freshly out of the army, I immigrated to the United states and my dream of becoming a doctor seemed farther away from reality, after all I needed to learn a new language. Nothing was more helpful than working at Target to learn English. The constant interaction with shoppers and coworkers allowed to reprogram my brain to a new form of speaking. However, I gained something far more valuable while working on retail. I remember my fellow Hispanic coworker Rosa, whose struggle to speak English caused her to skip a day of work. She had terribly misunderstood our supervisor days before. I believe Rosa was unnecessarily and too harshly reprimanded when she came back. My blood boiled and my heart dropped when I witnessed it. From that day on, I served as mediator not only between other Spanish-speaking coworkers and supervisors, but also between guests and other workers. I felt a commitment to avoid misunderstandings from happening again. I realized the important role effective and diverse communication plays in client-centered professions. I intend to extrapolate this to the field of medicine when I am a doctor, a supervisor of health. I want to make sure nothing like this repeats in the healthcare field. I want to be the doctor who breaches

People of all cultures and backgrounds. Concept of cultural relativism. Assimilating a new language and a new way of thinking will be useful and effective giving that medicine is an ever-evolving field.

Neuroscience

2018 was a year of accomplishments. I applied for my US. Citizenship, and I graduated from University of Florida. Unfortunately, this year I also found out that I needed to postpone medical school longer than I was anticipating. I had begun the immigration process of bringing my mother from Cuba to the United States, and I needed to provide an affidavit for her (earn a certain income for at least a year). With this in mind, and guided by my desire to further my current scientific knowledge, I pursued and obtained a research assistant position at the McKnight Brain Institute. During the next year and a half, I worked along Dr. McIntyre analyzing data and performing experiments such as calcium imaging, electrophysiology, behavior testing, and electrophoresis. It was a time of extraneous work, of repeating experiments countless of times, and staying at the lab longer than I was required and even coming in during some weekends. Needless to say, it was all worth it. My hard work paid of with a publication with me as the first author. However, this publication is far from being the work of only one person. Directly working with science, allowed me to realize medicine is more than treating a disease. I realized that for every doctor in the frontlines, there are tirelessly working teams behind the scenes driving most of the breakthroughs and advances in the field. Working at the lab taught me something I had not learned during my Gainesville ride-alongs or while obtaining my first emergency responder certification, I learned wherever one falls in terms of rank, each contribution is vital to the outcome. None of the work is in isolation. While one person’s knowledge and skill may be deeper than another’s, individual efforts make up the whole. Working in this team, aside from developing research skills, I realized that practicing medicine is not an individual pursuit, but a collaborative commitment to excellence in scholarship and leadership, which all begins with mentorship.

Dr. McIntyre who since graduation has dedicated his time to study the roles of primary cilia in the olfactory pathway.

my role in research satisfied my intellectual thirst

Conclusion

Today I am closing than ever to fulfill my dream. I believe my personal hardship in pursing medicine has been preparing me. I know medical school will be hard

. My personal hardship in pursing medicine, not being able to choose it in cuba, immigrating to a completely new country with a different language, having to postponed my dream to obtain an affidavit and claim my mom from cuba. Even though I have felt dissapointed at times or I did not like some of these, I have persisted. I has led me to this day. Today I truly feel than nothing can stop me

I later understood that it wasn’t guiltiness but a sense of responsibility to the patient what made me want to hold Manuel’s arm.

My purpose hasn’t changed, but what has developed is my understanding that to be a physician is to help people live healthy, dignified lives by practicing both medicine and social justice.

That day I felt defeated but galvanized to pursue this path

I realized they are not only providers of medical knowledge but also of assurance and relief.

 I see medicine as the best catalyst to combine my quest for knowledge with my drive to help others.