Undergraduate /
"What experiences have led you to consider medicine" - PLME ESSAY [10]
As kids most of my friends were afraid to go to the doctor. They used to freak out when they saw the eerie whiteness of the dentist's room and wet themselves on sight of all those fancy instruments. My parents didn't have a problem taking me to the doctor; I was curious what being one would be like. I didn't even need the fancy toothbrush with Mickey mouse to smile at the dentist. As I grew up I answered 'what-do-
you- want-to-be-when-you-grow-up' with a fairly constant - scientist.
I would get a pat on my head for my trouble.(?I lost you here)"I want to be a scientist in the medical profession, specializing in leukemia". This was what I told my friends. "How can you be so sure?", my friends asked me. I used to evade that question saying it didn't matter why as long as I was sure what I wanted to do. In my concocted view of researchers used to be heroes of the world
. T hey would spend years working in the labs, deliberating with fellow scientists until they got their 'eureka' moment. It's not that I didn't love science
- it has always been my favourite and top scoring subject. I was really good at research and I loved exploring, I always had to find a solution and I had to be the one who found it. But I was disillusioned,
that's not what I really want.Last summer, I went to an institution called P.C. Thomas in India were I was part of a crash course for our grade 12 portion. This was not like any educational institute
I've seen . It required that you stay in a hostel with no TV, no mobiles, no hot water baths, no luxuries we Dubai-spoiled-brats are used to. My parents were genuinely surprised when I wanted to go. I was looking for adventure and I wanted to test my limits of self-control. The place was so stimulating, I worked from 4 in the morning to 12 in the night and never felt tired. Strange, something which first sounded like a labor camp actually changed me. A good holiday is one spent among people whose notions of time are vaguer than yours. When I got back, studying and working was so imbibed into me it wasn't a burden anymore, stress was part of the package but I knew how to deal with it. Funny how this was a more rewarding holiday than when I went to the Louvre
, which was something I've wanted to do all my life, or when I went skiing in the Alps. Some feelings are best felt. The students I met were so different. There was one girl who I got pretty close to. We shared more than just a room, we shared the same dreams. We were so different yet so similar. She wanted to become a doctor, working in her village hospital. I saw her eyes glaze up in dreams when I told her about where I was from but what she taught me changed my life. She taught the value of a doctor. Her brother suffered from cancer and he had been suffering since she was 5 years old. She told me how every moment with him was special because you don't know whether you'll get another like the present. She rattled terms about cancer that would put nurses to shame. She was such a cheerful person, despite whatever she had to go through. Her father was unsure whether she would be able to finish her education and become an oncologist because he couldn't financially support her. But she was determined, she told me no matter what she would be a doctor. The day before we left I knew she couldn't sleep. She came over to my bed. She held my hand and made me promise that I would never give up, I would research as hard as I could and find a cure for cancer. She told me she knew she wasn't as smart as I was and that she didn't have the resources but she knew I would do it. She wanted to be free of the fear of waking in the morning and not seeing her brother's face; she wanted be free of the care she had to take to not hurt him, she wanted a strong, powerful brother who would protect her and not the other way around.
Maybe I'm emotional about the whole thing and maybe I don't know the reality about how hard a life of a scientist is. But I'm willing to take the plunge, I want to do it. Not everyone takes the difficult option out; someone has to. I want to be that person who does it.
The 8-year PLME at the Alpert Medical school is a perfect start for anyone passionate about medicine. It is the perfect stepping stone towards the profession that uses hope as the glue to hold together pain and recovery. The undergraduate and graduate programs encourage the research interests of the students. Any opportunity to ensure me the privilege of entering this complex world, I value highly, especially a program such as the PLME. I want my college experience to be academically unparalleled, filled with opportunities on a global scale, and amidst a group of diverse, motivated students who are excited to learn from each other. I want to live life to the fullest; to experience what I haven't, feel what I can only imagine. The soul wasn't born to die in vain, it was born to sail through the skies, travel far and wide, touch the farthest horizons.
This is why I know, the PLME at brown would be the best start to my career.
Despite of some little errors in grammar, it's a very good essay! This is good to go. Good luck to you!
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