nate581994
Oct 28, 2011
Undergraduate / 'After that surgery' - VCU autobiography essay [2]
Write page 87 of your autobiography.
Let me know what you think!
My heart raced as the new heart came in. It was hard to believe that this lifeless mass would soon bring my heart failure patient back to life. I was in the middle of my first heart transplant and the donor heart was late. Finally it was ready, resting in a ice cold saline bath above the patient's empty chest. As I began to suture holes made in the heart when it was removed, I slipped into a state of calmness, following the suture in my mind, in and out of the tissue. Finally, the heart was ready and we began reconnecting all the arteries and tissue connections we had severed. I could feel the heart warming up, and I knew I was running out of time. I began suturing furiously, going through the motions of skills I had practiced and learned for years, stitching and shaving off tissue to create a better fit. At last the heart was fully connected and, as I removed the final clamp, a torrent of blood poured into the heart which slowly began to beat. Faster and faster it started to pulse into life until it was throbbing, a glistening mass of blood and tissue delivering life into the previously dying body of my patient. This is when I truly understood what Dr. Richard Selzer meant when he said "Surgery is the red flower that blooms among the leaves and thorns that are the rest of medicine." It felt amazing.
After that surgery, the patient and his family were ecstatic and showered me with gratitude, but all I could do was smile and give the credit to Virginia Commonwealth University. As a member of the eight-year B.S./M.D. program, I had the amazing opportunity to receive guaranteed admission to the VCU School of Medicine. This allowed me to fulfill my life's goal of becoming a physician in just eight years. I had desired to become a doctor since high school, and VCU granted me all of the experience I have enjoyed throughout my career as a cardiovascular surgeon. I'm just living the dream.
Write page 87 of your autobiography.
Let me know what you think!
My heart raced as the new heart came in. It was hard to believe that this lifeless mass would soon bring my heart failure patient back to life. I was in the middle of my first heart transplant and the donor heart was late. Finally it was ready, resting in a ice cold saline bath above the patient's empty chest. As I began to suture holes made in the heart when it was removed, I slipped into a state of calmness, following the suture in my mind, in and out of the tissue. Finally, the heart was ready and we began reconnecting all the arteries and tissue connections we had severed. I could feel the heart warming up, and I knew I was running out of time. I began suturing furiously, going through the motions of skills I had practiced and learned for years, stitching and shaving off tissue to create a better fit. At last the heart was fully connected and, as I removed the final clamp, a torrent of blood poured into the heart which slowly began to beat. Faster and faster it started to pulse into life until it was throbbing, a glistening mass of blood and tissue delivering life into the previously dying body of my patient. This is when I truly understood what Dr. Richard Selzer meant when he said "Surgery is the red flower that blooms among the leaves and thorns that are the rest of medicine." It felt amazing.
After that surgery, the patient and his family were ecstatic and showered me with gratitude, but all I could do was smile and give the credit to Virginia Commonwealth University. As a member of the eight-year B.S./M.D. program, I had the amazing opportunity to receive guaranteed admission to the VCU School of Medicine. This allowed me to fulfill my life's goal of becoming a physician in just eight years. I had desired to become a doctor since high school, and VCU granted me all of the experience I have enjoyed throughout my career as a cardiovascular surgeon. I'm just living the dream.
