Personal statement - final draft need input

[ddaram]

Born  into a family of farmers from a small village in the southern part of India has given me a real life view of a community with limited health care services but significant health care needs. I still remember my own experience as a 7- year- old kid walking anxiously into the hospital where my grandma was admitted with a heart attack. Sitting nervously at her bedside, I watched her slowly die due to lack of proper medical care. In the course of time, I lost my grandpa to diabetes, a cousin to tuberculosis, a dear friend to leukemia and my own mother from complications of pregnancy. These simple yet significant events in my life have given me the inspiration to become a doctor. 

I graduated from medical school with a philosophy in life, to provide health care services to the poor and underprivileged sections of the society. My initial 4 years were spent working in small Christian mission hospitals serving rural India in the states of Chhattisgarh and Punjab. These hospitals served more than 300 hundred villages and by establishing village health clinics we were able to provide medical care for men, women, and children. Educating them about common preventive health principles have helped us witness first hand, how sensible and well- planned healthcare interventions can change people's lives. Working here I have witnessed how primary care can help decrease both morbidity and mortality from heart disease, stroke, and cancer. Performing simple tests, procedures and follow-up care, we were able to lower the cost of medical care as well as hospitalizations.  Working as the doctor in these mission hospitals has taught me to be humble in the face of success and to be courageous while faced with adversity. The honor of being trusted to give advice in troubled times and to realize that I can’t always make my patients feel better, but the opportunity to try cannot be underestimated.

I wanted to pursue further studies in primary care to gain more knowledge, but a call from home informing that my dad had a stroke, changed everything. Being a doctor I was confident that I would be able to take care of him, just to realize how unprepared I was. As a caregiver and a doctor to my dad, I had gone through the guilt and conflicting emotions and providing day-to-day and even minute-to-minute care at home was quite stressful and emotionally challenging. As a caregiver, I had an opportunity to put myself in the shoes of caregivers and the sacrifices they make while caring for their loved ones. I’ve experienced the agony of traveling to inconvenient places which were costly and yet lacked proper care. Most specialist doctors lacked the time required to spend with the patient due to time constraints which led to substandard care. It’s during this time that I realized the importance of some medical facility which is convenient, cost effective and yet provide good care for patients.

During this time my wife moved to the US to be with her parents, but I stayed back in India due to my commitments at home. Once, while I was visiting my wife in the US, I had the opportunity to meet Cynthia, a physician assistant in the office where my wife worked as a medical assistant.  She spent time inquiring about the present complaints while providing preventive care and also monitored any existing conditions, to avoid any future complications. She coordinated her work with the internist in the clinic to provide better care for her patients and both worked as a team. It’s not the quantity, but the quality of care she provided that made a strong impression in our heart.  She reflected the type of medical practice I was looking for in India. We both decided to pursue our careers as physician assistants. Due to financial restraints and my commitments in India; I decided to let my wife join the PA program first while I provided for the family.

Choosing to join PA school is not a decision which I made in haste. As a person who practiced medicine for 14 long years in India, this decision of mine might sound unconventional and strange but dedicating past 2 years to do all the prerequisite courses shows my perseverance and passion towards it. The goals and ideals of PA profession come very close to my heart as they represent my personal dedication and commitment to primary care. My life to date has prepared me to deal with many obstacles and has given me the determination; resilience, strength, and caring that are a part of my character. As I look toward my future as a physician assistant, I believe these characteristics will enable me to succeed and be a valuable asset to the profession and the community and hopefully joining your prestigious institution will help me achieve my goals.