Personal Narrative: A Career In Medicine

I am certainly privileged to work with and learn from these prominent leaders in healthcare. As a board certified Pathologist Assistant, my new office is in the Surgical Pathology laboratory. It is here that I encounter many different disease processes and provide prognostic information to clinicians. While I never will meet any of the impacted patients, I will literally hold a life-changing moment for them in my hands. Pathologist Assistants are some of the most highly trained health professionals in laboratory medicine.

These experiences are just two of many that have influenced my decision to work in a similar environment upon my completion of medical school.

At my physician office, the staff always dress and act professionally. I have been going to my physician since I was 6, I have even job shadowed my physician. I do not recall a time my physician or his staff has ever been unprofessional. They are always dressed in scrubs or business casual. As a medical assistant, you can ensure your professional appearance by a few steps: always wear scrubs

I knew that I wanted to be a doctor since early high school. Experience in a hospital and clinic setting, both personal and professional, have given me many reasons to pursue medicine. Through these viewpoints, I have gained an understanding of patient hardships like financial and travel issues, the grief associated with loss, and the trust that accompanies putting yourself or a loved one into the hands of physicians. These experiences have built empathy and compassion in me that is necessary in medicine.

The level of care that the varying healthcare professionals provided to these patients was fascinating and became intrigued to a career path in the medical field. Over the next couple of years, I narrowed the possibility

Each morning patients came in for assessment and the treatment team developed or altered existing treatment protocols. I longed to be part of this team, working to stabilize each patient so they could return home to pursue their goals. The nurses stood out to me as the team members at ground zero in the unit, working directly with patients, and advocating for them in meetings. As a Nurse Practitioner, I will provide this same standard of holistic care to my patients, taking into consideration their biological, social, psychological and cultural needs while developing and implementing treatment decisions.

His role as an oncologist has profoundly influenced the manner in which I plan to practice medicine in the future: with respect, compassion, and empathy for my patients. It was my observation of his interactions with cancer surviving patients that first inspired me to pursue medicine. These interactions inspired me not only to embark on a profession where I could serve others, but also make a difference in the lives of others. I believe I can make the biggest impact in the lives of my future patients by combining my passion for the clinic and science as a physician-scientist. Though I am early in my medical journey, and am willing to keep an open mind, it is only natural that I yearn to pursue a profession related to oncology.

Ever since high school, I knew I wanted to work in the pathology field. I thought I wanted to be a pathologist. I talked to the career counselors at my school and expressed my interest. Fortunately for me, I was contacted not much after about an internship at Montefiore Medical Center. I would come to learn that Montefiore Medical Center is the teaching hospital of Albert Einstein College of Medicine.

LPN vs. RN It was June 9, 1997. I was one month and five days away from my sweet 16. Instead of feeling excitement, I was drenched with sadness. My dad lay in a hospital bed in the living room of our home, dying of cancer.

Ever since grade school, I was passionate about working in the field of medicine, and science. I enjoyed anatomy, medical spelling and terminology, and reading about the healthcare industry. Because of my passion for healthcare, I decided to to attend Health Sciences High. There, I was given the best opportunities, such as, medical internships and college health courses. My plans and goals had turned me into a mature young adult.

Through my studies of human expression and its reflection of how people deal with world events in different ways, I developed sensitivity to other worldviews that continues to prove useful through my daily interactions with people of different backgrounds. I have learned that just like art, medicine involves pattern recognition and derives insight from experiences. Similarly, what I especially enjoy about being a medical assistant is interacting with patients on a daily basis and getting to be a part of their medical experiences, even if it is just by lending an ear. The experiences on my path to a career in medicine have made me want to make a real, tangible difference in the lives of those around me – a difference that leaves my patients in a better condition than they were in before I met them.

My experiences shadowing with several physicians have given me an insight to the difficult but yet rewarding career medicine has to offer. One of my shadowing experiences that stood out the most to me was when I shadowed at Emory University Hospital. As undergraduate student, I had the opportunity to shadow for a team of neuropathologist led by Dr. Brat. While shadowing for Dr. Brat, we received a patients tissue and the team of pathologist (including myself) determined that this patient had glioblastoma. We had so many patient cases to sign out that I didn’t think too much about the diagnosis.

Nursing, and everything that it entails, cannot be easily described in just one simple word or phrase. It goes beyond the meaning of a profession and the stereotypical definition of treating the ill. Nursing is the “protection, promotion, and optimization of health and abilities, prevention of illness and injury, alleviation of suffering through the diagnosis and treatment of human response, and advocacy in the care of individuals, families, communities, and populations” (American Nurses Association, 2010, p. 1). Therefore, it is a career that requires dedication, passion, critical thinking, and knowledge. It demands commitment and an understanding of its core values and concepts, as well as the nurse’s own personal philosophy and principles.

My passion for healthcare lies with patient care. I enjoy taking care of patients and their family. I have chosen to become a family nurse practitioner because I can combine nursing and medicine to provide a higher level of care to my patients. As a nurse practitioner will be able to make an impact on my patient’s health through, health promotion, disease prevention, managing acute and chronic conditions and improving patient’s health (Wynne,

As a dreamer and queer woman of color, pursuing a career in STEM has been quite challenging. But I have never let anything get in the way of reaching my goals and dreams. I have swam against the current in order to be where I am today, where I have dreamt of being. I am currently a second year student at Trinity Washington University majoring in biochemistry and minoring in mathematics. I am a dedicated student and an analytical and skilled critical thinker who is eager to learn.