Having repeatedly reaffirmed my career choice as a physician and/or medical researcher, I realized that I had virtually no experience helping actual patients. Consequently, I started working this February in the ever-busy trauma center at San Francisco General. Before long I found myself working every Friday night from 11 p.m. to 4 a.m., helping physicians and nurses complete a variety of tasks (lab-runs, guerney sheet-changes, etc.). More important, however, my primary role has been to provide moral support to and respond to the needs of often- confused and frightened patients. I have even been able to use my Spanish-speaking ability (acquired in part from my Mexican-American background) to help patients that did not know English. Trauma room life has been so exciting that I constantly find myself watching the physicians at work and helping them in any way possible, even by performing CPR on occasion. The satisfaction I have received in making the patients’ visits as pleasant as possible, as well as in making the staff’s work a little easier, has been inestimable. At four in the morning, I’m almost never ready to leave!
Monthly Archives: April 2010
The problems of our society, particularly those related to health care delivery, are numerous. Solutions to these problems will arise from individuals who have a broad view of society and the will to contribute their talents to society. I feel that I possess these qualities and can best contribute my talents to society as a physician.
It was as a junior in high school that I began to consider pursuing a career in medicine. I decided to participate in Project SOAI{, a summer premedical program at Xavier. As a participant in Project SOAR, I had the opportunity to learn about medicine by speaking to students who had been accepted by medical schools. By exposing me to college-level work and successful premedical students, whose academic backgrounds were similar to my own, SOAR enhanced my confidence in my academic ability and encouraged me to pursue a career in medicine.
During my senior year in high school, I enrolled as a part- time student in the Concurrent Admissions program at Xavier, where I attended six semester hours of credit. My experiences in Project SOAR and in the Concurrent Admissions program influenced my decision to matriculate at Xavier, full-time, as a chemistry major.
