Another PLME essay

This is the second part of the PLME essay. Enjoy its greatness.

The Brown Medical School's mission states that our physician graduates will 'regard medicine as a profession, not just a trade, as a humanitarian pursuit, and unique lifetime experience.' What is your vision of a physician? How do you view your role as a future physician?

The interplay between moving forward and giving up, the struggle to hold onto hope, is what draws me in toward medicine. I love the field’s demand for expertise, skill, as well as an essential love for fellow mankind. Medical science, with the latest knowledge of the genome and molecular structures, is leading a revolutionary progression to better health care. Yet with all the advancements in technology, uncertainty remains-surgeries fail, people supposed to die live twenty years longer. I think the striving to beat the odds is quite sobering; it reminds that, in the end, man fights a losing battle against forces he cannot entirely control. But that is what makes medicine so beautiful. When one finally gets that win, the success of prolonging and improving life, something extraordinary happens. It all becomes worth it. Thoughtful and passionate humans, everyday people, have bonded to help other people in their time of need. Thus, it has become clear to me the difference between merely possessing medical knowledge and practicing medicine. The doctors I have observed and shadowed are so much more than repositories of facts and figures; most importantly, they care. Viewing themselves as humans first and doctors second, they put themselves not on a pedestal, but on the same level as the patient. Their compassion, comprehension, and shared decision making are fundamental to every patient-relationship. With massive malpractice insurance, sleep-deprived hours, and other stresses, physicians are constantly reminded of their fallibility-but they do their best with what they are given, because there is no other alternative. They must fulfill their purpose; it is their ever-satisfying calling. Working in the hospital’s trauma/neuro Intensive Care Unit, I have been cleaning up various bodily fluids, changing patients’ clothes, even brushing their teeth. These glamorous tasks have given me an appreciation of each and every component of health care, as I search for a calling of my own. I wish to jump right into this world of brains and hearts and stomachs, for the simultaneous critical thinking and consideration it requires is everything I cannot wait to pursue. The problem solving of determining diagnosis, prognosis, and treatment is of a vital nature, but equally as important is the art of being with people and understanding them. I hope to someday be a part of a new generation of doctors, aided by innovations of the 21st century, but still strongly cognizant of the social responsibilities of our newfound roles in serving humanity. It may take years to decode the PDR, MCATs, and DSMs of this environment, but something more universal is my focus and motivation—the role of doctors as experts, friends, and most of all, healers, which I believe transcends all languages and encompasses the beauty of human life.

Disclaimer: I do not own any rights to this essay.