I like your application profile, but I am interested in your purpose as a physician and what you want to be doing in 10 years.
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I'm sorry for the delayed response. I wanted to reflect and give a full response to paint a better picture of my case. Thank you for your time
Regarding my purpose: A common theme I've found among my experiences and what I wrote in my reflections involve caring for the elderly, caring for mental health, and wanting to care for marginalized communities (low-income families, immigrants, LGBT community). My whole family is involved in medicine (mom is nurse practitioner, dad is nurse, brother is surgeon); however, I struggled a lot academically in my younger years so I never thought it was an option for me. In my disadvantaged and personal statements, I touched on my struggles growing up gay since my family didn't accept homosexuality. One of my siblings is also mentally ill, I wrote some about growing up with that dynamic. Mentioned my parents being immigrants and after they divorced my mom struggled for years to care for our family. My mom started a home-health agency while I was in HS, to help her with the agency I volunteered in patients homes. That's when I interacted a lot with the elderly, a lot of them were depressed and very lonely. I enjoyed assisting them & keeping them company which is what piqued my initial interest in healthcare. A large talking point in my personal statement was my grandfather's death during my sophomore year in college. He died in an accident, the doctor that consoled us & the impact he had on us (especially consoling my grandma) was a turning point that inspired me to really pursue medicine. Up to that point, I used video games as an outlet which led to an interest in computers. I then majored in BME as I thought it blended my interests in technology and medicine nicely. This is when my academics started to improve.
My other experiences related back to these 3 things often.
Capstone project: Device focused on facilitating hip replacement recovery providing alternate method of physical therapy. I reflected on my grandmother's hip replacement and the obstacles she faced during recovery with traveling to PT appointments as an elderly woman. Reflected on what I did as well as the potential for such a device to improve patient outcomes
Live streaming: I had a diverse audience/community, but focused on my LGBT audience. Some were struggling a lot coming to terms with their identities in their living situations. They said my stream was a safe-space for them, they loved the community around it. I chose to focus on this part of my audience as I reflected on how this made me feel and my own struggles navigating mental health and life as a closeted teenager
Volunteer work w/ low-income families/STEM student outreach: I reflected on the families I helped, some of which I bonded with due to my own experiences growing up in an immigrant family. Also reflected on spreading awareness of STEM to younger students & providing resources to underserved students to explore STEM topics further
I don't know if part of your purpose is to continue with the expertise gained from your biomedical engineering projects and courses.
I did not explicitly write about wanting to continue with it, though I do think it's a unique perspective and experience I would love to talk about and offer as a doctor. I did write about how I loved generating innovations to healthcare obstacles (it's what BME is though... so I don't know if I did much by writing this! lol). I discussed how my decision to pursue being a doctor was not always linear. I fully decided on becoming a doctor after my volunteer work at the clinic, my Capstone project, & my shadowing experiences. I found that I loved directly connecting with & caring for patients, as opposed to the more distant approach I experienced in Engineering.
What I want to be doing in 10 years: I'd like to see myself providing medical care perhaps in a family practice setting to provide general care to low-income or underrepresented communities. One of the physicians I shadow is a family practice (Internal Medicine) and I'm really inspired by his work. He cares for a wide variety of patients, and they really appreciate him and consider him family. I admire his approach and the relationships he has with his patients. I think I'd like to do something similar in the future.
Have you connected with mentors representing the LMSA at the schools on your list?
No, I have not. I did not know this existed! Is it too late for me to do this? How would you suggest I approach them?
Have you connected with Medical Student Pride Alliance? They have a list of schools with affiliated chapters to cross-check with your list.
No, I have not. I also did not know this existed. I'm seeing that some of the schools I have listed do have affiliated chapters. I will definitely note this.
Check how engineering friendly the schools on your list are.
How would I be able to measure this? I know that some schools are known for having a focus on engineering. Do I just read the missions of schools and see if it sounds engineering-like? (I apologize if this is a dumb question...)
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Thanks so much again. I apologize for the length of this message.. I just thought it would help if I wrote some of my background story
Good luck and don't hesitate to give us an acceptance story to inspire future applicants!
