Personal Statement #2 has Been Submitted

This draft took me about 4-5 days to write. I had wonderful input and help from my wife. I am sure grateful I married such a wonderful and BRIGHT girl.  
Hopefully this personal statement will help give you ideas as you write yours.

We had been slammed all day, simultaneously making charts for new patients, filling out discharge paperwork, getting interrupted by phone calls with additional needs, and tending to doctors’ and nurses’ requests. As a Health Unit Coordinator (HUC) at the University Medical Center, I experience first-hand the fast pace and high stress of the hospital environment.  As I drive home after this particularly packed day, my mind races, reviewing all we had accomplished on the floor. A smile steals across my face.  I should be tired, but instead I am energized by the intensity and high responsibility required of healthcare employees.  For the last six months, I have been diving into the hospital environment and becoming part of a healthcare team. Through working as a HUC, stretching my mind, and spending time with my family, I feel more prepared than ever to be a medical student and face the rigors of a medical profession.

As a HUC, I have the opportunity to interact with doctors and positively contribute to patient care by performing my duties with precision.  Additionally, I have shadowed doctors performing surgeries, observed them communicating with nursing staff, and watched them reach diagnostic conclusions as physician, resident, and medical student teams.  My daily efforts to excel in my responsibilities led to invitations to contribute as a member of a hospital specimen collection committee, complete core trainer training, and now work on the unit as a trainer.  However, these small advancements cannot begin to satisfy my need for a greater challenge. They have only fueled my passion and fire to do whatever it takes to become a doctor.

I continue to sharpen my medical mind by taking a biochemistry class, working toward national HUC certification, and becoming a published author in the Journal of Osteoarthritis and Cartilage.  Preparing for both my biochemistry and HUC tests, I have built my confidence in determining what to study and how to study.  Although medical school classes will probe deeper and involve far more material, I know that the study skills and habits I have developed will enable my success. I proved my will to be a finisher by making follow-up phone calls and staying connected with my lab colleagues in Utah in order to see our article through to publication. Additionally, I seek to expand my understanding of the world through my daily habit of studying books of religion, personal development, and practical skills. I am prepared and eager to invest my time, mental energy, and full effort into medical school classes to further learn the processes and systems I see as I work at the hospital and continue shadowing doctors. 

Several doctors and one particular Dean of admissions recommended that soaking up time with my family would be the best way to spend my time before medical school. Taking this advice to heart, I am doing my best to make meaningful memories with my little family.  With my son’s birth in September, I have experienced an incredible love unique to parenthood and found greater purpose and motive for all that I do. Our family explorations have included Don Quixote-style adventures battling windmills at the park, engaging in community service projects, entering fantastic new worlds within the pages of books, and training for athletic events together. The joy I have experienced in these times with my family caused me to momentarily consider pursuing some sort of 9-5 job I could take without additional schooling.  That thought disappeared almost as quickly as it came when I realized I would be unfulfilled and unsatisfied if I did not live my dream and desire to become a doctor.  I know that the months I have spent strengthening my family bonds and our commitment to each other have created an anchor that will buffer the time deficit that is sure to come during medical school. 

All the fast-paced days at the hospital, in-depth studies for biochemistry, and long afternoons with my family have increased my energy and commitment to become a doctor.  Now, more than ever, I am eager to finish the journey I began two years ago when I first applied to medical school.  I retain my passion for helping others and my desire to show my son work-horse persistence through a career in medicine.  I am prepared to give my all to becoming a successful physician by attending medical school at Texas A&M.

-MLH