I feel strongly that I have a lot to give to a residency program in family medicine, ready for long hours on my feet. I am high-energy, and focused and have extensive experience in family medicine. A medical doctor trained in my native Nepal, I have now lived in the United States—along with my wife, a nurse practitioner—since 2012. I have completed a Master’s degree in Physician Assistant Studies and have been working as a Family Medicine PA since my graduation, for almost one year. I also have competitive USMLE scores. My wife immigrated to the USA first to enhance her nursing career, and I would later follow her. Since I had not planned to immigrate to the USA, the hurdle of the USMLEs was something that I needed to prepare for. Returning to graduate school in a related field was compatible with this new goal, in preparation for my return to practicing medicine in the USA.
I hope to be accepted to a residency program primarily based on my experience as a family practice physician in my native country Nepal for one year and then in the Marshall Islands for four years before my immigration to America. The position in the Marshall Islands was funded by the US government, which feels a responsibility to contribute to the health care of the inhabitants of the Marshall Islands because, between 1946 and 1958, there were no less than 23 nuclear devices detonated in the area with blasts reaching 1000 times the destructive force of the bomb dropped on Hiroshima. The surrounding populations of people who survived the blast, along with their children and grandchildren, continue to live in what the United Nations describes as a “state of near-permanent displacement.” Serving this type of population, in particular, was a great challenge. I learned many valuable things about the stressors and strengths of families, struggling to help those whose circumstances are so fundamentally tricky. This experience was especially relevant to the practice of family medicine since the radioactive fallout resulted in, and continues to result in, cancer, spontaneous abortion, and many other problems. I am convinced that the lessons of family life that I learned in the Marshall Islands will serve me well as a humble and sensitive family medicine practitioner who is especially highly motivated to go that extra mile.
I look forward to being selected by a program that appreciates diversity and is dedicated to the principles of global medicine.
My wife and I will be visiting our native Nepal next month, October 2015. During our stay, we intend to do whatever we can to assist local organizations caring for the victims of the recent earthquake that shattered our country. We look forward to going on medical missions together in the future. My ultimate goal is to practice preventative medicine and devote as much of my time as possible to the care of underserved communities as both a practitioner and an investigator. Thus, the innumerable things of incalculable value that I will learn as a resident in your family medicine program will be put to excellent use for many years to come at the service of those who need it the most. Working in my role as a PA, I have cared for diverse, multicultural populations, including African-Americans, Native-Americans, recent Latino immigrants, and Jehovah’s Witnesses and Amish as well. I have increasingly proven myself most adept at responding to the unique needs of everyone for whom I care and I thrive on a vast diversity of situations and challenges. I thank you for considering my application.
