I am a Philippine woman who is now 34, and my family and I have just been granted permanent residency in the United States. I graduated from a medical school in the Philippines in March of 2002 and then fulfilled a one-year internship. For the past several years, I have lived and worked on the island of Guam as a case manager and medical utilization reviewer for a PPO, StayWell Guam.
I gave birth to my daughter in December of 2003. While still pregnant, I began preparing for the USMLE. In May of 2004, however, I learned that I had performed miserably on Step , one, and my determination kicked into high gear, picking myself up and passing Step 1 the following October. I learned a great deal about taking care of my little girl since she was constantly ill throughout the first two years of her life. By January of 2005, however, I was able to accept a full-time management position with StayWell Manila, going on to transfer to StayWell Guam in 2008. Even back in the Philippines, most of our patients and professionals were from Guam; thus, I have spoken almost entirely English on the job for the past 7 years.
At only 34, I feel strongly that I still have my whole life to give to the practice of medicine and that the professional experiences that I have had throughout the last few years have made me a better doctor, primarily through intensive and prolonged interaction with countless medical specialists in a large variety of disciplines, laboring to resolve issues with respect of cases that are frequently quite complex. My professional position has also resulted in my husband and me, along with our little girl, betting on our permanent residency in the USA.
My quest to practice medicine in the United States received a boost from the review classes that I was able to take in Florida, a and this helped me to pass my Step 2 CS on my first attempt. Later that year, I was informed by my company that they had started to work on my petition for permanent residency. In May 2012, my family and I finally received our green cards.
My position with StayWell Guam has helped me to stay up-to-date in medicine as well as greatly enhanced my English skills. This is reflected in my personal and professional triumph in July of 2011 when I received my ECFMG certification. My service as a medical utilization reviewer has allowed me to observe the practice patterns of numerous physicians,s and I have also done extensive volunteer work at the only hospital on the island of Guam, assisting physician house staff during their rounds. I want very much to devote my life to providing compassionate and excellent medical care to my community. I am personally convinced that the best way for us to go about improving health care, generally speaking, is to make it as cost-effective as possible. Thus, I am especially interested in becoming a part of a program that shares my enthusiasm for implementing cost-cutting measures that do not hurt patient care.
I look forward to spending long hours giving my all to the goals of your medical tea,m and I am convinced that my vast experience in the management of cases will help me to excel in your program, making my maximum contribution.
I take great pride in my ability to listen to and empathize with patients. My first passion is patient education, teaching them how to cultivate a healthy lifestyle. Much of my energy will always be directed to staying up-to-date in medicine, especially in my area, the frontier between internal medicine and dermatology. I have my hopes set on practicing medicine as an internist at the same time that I increase my competence in the area of dermatology, laying a foundation for further specialization in this area. It was during a clerkship rotation that I realized that I had an incredibly profound desire to learn as much as I could about dermatology, particularly the areas where this field overlaps with internal medicine. I feel that I have a lot to bring to your program as a multicultural woman with diverse interests.
My experiences practicing medicine and later managing practitioners not only in the Philippines but also in Guam have left me compassionate tohowh questions of economic development and the lack thereof play out in the practice of medicine. I feel strongly that adequate healthcare should be made available to everyone, irrespective of their financial circumstances. It troubles me how this is simply not the case, not only in Guam, where I have come to love the people dearly, but especially in my native Philippines.
My long-term goal, therefore, after spending many years practicing medicine in the mainland USA, is to return to Guam and the Philippines at some point in my life and teach medicine at the same time that I give my all to researching and improving ways in which their organization of healthcare can be made more efficient with the resources at hand. Thus, my immediate goal is to continue to fully immerse myself in medicine in the USA and learn as much as I can about how medicine is practiced in the state-of-the-art context of North America in a program such as yours, thereby fulfilling my goal of becoming the most talented physician possible. I thank you so very much for considering my application to your distinguished program.
