Did you hear about that massive earthquake in India? Asked one of my classmates, who knew that I was from India. My jaw dropped, and a hundred thoughts went through my head. There I was during my first year of medical school, sitting anxiously about to take my first written anatomy exam, when one of my classmates asked me this. I did not get a chance to listen to the news that morning, but there was a massive earthquake in the city where my family is from in India. This really hit a nerve. The anatomy test was the last thing on my mind at that point. Fortunately, later that night, I found out all of my family was accounted for. That still didn't put my mind at ease. The evening news showed the devastation the earthquake did to an already impoverished part of India. At that time, I felt more selfish than ever before. Here I was, living this comfortable life in the U.S. and attending medical school with one of my biggest worries of the day being an anatomy test. I wanted to go to India and assist the injured, but I knew that my lack of medical training would not allow me to do that. Excluding this experience, I have always thought that it is a duty of mine to give back to the country where I am from—being the first physician in my family and having this opportunity to give back to the place where my parents grew up has always been one of my primary long term goals. Family practice will offer me a diverse knowledge base to treat many different types of ailments.
Attending an osteopathic medical school has allowed me to rotate through many months of family practice.
When deciding to enter this specialty, I asked myself what months during my clerkships I was happiest, which attending physicians I had the best interactions with, and what patient populations I liked the most. The answers to all these questions drew me to family practice. Although I formed meaningful relationships with the inpatient population during my internal medicine rotation and acquired vital medical knowledge, I felt unfulfilled in regards to the doctor-patient interaction in that environment and really missed the continuity of care. In my family practice experience, there was an abundant amount of clinical knowledge to gain, and I found myself attracted to the type of relationship my attendings had with their patients. I was truly envious of the continuity of relationships that my attendings had formed with so many of their patients. The medical visit to the family practice clinic amazed me because of the number of psychosocial issues that would be discussed. This required the family practice physician to go beyond the medical aspect of the visit and honestly treat the person as a whole. It is much easier to have a patient be compliant and more honest about their health when the patient feels more at ease with their physician.
The public aid clinic on Big City's Westside was a place where I further realized the importance of the family physician. My volunteer experience in that clinic reinforced the fact that not every patient has access to a separate pediatrician, gynecologist, or geriatric specialist. My love for educating patients on topics such as hypertension, diabetes, cholesterol, and preventative medicine was easily fulfilled in this type of setting. Another one of my passions is also to treat children. Family medicine, offered me this opportunity. This is where I realized that I want part of my time to be involved with clinics that provide healthcare to the underserved in Big City. The great thing about practicing medicine in Big City is that there are so many well-established free medical clinics all over the city and suburbs that doctors can donate their time at. I am confident that the underserved areas of will have more than enough spots available for family practice physicians to donate their time.
The bottom line is that family practice is both exciting and versatile. When a family physician goes to work, she does not know what to expect. She could have a day full of common colds, orthopedic issues, and newly diagnosed diabetics. One can take all these tasks and consider them overburdening or view them as challenges. I have always found it easy to adjust to a constantly changing environment. During and after my training, I want to be the type of family physician that my loved ones would wish for not only as their doctor, but also as part of their family unit.
My determination, resilience, and self-confidence are foundations of my personality and character that will be part of me throughout my residency and when I practice as a family physician. My goal throughout this application process has to find a family practice residency program that plays a vital role in the community and a program that shares a passion for teaching, mentoring, and showing residents that family practice is not just a practice of medicine but also a practice of how to work with people. I look forward to starting my family practice residency at your institution with enthusiasm, a willingness to work hard, learn, teach, and, most importantly, to identify with my future patients so I can offer them the healthcare they deserve from a family physician.
