ER RESIDENCY PERSONAL STATEMENT

It was a Friday night and the University emergency department was besieged with patients ranging from intoxicated college students to severe trauma cases. I felt totally unprepared for the pace and responsibility I faced during my first day in the Hospital’s Emergency department. When a fourth year resident asked me to perform my first lumbar puncture, I was shocked, having never done one before. Realizing that there was no other way to learn a procedure, I steadied my hand and performed the procedure. It was a success. Knowing that the results of the CSF analysis led to the diagnosis, I felt a sense of accomplishment and was elated that I had made a difference. I had found my niche.

I thrived on the excitement of being busy from the time I entered the hospital to the end of my shift in Island Hospital’s Emergency department. The hours were long, but they passed quickly with the knowledge that I was making a difference in each patient's life. As a member of the emergency team, I was involved in high-stakes, intense procedures where single mistake could result in a lost life. I can not imagine another profession both as nerve-racking and exhilarating than that of an emergency room physician. Working in an ER, I saw the immediate outcome of my work, and knew whether I had been successful by the time each patient left.

Following my elective, I much of my last year of medical school in the emergency room where I thoroughly enjoyed my time. In addition to the medicine, I genuinely enjoyed the close interaction with my patients. Working with a large and diverse patient population, I learned a great deal from the patients with whom I interacted. Interacting with this diverse population, and encountering perpetually new challenges, I grew even more attracted to Emergency Medicine.

In addition to my medical preparation in Emergency Medicine, I have developed leadership and interpersonal skills that will assist me as well. Through various leadership positions in organizations such as the Student Association and College Student Body, I have learned to relate to people in a professional manner accomplish objectives as a team. My interpersonal skills have been honed through community activities, and have served me well in physician-patient relationships.

I look forward to improving my assessment, diagnosis, and treatment skills in an acute setting, and to developing into a mature, confident physician. In the long-term, I intend to pursue a fellowship in disaster medicine to better prepare myself and the community for the risks of an uncertain future. I may ultimately pursue a teaching career since academia provides physicians with the opportunity to expand the impact of their medicine beyond a finite circle of patients. As my primary goal is to become the best physician possible, and I look forward to a residency in Emergency Medicine and know that it will give me the essential skills to serve my patients better.