MEDICINE RESIDENCY PERSONAL STATEMENT

As the blazing sun shines upon the tennis court, sweat beads begin to drip onto my forehead. The repeated thought, “I have to get this shot”, becomes louder and louder. I am one point away from winning this match. Suddenly, my opponent pierces the air with a blistering serve in to the corner. With all the power I can muster, I instinctively side step towards the ball and within a split second, rip an unreachable backhand across the court. I have won the game, the final set and the semi-finals of the Club Tennis Tournament. The years of playing competitive tennis, continuously concentrating, thinking on a precise level and putting in long hours on the tennis court, have taught me determination and perseverance. These qualities, not only served me well on the junior tennis circuit, they helped me graduate medical school, and will also help me achieve a new goal: beginning an internal medicine residency.

Becoming a doctor has been a lifelong dream of mine, and balancing the demands of medical school, volunteer work, and of course tennis, has shown me how strong my commitment is to medicine. One turning point in my life which cemented my goal of pursuing internal medicine was during my third year medicine rotation. I was assigned to a forty year old man who was admitted for congestive heart failure , complicated by multi-organ dysfunction syndrome. During the initial stages of studying his condition, I was intrigued as to how one problem could lead to such an overwhelming system meltdown. It was only later that night when I read about the patho-physiology of heart failure that I began to comprehend the full severity of his affliction. What struck me most were the intricate mechanisms the body employed to try to compensate for the heart failure and how the events that subsequently occurred all followed the basic principles of science. It all sounds very simplistic in retrospect, but this case triggered an intense desire in me to find answers to questions about all diseases. I soon realized that the only specialty that fed my intellectual curiosity was internal medicine. It provided a vast variety of challenging clinical cases, all of which I found extremely interesting. The decision making under pressure, the accuracy required in making a diagnosis, as well as the precision of treatment and management all paralleled what I learned while playing tennis.

Internal medicine also provided the opportunity to closely interact with people and to build long, trusting relationships with them. During my ward rotations, I thoroughly enjoyed establishing close bonds with patients, not only helping heal them but also educating and counseling them. I also felt the same sense of satisfaction during my work with The Welfare Association. Through this volunteer organization I helped arrange blood drives, food drives, and immunization clinics all over Karachi. It was a very motivational experience that made me realize, not only the importance of team work but also the profound impact that we as a team were able to have on communities. All these experiences have further strengthened my resolve to become the kind of doctor that is involved in the lives of his patients, not only catering to their medical needs but also to their emotional and psychological needs.
Intrigued by the complexities of cardiology research, I became a research assistant position where my work included elucidating the mechanisms of mitral valve calcification. I loved the intellectual challenge of the laboratory environment, and recognized the potential clinical applications of my research. Again, the ability to be precise helped me tremendously during my research work. The experience also helped strengthen my interest in cardiology.

Through my experiences in tennis, volunteer organizations, and research, I have developed many skills that are vital for an internal medicine residency. I feel I am a logical thinker with excellent decision making skills. My passion for medicine, my disciplined work-ethic and my sense of self confidence have allowed me to conquer every challenge that has come my way. I now look forward to the next few years of my life which will bring a new set of challenges, a new set of patients and a new opportunity for me to grow, not only as a doctor but also as a human being. I eagerly await to embrace all of them.