I know this is fast, but after reading all of your comments (some were hard to swallow but all were very constructive) I decided to make some changes. I welcome more comments but after this, I will take the advice of one of my readers and not look at it until like 2 months before its time to submit on AMCAS. Then I’ll look at it again, and see if I need to change anything. So yeah, here is my updated PS (2nd revision): I have already graduated from medical school; I’m just applying to freshen up on some things. You see my mother was about 7 months pregnant with me, as she walked across the stage to accept our diploma from the Howard University School of Medicine. Needless to say, I don’t remember much because I was confined to her womb, but I am determined to catch up on all the pertinent information I missed.
When I contemplate the question of, “Why Medicine”, I realize that it can only be answered by explaining a combination of experiences that I have had. Ever since 1993, when my dad brought home our first computer, I have been a computer geek. By the time I got to high school I was learning how to program and building computers. In the summer of 2002, my interest in medicine was sparked with a program called MITHS at the Loma Linda University School of Medicine. The program’s objective was to attract minorities into medicine. For three weeks, we took medical school classes and we learned how to speed read. It was there that I found out how much I loved learning about the circulation of the heart, the anatomy and physiology of the brain, and many other aspects of the human body. When I received Rohen’s Color Atlas of Anatomy for making the highest grade in anatomy class, my newfound desire to pursue medicine was solidified and I sought out colleges with good biology programs.
In high school I found my love for the human body, and at Oakwood College, my passion for helping others was formed. My freshmen year I joined a mission group called the National Association or the Prevention of Starvation (NAPS), in which I have had many experiences that have truly strengthened my character and changed my focus. In the summer after my freshman year I went on a mission to Zambia, Africa with NAPS. In Lusaka, the capital, we visited an AIDS clinic. Seeing hundreds of babies, children and their parents lying in cots dying changed everything. I now realized that my place was there with them, and I resolved that when I became a doctor, I would come back and help prevent AIDS from destroying more lives. While there I began my future work by helping to build the NAPS AIDS Prevention Center and by participation in a march against AIDS in Zambia’s capital. In our final destination, the United Nations refugee camp in Nangweshi and Kanja, I had another experience which reaffirmed my desire to become a doctor. After working for almost six weeks feeding children and preaching, we were on our way to from the Kanja camp to the Nangweshi camp with about 150 refugees who wanted to be baptized. Sadly, many of the children did not have shoes, and the sand was very deep there. While walking, I saw a little boy on the ground crying in pain. His toe was bleeding profusely after stubbing it on a tree stump hidden by the sand. With a Wal-Mart first-aid kit I bent down to see what I could do. After I got the bleeding to stop, I began to wipe his toe with alcohol; he winced in pain but signaled me to continue with his eyes. When I put a big band-aid on his toe, he looked up and started to thank me in Portuguese; when he realized I couldn’t understand he just smiled at me, which told me more than words ever could. He got up and ran off and I sat there with a feeling I had never had before. I wasn’t a doctor, but the little I did made him feel better, I helped him. This experience reaffirmed my desire to become a doctor, so I could have this feeling every day. We also did relief work here in the U.S. When Hurricane Rita hit, I along with 30 others NAPS members left school and drove down to Lake Charles, Louisiana. The area we happened upon looked more like a third world country than an American city. Many of the older people and those in poor neighbors couldn’t leave before the hurricane hit, and were trapped inside their houses. We cut numerous trees off houses, teamed up with the Convoy of Hope to pass out ice, and distributed hundreds of pounds of food, water, hygiene products, and other necessities. This experience and many others with NAPS formed my passion to help others and have reaffirmed my desire to become a doctor to help the underserved, especially those dying of AIDS around the world.
That same summer, after Africa, I went to the University of Cincinnati School of Medicine to conduct research. The research was very exciting, and I ended up winning 1st place in the category of Neuroscience for my poster at the Annual Biomedical Research Conference for Minority Students, the largest research conference for minority students in the world. Aside from research, at the University of Cincinnati, I was given the opportunity to shadow a surgery resident on his trauma rotation. While shadowing, my love for surgery was formed. On top of participating in numerous procedures, I realized that surgery suited me perfectly by satisfying my instant gratification personality while permitting substantial patient contact.
All of these experiences have shaped me into the person I am now, and have led me to the field of medicine. No longer confined to my mother’s womb, I am excited about the prospect of returning to medical school to learn everything I missed. I truly desire serve others and I intend to dedicate my life to that task.
AMCAS says I have a character count of 5,293!!! Oh yeah baby, 7 characters to spare!
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