Sample Personal Statement:
Growing up in my home was far from what is considered “normal” family life. My mother was an internist, my father a cardiologist, my uncle an emergency room doctor, and the majority of our family friends were physicians. I was bombarded with medicine from the day I was born. As a child, I had real pacemakers as toys and was fascinated with my mother’s stethoscope. I incessantly tapped on the membrane as I listened to its soothing sounds and dragged my parents’ black leather bag full of shiny instruments around the house. I vividly remember watching doppler echocardiograms on the television while my father explained the color bursts representing valvular insufficiency. We routinely discussed myocardial infarctions at the dinner table, and it was a common occurrence to have family dinners at the hospital cafeteria.
It was surprising to our family when I did not choose to follow in their footsteps toward the medical field, but my older sister headed down that path. She was the driven one and worked relentlessly to achieve her goals. At that time, I instead chose to focus on sports, video games, and my fascination with machinery. I lacked a desire to pursue medicine and instead thought that engineering suited my interests and skills. Growing up, I continually dismantled household electronics and built other inventions with the salvaged parts, often to the chagrin of my mother. This passion led to membership in my high school robotics team where I was able to employ my aptitude for electronics with my metalworking skills. I spent hours in the machine shop and found the work stimulating, but I felt it lacked something vitally important. It gradually became clear that I needed more meaningful interpersonal interaction in my life. It was ironic that my ideal career had been in front of me from the beginning: medicine. Becoming a physician would allow me to keep patients in “working order” by integrating my mechanical ability with my innate reasoning skills. Medicine also embodied the emotional and humanistic aspects that engineering lacked.
At this point, I began to focus more on academics and made a greater investment in my future. With a new goal, I raised my high school GPA from 3.0 to 4.75, and expectantly looked toward college. In addition to deepening my mental resolve, I also became dedicated to improving my health. My physical fitness began to reflect my new discipline and maturity. With a rigorous combination of a balanced diet, weightlifting, and running, I gradually shed 60 pounds and gained substantial strength and stamina. This new lifestyle culminated in my completion of the Tough Mudder, a 12-mile obstacle course designed by British Special Forces to test mental tenacity, endurance, and camaraderie between participants and teammates. I became a transformed person physically and emotionally.
Upon entering the University of California at Santa Cruz, there were many opportunities to pursue classes in which I had a keen academic interest. I became engrossed in my studies and found a renewed love of biology, chemistry, and physics. Science allowed me to peer through a new lens and truly appreciate the complexity and beauty of the world around me. The more challenging the courses became, the greater my enjoyment and academic success. I felt energized and excited by the prospect of a medical career on the horizon. While I valued my volunteer work in the free clinics of Santa Cruz, I wanted exposure to other physicians and specialties. I was able to shadow a private practice ophthalmologist and a local internist to experience medicine in different venues. Many of the patients were seen for routine office examinations, but the unique cases were the ones that particularly piqued my interest. A memorable patient was a gentleman who suddenly moved during ophthalmic surgery, resulting in a large laceration to his iris. I was able to be present during the collaboration between the surgeon and his colleagues, as they discussed the operative method to close this defect with a single procedure. This direct experience with patient care and my observation of multidisciplinary teamwork and problem solving reinforced my aspirations and appreciation for the field of medicine.
As a result of my upbringing, I have unique insight into the complex life of a physician. Many of the doctors I know have sacrificed pieces of their lives for the wellbeing of their patients, but they feel that helping others has made the hardships worthwhile. Becoming a physician certainly requires years of hard work and personal compromise, but these are only small aspects of a greater picture. Most of my peers applying to medical school view doctors as hallowed figures. I see physicians as mentors, spouses, friends, and parents. This perspective stems from a youth spent in the reality of medicine and having directly witnessed many doctors’ triumphs, challenges, and failures. I have felt the absence of my father at my baseball games, seen the empty chair at my sister's dance recital, and can still hear the blare of a beeper echoing at family events. Nevertheless, there is no other field that has the capability of making such a difference in people’s lives, and there is nothing else I would rather dedicate my life to pursuing.