Four years of undergraduate education. Four years of medical school. Three years of residency. A year of sub-specialized training. The path to becoming a doctor is an arduous one, and as a senior in high school, I know that I have yet to truly embark on the fifteen-year journey that will ideally end in my becoming a board-certified cardiologist. However, I will approach this seemingly daunting task armed with the quiet confidence that is a result of years of success in school, work and volunteering.

When I was six years old, I exhibited symptoms of a malignant brain tumor. Although I was ultimately discovered to be in good health, the array of visits to various physicians and specialists still piqued my interest in the medical field. Since then, I have taken multiple steps to ensure that I am as successful as possible in my goal. Four years ago, I began to volunteer at Delnor Community Hospital as a messenger, where my responsibilities included delivering documents, mail and other gifts. As a result of this experience, I was able to observe the inner workings of a hospital, the most fascinating being the dichotomy of the cold and the compassionate. I delivered the results of tests that spelled out patient’s mortality in emotionless, technical language, but I was also fortunate enough to witness the genuine support and care that the doctors provided to everyone. It was a fascinating experience that made me appreciate the humanity in a science.

My summer job working as a secretarial assistant in a doctor’s office reinforced this observation. Numerous hours spent inputting data and organizing patient files made me yearn for the empathetic doctor-patient relationships that I witnessed as a volunteer. It was this experience that convinced me that I valued the personal aspect of medicine as much as the intellectual, scientific one. As such, I refocused my career goals from medical research to the more patient- oriented field of cardiology. Additionally, I also began to seriously consider the possibility of involving myself in a long term volunteer effort through Medecins Sans Frontieres at some point in my career.

Clinical experience as an undergraduate is essentially mandatory to be admitted to medical school. While most students fulfill this requirement by volunteering in a hospital, I have decided to get similar experience in an unorthodox way. This summer, I will be taking an Emergency Medical Technician Basic course at Elgin Community College in order to prepare for National EMS Certification Examination. I intend to volunteer as an EMT-B while in college in order to gain valuable insight and practical skills related to the medical field.

The academic requirements to become a doctor are rigorous and abundant. However, I have prepared myself for this by taking the most challenging course load possible in high school. My determination and work ethic coupled with my persistent nature has been the greatest factor in my academic success, and I am currently poised to graduate first in my class of over five hundred students. I know that my goal is lofty and the journey is long, but I am confident that my experience in the medical field, my demonstrated maturity, and my academic success are reliable indicators of exemplary performance in the future.