During my third-year surgery clerkship, a patient in the ICU was scheduled for a Whipple procedure. As an eager medical student interested in surgery, I inquired if I could scrub in. Unfortunately, since I was not involved in that patient's care, my request was denied. Disheartened, I accepted the decision. The next morning during rounds, I received an urgent page to report to OR 11. I donned a cap and mask and sprinted there. As I entered, I saw the attending, the Chief Resident, and an intern capped and gowned over a sterile field. I was shocked -- I had been summoned to the Whipple.
Over the next nine hours, my mind and body were stretched to their limits. Thoughts raced through my mind. Can I stay focused through the entire procedure? Do I really want to be a surgeon? Pain crept into every muscle, and my body hurt from contorting like a pretzel as I held the various retractors and tried to watch and understand the complex operation. I found myself captivated by the precision with which the attending maneuvered inside the patient's abdomen, a sea of red, yellow and green to me. I longed to have the ability the Chief Resident and attending so masterfully exhibited. This experience cemented my aspiration to become a surgeon.
What truly draws me to surgery is its hands-on nature. The opportunity to work with my hands to fix a problem is what drove me to pursue a surgical residency. I feel most satisfied when I am in the OR and being in the OR gives me a mix of adrenaline and excitement. I simply cannot see myself doing anything else.
My medical career began differently than most aspiring physicians. It started at home in Big City, traveled through International University in Budapest, and ended at the University of United States Medical School. When I entered International University, like most American students I had never taken an oral examination. All that changed once I got to Budapest. Being examined by a world-renowned professor has a way of making even the most dedicated students uneasy. Armed with my arsenal of facts and figures, I went into battle praying to survive the onslaught of questions. After four years of these nerve-racking oral exams, I feel uniquely prepared to tackle the hurdles that await me during residency.
In September of 2001, I transferred to the University of United States to augment my strong pre-clinical training with clinical experience in the U.S. During my clerkships, each new patient brought me newfound confidence, and my proficiency grew. By the time I started my general surgery clerkship; I could perform a focused history and physical without hesitation and could formulate a working list of differential diagnoses. I also recognized the necessity for dependability in the practice of surgery, something I have strived to develop during my academic career.
Indeed, the value I see in establishing relationships with those around me was forged in part through my education and travels, which have shown me the lives, languages, and cultures of people different from those of the average American. From the spirited late night discussions with my friend Joe from Toronto, to the monthly pot luck dinners my Middle-Eastern friends invited me to, I now have friends all over the world, in places as far away as Norway, Israel, Greece, and Kenya. Perhaps partially because I left Budapest having learned so much from those around me, I have sought to make teaching a central part of my life.
I plan to excel during my residency as both a student and a teacher. As an anatomy and physiology tutor during my second year at Sumy medical school, I saw first-hand how a teacher who spends a extra time can make a difference. The look of clarity and understanding that washes over a student's face when suddenly grasping a difficult concept is something I hope to reproduce many times in the future.
I currently plan on a career as a general surgeon, but Trauma/Critical Care and Cardio-Thoracic surgery are two areas I would like to explore, with the possibility of advanced training following residency. As a medical student, my experiences in surgery were the most rewarding, and the precision and technical expertise that a surgeon requires are traits that I strive to master. My selection of surgery is not simply a realization of what I find to be intellectually challenging, but a declaration of the role I want to play as a physician. This is how I want to connect with patients. My goal in pursuing a surgical residency is to be both a skilled surgeon who excels in his field, and an educator who has the honor of participating in the development of future generations of aspiring surgeons.
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