Diligence Reflection

My diligence will perhaps be my greatest asset in the challenging arena of Family Medicine. Because of this diligence, I transformed from a shy, somewhat reserved individual into a community leader who could organize service events and provide education and aid to underserved citizens with confidence. My USMLE score are not competitive, but I was always the one to stay behind and I threw myself into studying during my rotations and staying up to date on my own and was praised for my clinical care by my attendings.

I will relate an incident during my Trauma Surgery rotation at John. H. Stroger Jr Hospital. I encountered a burn victim who was 4 months old and malnourished. At that time you had to manually hold the pulse oximetry during triage in order to proper monitor his oxygen levels as he was a burn victim. I

I am with my patients through each phase of their treatment, implementing a hands-on approach that ranges from helping dress wounds to diligent follow-up even after patients are no longer under my care. One person, in particular, showed me the value of compassionate, in-depth care. I encountered a 50-year-old man who ran about 5 miles a day suddenly develop shortness of breath after 4 miles. After a detailed history and investigations, he was diagnosed with DVT. I asked myself what can cause a clot to form in a relatively healthy patient? Due to this peculiar presentation, we investigated further with CT chest and discovered multiple PE and a mass later diagnosed as lung cancer. This case represents how important it is to explore the underlying cause of the presenting symptom and not just put a band-aid over the problem. With this patient, we uncovered an underlying hypercoagulable state secondary to cancer and leading to PE and DVT in an otherwise healthy looking