Naphrology Personal Statement

I see nephrology as the field of medicine that unambiguously answers complex medical questions based on objective data. I vividly remember the patient encounter that first kindled my interest in nephrology. During a renal rotation in Singapore General Hospital, I palpated a parathyroid gland in the right arm of a tertiary hyper-parathyroid ESRD patient. I was awed by the complex pathophysiology of how the kidney handles body hemostasis and balance and was amazed by the innovative clinical medicine that intelligently addressed the problem. My interest in mathematics, fluid balance and electrolyte makes nephrology an intuitive choice for me.

In the past four years, I have lived in three countries and six cities worked in three different health care settings and experienced different cultures. The diversity of my experiences mandated a steep learning curve to progress during each major transition, due to the different educational and cultural settings, as well as varied patient population. My ability to adapt successfully to the different settings while understanding and accommodating diverse patients’ needs have helped me evolve into a diligent and compassionate physician. I believe this would be a very important skill in taking care of renal patients and their families who, unfortunately, are amongst the most frequent visitors to any hospital.

While learning medicine, I continuously strive to be a team leader and a teacher. I have been fortunate to learn from the best in nephrology field, and have had the opportunity to closely observe the insightful diagnostics and outstanding teaching skills of my role models Dr. Stuart Linas, Dr. Barry Wood, Dr. Jim Mertz and Dr. Jie