Admissions Essay - Why I Want to Be a Doctor
My mother first gave me Cheerios when I was nine months old, challenging me to pick up tiny bite-sized donuts from a high-chair tray in our New York City kitchen. Eating Cheerios can be like microsurgery for nine-month-olds, as they master the hand-eye coordination to connect thumb and index finger to dry Cheerio and then Cheerio to mouth. The Cheerios were part of a set of age-appropriate developmental tasks my mother presented to me, based on the writings of child psychologist Arnold Gesell, who wrote that eating Cheerios refines fine motor skills.
My early exposure to Gesell's ideas, first as an experimental subject and then as a research assistant after my brother was born, began a lifelong interest in how experience shapes development. How, I wondered, did a child learn to grasp, to walk or to speak? Later, as I tutored elementary school students, I faced the same question, wondering how countless repetitions turned a blank stare into comprehension and then excitement about a new idea. Practice made a difference -- but why? And how?
I began to explore these questions in biological terms during my freshman year at Duke. In an introductory neurobiology course, I encountered the work of Hubert and Weisel, two Harvard researchers who studied the development of the feline visual cortex. They showed that if they covered one eye of a newborn kitten for the first six months of life, the part of the brain responsible for processing visual information developed differently, a shift that was irreversible after the eye patch was removed. In black-and-white slices of brain tissue, they showed that sensory experience could shape brain cells.
In the lab, I took my interest in development to the early phases of embryology, studying molecular aspects of gastrulation in sea urchins. After an initial molecular investigation, I spent a summer eking out information from an electron-microscopic study. The project required me to master the fine motor skills to pick up countless five-millimeter nickel circles with tweezers, a task hauntingly reminiscent of my early encounters with Cheerios.
During my undergraduate years, I balanced my interest in science with a love for writing that led me to become Editor of The Chronicle, Duke's daily student newspaper. Working more than 70 hours a week to churn out the newspaper, I spent my senior year in college struggling through tense editorial decisions with a group of 16- to 22-year-olds that became some of my closest friends and toughest critics.
Eyesenkes theory provides an amicable solution. If we could assume that this information was genetically coded in to the cells at birth then this no longer becomes an issue and we can explain how’s and why the constructs are laid down to a loose genetic template i.
Whether victors write history or not, facts are facts. In every battle there are sides taken. The Confederacy took the side of wanting to expand slavery to the western territories and wanting to be their own nation with their own rules at a time when America was building their country. To keep this flag up and continuously remind the citizens who have ancestral ties to slavery and crimes committed against their race or even their family of the wounds created at such a time is inhumane to say the least. The Confederate Battle Flag holds the same value as the Swastika in Europe because although their purposes behind the actions committed were different, the crimes were similarly as cruel. Yes, a flag can have many different meanings, but the acts created by people who have used this flag to establish a sense of superiority towards other races other than their own were cruel and unusual, which has destroyed any possibility of this flag ever having a peaceful, non-violent history. As I stated before, although The Battle Flag has a distinct personal meaning to each individual, its roots run deep. And many still remember this flag for what it stood for back then; a symbol of 13 states who wanted to exclude themselves from
My goals after I graduate from college are to work as a registered dental hygienist, have financial income in a professional setting, and to serve the public in a positive way. In addition to that, I have always had an entrepreneurial bend element in my personality, and once I gain full employment and stability, being a dental hygienist is the type of job that would allow me to pursue some of my other hobbies and interests while making a contribution to the community. Additionally, that part-time business could eventually turn into a full-time career. The first step to becoming an entrepreneur is gaining employment, and being a dental hygienist would allow me to network with hundreds of different cross-sections of society and get to the point
On June 28, 2015, an activist by the name of Bree Newsome did something unspeakable; she climbed up the flag pole of the South Carolina state house and removed the wretched Confederate Battle flag that has been swaying in the air since 1961. Many saw this as a social media act for attention, but what I saw was a woman who was desperately trying to get the attention of the ones that can make a difference for a situation that truly needed attention. Although many consider the Confederate Battle Flag to be a symbol of southern pride and heritage, it represents the entirety of southern history, much of which involved slavery and should be taken down; not only from the state capital, but anywhere this symbol of racism stands. The history of this flag has been tainted by slavery and groups like the Ku Klux Klan, which have misrepresented what it means and have created acts of not only violence, but racism and hatred as well. Also, the main purpose of the creating
The Death Penalty practice has always been a topic of major debate and ethical concern among citizens in society. The death penalty can be defined as the authorization to legally kill a person as punishment for committing a crime, this practice is also known as Capital Punishment. The purpose of creating a harsher punishment for criminals was to deter other people from committing atrocious crimes and it was also intended to serve as a way of incapacitation and retribution. In fact, deterrence, incapacitation, and retribution are some of the basic concepts in the justice system, which explain the intentions of creating punishments as a consequence for illegal conduct. In the United States, the Congress approved the federal death penalty on June 25, 1790 and according to the Death Penalty Focus (DPF, 2011) organization website “there have been 343 executions, two of which were women”.
When it comes to punishing criminals, people have a variety of ideas-especially when murder becomes a part of the discussion. Although there are plenty of options proposed, from torture to life in prison, one of the most debated methods is the death penalty. The death penalty, defined simply, is the practice of allowing the imposition of death as a punishment for those convicted of certain crimes, usually murder. While thirty-one states allow capital punishment, an argument that has been raging since the early 1970s is still going on. There are many aspects of the argument, but the two main groups involved in the argument are those in favor of the death penalty, and those opposed. Supporters of capital punishment typically believe that society
Is Medical Assisting a great job for me in the future world? Medical assisting is a job that you help people with. This job includes things like taking blood samples, giving shots, check-ups, etc. Any interests I have had within this career is that you help others, prescribe medicine if they are in need, being prompt and taking care of others. Related talents to this career that I have is enjoying helping people, experiencing blood, doing regular check-ups etc. I have selected medical assisting as a career because its easy/ great training in under a year, employment growth, and flexible schedule. I believe that being a medical assisting is the best career for me.
I have been exposed to the medical field my whole life. My Mom was a nurse and I would love to listen to the stories she told about her time in the hospital. If anybody asked me at the age of five what I wanted to be when I grew up, I would say “a nurse like my mom.” A few years later I decided I wanted to be a doctor from the few times I got to watch the television show “ER”. The beginning of my interest in physical therapy was when I met my fourth grade pen pal, Elmo, at a nursing home. Elmo had muscular dystrophy and only retained control of his right arm and pinky which allowed him to manouver his wheelchair. During one visit where we got to spend the whole day with our pals, the physical therapist at the nursing home came to see Elmo. I was allowed to stay and I remember thinking it was so cool that there was one person to help Elmo retain the little muscle tone and mobility he had left. In sixth grade, my class went to the hospital to sing Christmas caroles and I remember the coolest place being the physical therapy room. I thought it was amazing how patients were learning to walk again or throw a ball.
“It always seems impossible until it’s done”. This quote from Nelson Mandela comes to mind when describing why I aspire to become a Physician Assistant. It has always been a great motivation and inspired me not to get discouraged with failure; rather look forward for your goals. Frequently, it takes many trials and lack of success as well as achievements, for one to truthfully discover him/herself. I instinctively progressed through the motions of life. Many options were available and choosing a career as I grew up kept altering, until one day when I saw how helping other people is my sole purpose of life. Getting to know more of physician assistant drove me into the thoughts of pursuing it as a career.
Everyday, people go through surgery and require a specialist that will monitor their surgery as well as give them what they need to be able to persevere the pain, which is exactly what anesthesiologists do. In order for the patients to be able to get into surgery and deal with the agonizing aches after the abscission, anesthesiologists have to give the sufferer the proper treatment before and after the surgery. Overall, anesthesiologists must be highly educated in both medicine and communication, they need to be able to give the patient the right amount of medicine as well as speak with the family of patients and other doctors to inform them all with what will be done during the surgery, and they need to be able to properly assist the surgeons during operations.
It’s been my desire, longing for a nursing career since I was in my primary and secondary school. At the age of 12, I began to look after children and baby-sitting then, from there, I gained the understanding of how to deal with children. Nursing is one of the highly demanding careers that bring new challenges every day and it comes with various rewards and a real sense of job satisfaction. I chose nursing because it is a profession where you never really finish learning. It has been my dream job since my tender age. Seeing nurses visiting my school treating students, immunisation, teaching us about health and sexual health issues, this encouraged me. My goal and desire at that age have been to help people within the Health sector. That is how; I decided to go to college where I am currently doing my Access to Higher Education Diploma (Science), which involves Biology and Chemistry. I chose this pathway because I want to gain the relevant skills and knowledge of my career to be. As someone who wants to become a nurse, I found biology as an important role in the delivery of client car...
An ob-gyn is what you probably refer to as just delivering babies but it’s a lot more then that. An obstetrician has to do with giving patients medicine, making sure a patient and the baby are healthy for a long nine months, being the one their for the delivery process, etc. To be an obstetrician/ gynecology, you have to go to school for quite some years but not just that also training classes. When in college learning to be an ob-gyn, you get to experience a lot of hands on things which is always fun! Last but not least before I begin to explain lots of things about an ob-gyn is that being an obstetrician takes a lot of work and effort but it entertains me more than any other career.
When you think of an extreme crime you think of murder. When you think of an extreme punishment you think of the death penalty. Crimes of such severity sometimes deserve an equal punishment and we as a society accept this. However, Supreme Court Justice William Brennan argues that society seriously questions the appropriateness of the death penalty. It is true that over the years since the death penalty was first implemented it has undergone some changes but this does not suggest that we believe that the death penalty is unacceptable.
“What made you want to become a dentist?”- I have been asked this question numerous times over the last five years since I embarked on my career path in the field of dentistry. I marvel in the bewilderment people have in trying to understand why on earth anyone would want to work in people’s mouths all day. Truthfully, it was my own pediatric dentist who inspired me to want to become a dentist and whom I aspired to be like. I remember being greeted by the friendly faces in the waiting room, playing with the toys until I was invited to sit in the bright green dental chair for my checkup. It was there that I learned the importance of oral health care and where my fervor for oral health care was born.
Ever since I can remember, I have always dreamt of a career in medicine. I have always had a passion of saving others people's lives. Being a doctor is meant for me because I love taking the time throughout my day to make a difference in people's lives. I am willing to further my education for an extended amount of time just to fulfill my dreams of becoming a doctor. Others want to become a doctor because of money or prestige, I want to become a doctor to help the people that are ill. My grandmother, who has been suffering from Cancer for 3 years is recovering from therapy. Even though, she experiences skin problems frequently, the doctors are still doing everything in their power to help her recover. Her hair have started to grow back and she is back to her normal self. This is one of the reasons why I want to be a doctor. When one is a doctor, people look up to that individual when they are at their weakest point. When they have no one else a doctor helps maintain a sense of hope for the patient and his or her family. I will be honored to say that I will be the person people turn t...