“For he who has health has hope; and he who has hope has everything”- The powerful words by Owen Arthur resonated in my head as I held my hand up high to take the Hippocrates Oath. My motto since the day I decided to live my childhood dream of becoming a doctor. Today was the day I would get to walk out and start making a difference in the lives of my patients and make the world a better, healthier place to live in.
It wasn’t until my first day of internship in Bungoma District Hospital, a small town in Western Kenya did the harsh realities of life sink in. I slowly began to become aware of the obstacles that a health care professional in Kenya faces on a daily basis while trying to tackle how to work efficiently in a resource constrained setting to deliver effective patient care - Exorbitant patient volume, poor hygiene and
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I participated in data collection and community health based surveys in the rural parts of Nairobi, travelling from house to house talking to people about health education, hygiene and sanitation, importance of vaccinations and benefits of seeking early treatment. I also reached out by volunteering at various medical camps in rural underserved areas, attended seminars and met with public health leaders at various events. My interpersonal skills allowed me to become an effective communicator and taught me how to foster lasting physician patient relationships. These experiences have allowed me to work with patients from diverse backgrounds and helped me appreciate the severity and complexity of healthcare issues, confirming my growing interest in preventive medicine and primary care, hence laying the groundwork for my career in public health. I wish to utilize evidence gained through research and quantitative skills attained from epidemiology and biostatistics to develop and implement effective public health policies that benefit the underprivileged and deserving
Doctors should possess the skills necessary to assess what the patient actually needs contrary to what he/she believes they require. An illness obviously impacts one’s life regardless of how minuscule. A doctor plays a vital role in both the physical condition and the, often over-looked, emotional well-being of his/her patients. I firmly believe that through my experiences in two separate, but fairly similar branches of medicine I have developed the ability to care for those in a compassionate yet professional manner along with the ability comprehend the information necessary that being a health care provider
I am interested in pursuing the Physician Assistant (PA) degree because of my experiences both within the medical field and as a patient. These experiences have led me to believe that a team approach to patient-centered medicine provides the best and most comprehensive care possible. Further, the PA profession offers me the opportunity to continue my lifelong passion of helping others, giving back to my community, and provides me with further opportunities to teach.
The topic of this paper is Physician Assistants, and what it would take to become one. I will be giving an overview of what a PA does, there educational requirements. What credentials or certifications that are required. The personality traits and skills required to be a PA, a goal summary for my career, how Kaplan University is helping me to achieve my goals, and where I will be in 5 years.
I believe Tanzania needs to scrap the Western health system in its entirety, and to inundate its populace with information. Tanzania is struggling to fight a Health Care Worker shortage because it ascribes to a Western healthcare system model that has never been proven to work in the African context. The Western healthcare model works on a hierarchical pyramid that requires an infinitum of personnel and technologies to maintain coordination and efficiency, the personnel and technology required to create an national system of real-time health information transfer and transactions is costly even for western nations and usually lack the cultural medical holistic approach African cases need. Although western doctors are seen as more caring than African doctors they are both in a dispassionate system that values numbers over the individual. African patients require a more holistic approach that values treatment success over numbers, doctors have to be trained to be sensitive to cultural norms and community interventions and view their patients with more of a community health outlook than western doctors.
Many people rush through their daily life without contemplating their actions, thereby missing vast opportunities for achievement. They waste valuable time engaging in frivolous matters instead of putting their energies towards more productive and meaningful purposes. In the words of the Dalai Lama: “Life is not about acquiring money and other facilities; it is about dedicating your life to helping others as much as you can.” The immeasurable value of helping others has been engrained in me since childhood. As a result of my own difficult family circumstances, I have become more sensitive, kind and mindful towards others and their own situations. I have developed a passion for helping others, which, in combination with a proclivity towards medicine has lead to my descion to become a Physician Assistant. I want to live a life where I can provide healthcare and aid to anyone who needs.
At an early stage in my medical school in Iraq, I realized the great positive impact of public health on the community in health education orientation, disease prevention and health well-being as a general and what affirmed it later, my clinical practice as a physician in Iraq first then Dubai later. Public health was a major integral block in my clinical practice to educate the people towards a healthier lifestyle and implementing the preventative screening measures necessary to get a healthy, well protected community. After moving to the United States, I took the initiative to familiarize myself with the US healthcare system by doing many clinical rotations in different family practices and pediatric clinics in Houston, TX. After these rotations, I was enamored with the delivery of public health measures in each clinic, according to the US public health standards. My fondness for public health drove me to get an opportunity to be a health educator
“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.
Right from my High school days I had a strong inclination to various programmes/ activities in health sector. My Interest in the subject has grown as it refers to "the science and art of preventing disease, prolonging life and promoting health through organized efforts and informed choices of society, organizations, public and private, communities and individuals which is concerned with threats to health. I have come to terms with the fact that there is an enormous proportion of subject to be assimilated; to focus on public health intervention to improve health and quality of life through prevention and treatment of disease and other physical and mental health conditions. Therefore I want to take up a vital role in disease prevention efforts in both the developing world and in developed countries.
Access to health care in Ethiopia has left many people without proper health care and eventual death. Millions of people living in Ethiopia die because of the lack of access to the health care system; improving the access to the healthcare system in Ethiopia can prevent many of the deaths that occur, but doing so will pose a grueling and challenging task. According to Chaya (2012), poor health coverage is of particular concern in rural Ethiopia, where access to any type of modern health institution is limited at best (p. 1). If citizen of Ethiopia had more accessibility of the healthcare system more individuals could be taught how to practice safe health practices. In Ethiopia where HIV, and maternal and infant mortality rates are sky high, more education on the importance of using the healthcare system and makin...
our outlook of Medicine in our lives. We have come to understand the value of
As a Social Studies and premedical student, I aspire to lead an international health and development non-governmental organization (NGO). Combining my skills as a physician and practitioner of development, I plan to enhance the health of marginalized, persecuted, and exiled populations. Through direct interaction with government bodies and humanitarian NGOs, I hope to highlight and curb the medical and psychological burdens stemming from human rights violations. Building on my skills as a humanitarian law and refugee tracing instructor, I also wish to train international and indigenous relief personnel to ensure the sanitary, nutritional, and health standards of uprooted populations. Aspiring to bring holistic leadership to the health and humanitarian sector, I must thoroughly understand and know to confront the social, political, and cultural factors linked with poor health. I therefore propose to pursue and academically focussed MPhil in Development Studies preferably from Oxford University or from the Univers...
Prior to departure, I was audaciously confident about everything — my ability to pick up a new language as quickly as I learned English 12 years prior, my ability to adjust to a new culture, and how “experienced” I was as an international volunteer. It didn’t take long for me to fall off the self-hoisted pedestal. The fall hurt; my ego bruised. Challenges rose and my prior knowledge did not transfer into easy solution. Knowing how to use a latrine is not the same as building one, and knowing how to build one on paper is not the same as implementing a project for latrine building. The longer I was in Ghana, the clearer it became: I have much to learn to because an expert. It was a harsh truth to face and accept, but it was humbling and necessary in directing me to my next steps — learning the correct skills through proper public health
I first considered a public health career when I interned at the Ghana Health Service Family Health Department as an undergraduate student. Participating in national meetings focused on strategies to reduce maternal mortality in Ghana, I recognized that, in order to create sustainable advances, it is crucial to address the underlying social inequalities that exacerbate adverse health outcomes. To advance this goal, I am seeking admission into the Global Health and Population Doctoral Program at the Harvard School of Public Health.
Doctors are the humanitarians in our society. Doctors are looked to bridge the gap between science and humankind. We look to doctors as important change agents to explain scientific understanding. The Hippocratic Oath is a required pledge taken by doctors to uphold specific ethical standards. The Hippocratic Oath: Modern Version states, “I will apply, for the benefit of the sick, all measures which are required, avoiding those twin traps of overtreatment and therapeutic nihilism” (Lasagna, 1964). Patients feel at ease knowing that their care providers are being held to a high moral and ethical standard. Taking a formal oath in public carries a symbolic importance for mutually the individual doctor and the greater public (Catto & Graeme, 2014).
About 75% of health infrastructure, medical professionals and other health resources are localised in urban areas where 27% of the population live. The poor penetration and the basic nature of rural health is also attributed to lack of health litera...