Doctor Strengths

Contrary to popular belief, being a good doctor is about much more than simply completing surgeries, diagnosing illnesses, and prescribing medicine. For the best possible treatment, a doctor must analyze every piece of information. He must look at the patient’s medical history, consider their personal background, decide which symptoms are relevant to the problem, determine how reliable the patient is (mental state), and more. This requires greater skills than simply rote memorization from a medical book. As opposed to a routinized education, which drills a student to be good at a particular skill (like a machine), the liberal education that I have planned aims to create a ‘whole person’, one who is capable of analyzing any situation, identifying

For example, analyzing literature will force me to come up with connections that are not readily apparent, building creativity and critical thinking skills, which are necessary to have in medicine. A doctor must be able to pick through and decide which information is relevant. He must decipher through medical history, personal background, which symptoms are relevant/important, and more. Enhanced critical thinking skills will immensely help me in completing those tasks. When enhanced critical thinking is combined with a general spirit of inquiry, the root cause of a patient’s illness can be determined. In many cases, the perceived cause of an illness is not the actual cause. Being trained to be inquisitive will cause me to question the ‘perceived’ cause, leading me to uncover the real culprit, which could very realistically end up saving someone’s life. Similarly, tapping into my brain’s creativity would allow me to shape new treatments for a patient whose original treatment did not work. Clearly, all of these skills, gained through my educational plan, will vastly enhance my ability as a

Most obviously, it will allow me to further master the Spanish language. This will allow me to better communicate and connect with any Spanish-speaking patient. Studies have shown that when you speak to someone in their native tongue, an automatic heightened sense of trust is obtained. With a heightened sense of trust comes more willingness to divulge information, some of which might be vital to curing the patient. Furthermore, with a mastery of the Spanish language, I will one day be able to complete my dream of practicing medicine in a Spanish-speaking country. However, in addition to the language itself, spending time in different cultures will force me to see things from another’s perspective. It will also show me how to quickly gain respect and trust from people with backgrounds different than my own. This will teach me how to form a better connection with any patient, allowing them to feel more comfortable with me, leading to the same benefits mentioned above. As one can see, my goal of mastering the Spanish language will have many uses in my future career in