My American Dream

I close my eyes, take a deep breath, and begin to sing the notes on the page. The music engulfs me and allows me to escape the challenges around me. My heart is open, expressing the powerful words of the song. I look out into the audience and see a man with tears in his eyes. In that moment, we formed a connection through music. I experience a similar connection when conversing with patients. It has become clear to me that music and medicine have many parallels, and music has led me to realize my dream of becoming a physician.
As a physician, you have the privilege to earn your patient’s trust and be a part of their journey. Throughout my shadowing experiences in several specialties, I realized that physicians can have a very similar effect
on their patients that music does. Physicians not only save lives, but give individuals strength during difficult times. When I was volunteering as a Patient Service Ambassador, I was informed that a patient did not have any visitors for several weeks and was struggling with their mental health. I decided to get to know this patient. She felt very isolated and scared of what the next day would bring. I reminded her that she was not alone and that I was there with her. Every week, I would write her a letter reminding her that I was always cheering her on. The day she was discharged was a very joyous day. She hugged me and whispered in my ear that she would never forget me. This experience of giving a patient strength to face their challenges greatly increased my desire to pursue a career in medicine. Furthermore, I learned to step into the shoes of another in order to understand their perspective. When you listen to music, you get to step into the artist’s shoes and see things from their eyes. This overlap between the aspect of relating to sick patients and communicating emotion to others through music really inspired me to follow my dream of becoming a physician.
Guatemala is over 2,000 miles from my home, and their culture differs greatly from the culture of my hometown.
I volunteered in Guatemalan health care clinics after my sophomore year of college. While in the Guatemala City dump where hundreds of families live, I met a girl the same age as me who taught me a valuable lesson. We were from two very different worlds, but we formed an intimate connection with each other that day. I remember seeing her walking barefoot towards us as we got out of the van. She complimented me on my pink tennis shoes a couple of times during our conversation. Before we left the village, I took off my pink tennis shoes and gave them to her. While I tied my other pair of tennis shoes, I looked up to see the biggest smile on her face. It may have seen like a simple moment to some, but for us we didn’t feel worlds apart but rather friends. So often in life, our minds are racing with to do lists and thoughts that we don’t notice the beauty in simple moments. I enjoy finding the beauty in every day moments that so many individuals miss. When I sing, my mind is only thinking about the beauty and words of the music. In medicine, I experience this same feeling when I am conversing with a patient. I know that there will be challenges along my journey to become a physician. However, the joy in simple experiences with patients that unite us cross-culturally makes every challenge and sacrifice worth
it.
As a young child I would get lost in a book, practice my soccer skills, or rehearse my music for hours and hours. I never wanted to stop learning. Furthermore, I wanted to challenge myself and work towards new goals. I have never lost this love of learning and challenging myself. Music is similar to medicine in this sense because there are always ways to improve your performance and challenge yourself with new pieces. A career in medicine would certainly utilize my love of learning and challenge me every day to become a better physician. Every patient I meet is an opportunity to learn and grow. I may be done with school someday, but I will certainly never stop learning. I will also learn a lot more than medicine from my patients. I will learn valuable life lessons, skills, and maybe even some jokes. As a physician, I will leave work every day learning something new and my love for learning will continue to thrive. My love for learning thrived when I had the opportunity to work as a research assistant in pediatric cardiology at Lurie Children’s Hospital on a project focusing on anthracycline cardiomyopathy. I discovered that although I had answered the primary questions of the study, more questions emerged throughout the process. While some may find this frustrating, I found it rather enticing and enjoyed working diligently to continue to answer question after question to improve treatment outcomes for patients.
A career as a physician allows me to give strength to patients during a difficult time, step into another’s shoes, enjoy the simple moments, and allow my love for learning to flourish. As I continue to sing the notes on the page, my mind drifts off to an image of myself with a stethoscope around my neck listening to the steady rhythm of my patient’s heart. It’s only a dream now, but someday I will make it a reality.