Personal Narrative: My Love For Medicine

The Gastrointestinal team and I entered the room at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, and the patient’s aunt sobbed, “He refuses to eat, and the doctors were forced to put in a feeding tube. He was so happy and had such a big appetite until this happened.” The patient was a young man with cerebral palsy who was dependent on his mother due to his disabilities. Shockingly, the mother abandoned her wheelchair-bound, quadriplegic son in the woods, leaving him with only a blanket and a Bible. Five days later, the man was found lying on the ground, cold and starving. Even months after the tragedy, the patient was still suffering from malnutrition because he refused to eat, which the physicians attributed to psychological trauma and depression. This horrific situation taught me a
In addition, I will be able to form lasting relationships with people I can heal. In the book Choosing Civility, P.M. Forni states, “Life is relational…we are wax upon which others leave their mark…When we are on the receiving end of an act of kindness, we feel validated. We translate that act into a… powerful unspoken message to ourselves: I am not alone, [sic] I have value and my life has meaning.” As humans, we want to feel cared for, and we want others to recognize our worth. Therefore, my goal as an aspiring physician is to end each day knowing that I did not just cure a symptom, but that I improved the well-being of another person. Empathy and compassion will be at the core of my practice because I know that all patients, like the man with cerebral palsy, have unique experiences that affect their physical and mental health. I hope that one day my knowledge, abilities, and passion will help improve the lives of others, treat illness, and show patients, sometimes in their most vulnerable states, that they are not