Personal Statement

So I applied to med school and had to write a personal statement, ug! Here it is . . . I hope it is alright, cause otherwise I am in deep shit

And as a disclaimer, the original version of this statement was MUCH more strongly worded. On the advice of others but against my real feelings, I unfortunately had to tone things down substantially. I think the original would have scared some admissions people because of its message. Let's just say I didn't mention a few things (keywords: heterosexuality, privilege, oppression, social justice, classism, etc.) as much as I would have liked.

---------------

My life has been the epitome of privilege in almost every way; I am male, upper-class, and able-bodied. So much of what I have has been handed to me. Growing up I always had plenty to eat, received proper health care, went to private schools, had the connections to get good jobs, lived in "nice" neighborhoods . . . the list goes on and on. But all the while, my parents also gave me something else. They instilled in me an interest in and respect for others' ways of life: I grew up in a church centered around exploring others' faiths, was exposed to my Japanese heritage and culture, was pushed to do volunteer work, and had opportunities to travel the world. Through these opportunities I began to see how privileged I am and how the inequities of this world--racism, sexism, poverty--limit others. I felt mad, upset, and ultimately guilty because I also realized that I am part of this system. I came to see that everyday of my life, I benefit at others' expense. My life will always be the product of what I receive and others are denied.

This realization left me frustrated. What could I do to change anything? I could neither single handedly change the world nor remove myself from its realities. I felt as though there was no place for me in a solution. From this place of feeling guilty and frustrated, answers were hard to come by. To come to a place from which I could act, I needed to find a way to rectify my position in the world and fulfill my desire to fight injustice. Over time and with the help of friends and mentors, I began to slowly emerge from this feeling of helplessness and see the irony of my situation.

In particular, the friends who helped me most were those who did not grow up with what I had. When I told them I felt guilty and impotent, they said "Well, on one hand you should, but at the same time you have a tool we don't: your privilege." They showed me that although my privilege is what unfairly gives me so much, it can also be a tool against the injustice of the world. As long as I refuse to forget my values and ideals, I can use my privileges--what I learn, the education I receive, my position in society--to do some good. If I use my voice and power to stand up against injustice in society, then the movement for change has that much more strength.

This desire to make a difference came to a head as I finished my undergraduate work. Outside of the classroom, I was exploring the world through my new found passion for social change. I worked with community service of all sorts, participated in discussion groups on social issues, and sought to learn as much as I could from others. Academically, my interests in understanding our connections to the physical world developed into a biology major, with a particular focus on human and environmental aspects of biology. With the real world fast approaching, I began searching for a career that would bring together these diverse interests, and medicine seemed like a logical combination.

As the son of a doctor, I grew up with exposure to the medical lifestyle and system. I worked at my mother's clinic, spent many childhood evenings with a babysitter while she was at the hospital, and at times listened to her vent when she can home. My mother taught me medicine is about people, about enabling others to improve their lives. Providing the potential for good health is key in allowing people to realize their fullest potential. Luckily, many aspects of our health care system work to this end. The sheer number and variety of new diagnostic tools, drugs, and therapies being developed is astounding. Yet for all these new technologies can do, they do not prevent diseases from happening in the first place. They do not change the environment and behaviors that lead to many diseases. In this way, modern medicine sometimes acts only as a band-aid, treating symptoms rather than addressing underlying causes of disease. This hurts most those with the least in society not only because there is little money for such band-aids, but also because so many live on environmentally contaminated land, without clean water and air, and without access to proper health education.

The connection between these problems and medicine is not always apparent because that key question "Why are people really getting sick?" is not always asked. I want to be a doctor who asks this question, who thinks about the underlying cause of disease. I want not only to treat people but also to prevent disease from happening in the first place. I want to use all I have received to give something back to others not so fortunate: the chance to have good health.

Public health medicine is a field that brings together everything I am passionate about, and all my experiences with it--volunteering at two state health departments, talking with my mother about her experiences, and shadowing an occupational medicine doctor in Washington for two days--have only reinforced this for me. This is a field that I feel I would fit into perfectly, one which would allow me to make a positive and meaningful difference.