Practicing Internal Medicine is what I most enjoy because of the intense, intimate interaction with patients. I mainly take delight in collecting and analyzing the clinical and laboratory evidence that is essential for diagnosis. And I find deep satisfaction in initiating and optimizing treatment plans. All of my clinical and research backgrounds have been geared toward the practice of internal medicine.
Fully aware that making a diagnosis is often a life and death decision, I shoulder this responsibility only with great reflection, always treating each patient as unique as their fingerprints. This is an intellectual challenge that I always enjoy facing. I have not only developed a broad knowledge base in medicine, but I am a quick learner and master new tasks quickly. I never rush to judgment.
I look forward to long hours directly managing patients suffering from complex/severe medical conditions, and providing them with the comprehensive treatment plans that are called for.
To familiarize me with clinical work in the United States, I finished a three-month (Jan.-April 2010) of observership at XXXX University Hospital’s Department of Radiation Oncology, shadowing Dr. Edward XXXX. By observing patient check-ins, history taking, and physical examinations, as well as initial treatment plan set-ups, I have gained great insight into the appropriate procedures for the hospital-based care system. My sense of the importance of teamwork has also been enhanced through the cooperative interaction with radiation oncologists, doctors of various specialties, nurses, and the administrative staff. I am now entering another ten-week externship in Internal Medicine (Nov 2010-March 2011, 5 weeks X 2) with the XXXX Medical Society. I am expecting to gain hands-on clinical experience in both primary and in-patient care through integrated clinical rotations in internal medicine.
By the time that I was performing my clinical rotations, I had come to fully realize how many diseases simply do not have effective treatments available and that learning and practicing medicine as described in textbooks merely is not sufficient. I also very much look forward, therefore, to having a share in the future in the kinds of creative endeavors in medical research that produce innovation in the practice of internal medicine. In effect, I dedicated myself to research after medical school, aiming to find new cures for what is currently incurable. After obtaining my MD degree from the XiangYa School of Medicine, I was accepted into a fast-track MD/Ph.D. program at Peking Union Medical University. Both medical schools are ranked at the top of the list of the most prestigious Medical Schools in China.
At XXXX National Laboratory, I worked on microbeam radiation therapy (MRT), a novel radiation therapy method that can preferentially spare healthy while killing cancerous tissue. At the XXXX University of New York, I investigated the activation of genes responsible for chondrocyte proliferation and differentiation. At Tufts University School of Medicine, I filed patents based on our research findings concerning Parkinson’s disease-related genes with anti-apoptosis and anti-oxidative stress functions. My research has been published in the following peer-reviewed journals: Human Molecular Genetics (1st author), Journal of Biological Chemistry (1st author), Bone (1st author), Aviation, Space and Environmental Medicine(1st author). Radiation research (1st author), Journal of Cellular Biochemistry, Neuro-oncology and Medical Physics.
My long-term career goal is to become a faculty member performing integrative clinical practice, research, and teaching. I am dedicated to the goal of directly treating patients at the same time that I labor to develop research methodologies that serve to integrate molecular genetics, pathology, and pharmacology, as part of the development of novel diagnostic and therapeutic tools, therefore bridging basic research with its application in clinical medicine.
On the USMLE exams, I scored 259/99 for step 1 and 259/99 for step 2 CK. I believe I am well prepared and am looking forward to entering an internal medicine residency program, either university-based or community-based. I believe that I will excel in your program because of my perseverance, compassion, and strong work ethic.