"He is the best physician who is the most ingenious inspirer of hope." — Samuel Taylor Coleridge
When I was six years old, I was fortunate enough to have been gifted a toy Physician's Bag from my dear father for my birthday. This package held a make-believe stethoscope, plastic needle to give shots and take blood, and fake blood pressure simulator with an inflatable cuff. I practiced taking my father and mother's blood pressure every day, for a consecutive 65 days until I broke the needle used to draw blood. I bawled like a baby, for hours on end until my mother gripped my hand and dragged me to the store in order to buy a new one, thus resulting in a happy child and a mother's sore arm from being jabbed at with said plastic needle.
Ever since that young age and receiving that beautiful gift, I've been obsessed with the notion of becoming a doctor of sorts. Not only a doctor, the very best version of one, one that could change the world. Starting from the 1st Grade, I would plop onto the magic reading carpet in the corner, curled up with a book bigger than me to read up on Anatomy and Physiology. I was fascinated by the pictures and different colors of the human body, touching the pages with awe sketched into my features. I would pause from my reading every now and then and inspect my arms and legs. Were veins really blue, like they appeared on our arms? Was blood any other color besides beet red? Why did bruises appear on places we've hurt? These were the questions that roamed my mind from a young age, and the curiosity only grew from there.
Both of my parents grew up in Bangladesh, defined as a small third world country lacking in many aspects, economically and otherwise. In my family, few members have attended college, so to say that the medical field doesn’t run in the family is a massive understatement. With me growing up here, and receiving proper education and the resources necessary, my life was far different from theirs. From an early age, I possessed a passion for science, the way things worked with a force behind it fascinated me. This interest was only further enhanced when I took AP Biology freshman year of high school and continues with my current BS Biology Major/Chemistry Minor on Molloy’s Pre-Med track. This fire burning passion did not only complement my drive to help others, but it funded my desire to be immersed in such a rich field.
When I was in the 11th grade, I had received a big packaged envelope in the mail, with fancy font and red characters. My father opened it and saw multiple typed papers addressed in my name. I had been asked to attend this conference, named “The Congress of Future Medical Leaders”, in Washington D.C. We had gotten letters of this type before, whether it was for a leadership conference, or law school seminar, but we had never gotten one in reference to a medical program. I looked at my father expectantly, with the big brown eyes I had inherited from him. He shook his head, afraid the letter was a sham because it was quite pricey. My father looked into it, and saw raving reviews from other parents, and reluctantly agreed, leading to me bouncing around my kitchen all giddy. I went to the Conference in D.C., and it left me in awe. So much so, that my father and I decided to attend the one in Boston, Massachusetts the following year, as an alumni duo. Miraculous speakers such as Dr. Rick Sacra, a family physician from Massachusetts who had survived Ebola, and Boris D. Lushinak, The Surgeon General of the United States, offered insight into the compelling world that is the medical field and made me want to be enriched in such a passion that they possessed. Their incessant ability to inspire, while altering the ground in which they stood upon made me admire them. Listening and learning from their experiences made my decision much easier.
After attending such a prestigious conference, I was beyond anxious to dip my toes in the water. I had applied to the part in an internship at a local dental facility in my area, Bayshore Family Dental the summer before 11th grade, in which I had really absorbed the aspects of being in the medical field by shadowing the doctors. I learned patient to doctor repartee, the act of labs conducted, the parts of a medical office, clerical work, and I even assisted the doctors in certain instances. It was really helpful to receive this sort of direct, hands-on experience because I became well-educated in this sort of setting. With this exposure, there was no doubt in my mind that doing this every day was exactly what I wanted.
Medicine to me, is a way of changing the world, and since indulging one’s self in this field is such a time-lengthy serious commitment, very few people choose to pursue it. Training to become a doctor will be hard work, and you will constantly be doubted, but if you want something bad enough, you know you’ll do anything to make it happen. People sprint at the sight of doing more than what is necessary education wise, but I suppose I’m the lone branch from another tree. The more schooling I endure the more knowledge that gets inputted into my brain, the more experience I receive. I don’t only wish to alter the stances of people around me; I also see the aspect of impacting the community as significant. As Stanford University School of Medicine puts it, “Community service is very important in our process because this is a profession devoted to serving others.” The fact of the matter is poor physicians do exist, and they put all of the others to shame. They tend to forget that countries with the absence of proper medical attention need to be addressed, those who cannot afford medical insurance still deserve to be treated, and those who cannot speak English still need to be attended to. It is necessary for those who seem helpless to feel as though they are still important, to feel as though there is never any shortage of aid.
Being a doctor is my calling, and helping others is the only way I wish to spend the rest of my life. This fact was evident the day I received that wonderful birthday present from my father, and it’s still prominent to this day. Sometimes I like to tell people that my father knew I wanted to be a physician long before I did, but the truth is that the idea of becoming immersed in such a fascinating field has probably been abundant within me in some form or another since that pivotal childhood moment. It was the incessant devotion I held for the field from the beginning that led me here, and it's that same dedication that will continue to push me as I pursue this journey.
