When applying to medical school four years ago, I spent a considerable amount of time attempting to give definition to my future. Now seeking a residency position, I again find myself clarifying my future. The same principles that characterized my desire to go to medical school still shape my professional and personal decisions, however, today my thoughts are more directed and inclusive. More directed in that I am focusing on a specialty, Urology, and more inclusive in that my interests and priorities outside the medical arena are playing an increasing larger role in my decision making process. Medical school has been a wonderful opportunity. I look forward to a new challenge, that being my postgraduate training.
During each third year clerkship I tried not only to learn the required material, but also attempted to envision myself as a career physician within that field. After completion of all the clerkships I found my interests lay within the field of Urology. My exposure to Urology during the third year and again during the beginning of my fourth year of medical school impressed upon me the diversity and uniqueness of this field. Both the breadth of disease processes it encompasses and the opportunities for research from both a clinical and basic science perspective, make Urology an exciting career choice. Yet, the most influential quality that attracts me to Urology is the intimacy of patient interaction prevalent within all aspects of the field-a quality I find to be essential to be content and satisfied with a career. The urologist, whether in general practice or a subspecialty field, often works with patients when they are physically and emotionally most vulnerable. These individuals may include, among others, the impotent male, the gentlemen recently diagnosed with prostate cancer, or the parents of an infant with hypospadias. It is clear that the physician must form an open relationship with the patient to effectively treat these and other urologic conditions. it is important to me to be involved in a career that demands such a personal interaction.
When making a specialty decision, the type of training one seeks is also important. As I am interested in pursuing a career as an academic urologist, I am applying for postgraduate training to university affiliated hospitals. Having engaged the challenges of both basic science and clinical research while in medical school, it is apparent to me that both provide an intellectual stimulus that is invaluable to being a good physician. Also, a career in academic medicine affords me the opportunity to become a teacher of future physicians. This is again a component I find essential to a profession for lasting satisfaction.
In conclusion, I feel I have grown considerably, both in knowledge of medicine and people, during the last three years. I started medical school with a strong drive for personal excellence and a genuine interest in science. Nearing the conclusion of medical school, I still find my interest in science strong. I have refined that interest into a desire to be a teacher of future physicians and to be actively involved in academic research. The anticipation of a brand new future is exciting. I look forward to the process as well as the destination.
