Coming from a remote village in India where access to medical care is limited, I have had the dream of becoming a physician since I was very young. But, being a curious individual, growing up I became fascinated toward other career paths in my childhood as well. For example, I wanted to become a pilot when I was in second grade, and wanted to become a professional volleyball player when I was in fifth grade. I am glad that I spent enough time in researching those career paths that I had absolutely no hesitation or distraction when I started pursuing my career in medicine.
Today, I can say that pediatrics is my only career interest. As a pediatrician, I will strive to incorporate all the skills that I have acquired through academic, work, and life experiences in my practice. The most important lesson I have learnt is from my father, who is a farmer. While working at our farm, I asked him once how he manages to put so much effort and dedication in plowing the land and putting seeds in it even after the crop was ruined due to bad weather in the last two seasons.
He replied that sometimes the only thing that we can control is the work in our hand and we should give our hundred percent to it. He said, I want to put all my life’s learning in putting these seeds with all my focus and dedication, so that if we get good rain this season then our crop is ready to take advantage of it. Today, my pursuit is different from my father’s but the principle is the same. Regardless of how slim the chances are of a patient’s survival, I would put all the efforts and life’s learning with full focus and dedication toward saving my patient’s life.
My demonstrated commitment to volleyball has also helped me in building skills that I can utilize in my career as a pediatrician. I represented my medical school volleyball team at the annual All-India competition for four years. In order to excel in the game, I went through rigorous practice sessions where I observed experienced players, learned every aspect of the game and practiced it diligently. Along the way, I learned to work under pressure, realized the importance of thorough analysis, hard work and persistence, and developed effective teamwork skills and leadership qualities.
I believe that these skills would help me to become a detail-oriented pediatrician who does thorough analysis, can keep calm under high-pressure situations, and can be a supportive team member as well as lead the team when required. I got my first taste of what it takes to succeed in the field of pediatrics in medical school, during my rotation in the pediatrics department. I spent most of my time in the wards taking care of sick children and going through their medical records.
During that process, I realized that being a good doctor in pediatrics entails much more than knowing the pathophysiology and treatment of diseases. More importantly, it entails the ability to understand the emotional and psychological ramification of a child’s illness and to try to bring a smile to a sick child, who is in pain as well as in fear of the unfamiliar hospital environment. To achieve such a feat, and to try to bring joy to sick children, I started little experiments such as portraying syringes as water guns and inflated gloves as angry birds.
I think that I succeeded in my efforts. I still remember a thank you note I received from a mother of a 5-year-old patient stating, “Thank you Dr. Bean. ” I will continue to build upon these skills in my residency program. After graduation, I started working for Government of Rajasthan as a medical officer in a rural hospital where I lead a medical staff responsible for providing primary healthcare to a population of 15,000. While there, I realized the importance of education along with the patient care.
For example, I was surprised with the high number of teenage girls suffering from anemia despite the free distribution of iron tablets by the government. To search for the root cause, I started documenting my conversation with these patients in a separate survey format. After analyzing it, I found that there was a myth in the local community that the iron tablets cause infertility. To tackle this situation, I collaborated with hospital staff and teachers to conduct workshops for the entire community to educate them on importance of immunization, regular clinic visits, and nutrition.
These efforts resulted in increased awareness in the community and produced better results in terms of morbidity and mortality. In addition to my personal development, I have also acquired valuable clinical and research experiences in the U. S. healthcare system. Currently, I am working as a research fellow at Boston Children’s Hospital on a project, “Leptin treatment reduces PCSK9 in Lipodystrophic patients and Leptin-deficinet male mice”. PCSK9 (Proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin type 9) is an important regulator of LDL cholesterol and cardiovascular disease risk.
PCSK9 decreases LDL clearance, and therefore promotes hypercholesterolemia. This study aims to demonstrate the effects of leptin replacement on plasma PCSK9 in leptin deficient ob/ob male mice and lipodystrophic patients. Aside from this, my clinical rotation in the department of pediatrics at the University of Miami provided me exposure to patients and team members from different ethnic backgrounds, which helped in further improving my ability to develop an instant rapport with children and their families.
While there, I also did several oral presentations during didactic sessions and improved my verbal skills along with medical knowledge. These experiences also gave me exposure to the U. S. healthcare delivery system where I learned about electronic health records, health insurance policies, and advanced technologies. I am excited to enter pediatric residency.
A residency program that accepts me will receive an extremely hardworking and intellectually curious individual who is enthusiastic to take challenges of leadership as well as to work as a supportive team member, can work well under pressure, is willing to take initiatives, is persistent, is detail oriented, has strong analytical skills, and, most importantly, will work tirelessly to learn and to serve patients and humanity. I would like to join a residency program that would help me continue to build upon these skills, and by extension would serve my mission to be trained as a caring and compassionate physician and human being.