Why Medicine:How my educational both inside and outside the classroom have shaped my future goals. by Darina

Why Medicine:How my educational both inside and outside the classroom have shaped my future goals. by Darina - December 2014 Scholarship Essay

I could feel my hands getting sweaty and my mouth going dry as I stood in front of the graduate students in the Biomedical Sciences Program at Rutgers. These were the students to whom I would be teaching anatomy for part of my junior year. I had taken anatomy as an undergraduate - however, this was different. I not only had to know the material, I also had to relay the information in a way the students would understand it.

As the course progressed, I quickly learned that I had to individualize my teaching methods in order to effectively help the students. There was one student in particular who was struggling with remembering the brachial plexus. After going over the structures multiple times with no improvement, I took a step back. Clearly, something wasn’t working - I paused to consider why he wasn’t retaining the information.

When I asked him why he was having so much trouble with this particular region, he told me he was having difficulty distinguishing the vasculature and was overwhelmed by how much of it there was in this small region. After realizing the source of his difficulty, I tailored my teaching towards helping him distinguish the various types of vasculature in the brachial plexus. Along with that, I provided specific mnemonics I learned through my anatomy course and worked with him in forming some of his own. By adapting my teaching style to specifically suit his needs, I was able to teach him the material more effectively. He excitedly told me the next day how he had received one of the top grades in the class.

By allowing the students to discuss their concerns with me I was given the opportunity to learn the importance of the teacher and student relationship. In using learning preferences as a guide to decision-making I was able to help each student individually, allowing me to feel a sense of personal satisfaction. In teaching my students I also was able to learn more so about the importance of listening attentively in order to personalize the teaching methods.

As I conducted clinical research looking at how exercise could be used to reduce depressive symptoms, I began to understand more as to how the connections I form could be used to heal. Particularly through the exercise sessions I was able to bond with the participants by listening to them discuss their concerns and various aspects of their lives.

In learning about the intimate details of the participants’ lives, I became more invested in their well being. I looked up methods as to how to improve the study, as well as specific ways participants could incorporate the exercise routine into their daily lives. Listening to these participants allowed our relationship to grow. With the growth in our connection the participants were able to relay more information to me, allowing me to develop more specific ways to help them. As a researcher, my ability to openly communicate with the participants allowed them to develop trust in me to care for them. This trust I was able to create with the participants is a skill that I hope as a future physician will allow me to provide ease and comfort for my patients, therefore allowing the relationship between a patient and a physician to grow.

While shadowing a neurosurgeon, I met Brandon, a six year old autistic boy who was diagnosed with terminal brain cancer. Brandon was coming to see this physician as a last hope. After looking at the MRI scans, the neurosurgeon discussed two options with Brandon’s mother: to operate or to do nothing. If he were to operate it would give Brandon another nine months, but the surgery would risk his life since the cancer had taken over such a large part of his brain. This surgery, he told her, would change Brandon even if he survived due to the large brain portion needed to be taken out. If she did not choose the surgery she would have a month left with Brandon before he would probably die.

During this discussion, the physician explained everything in terms the mother could understand, being sympathetic the whole time. He never pretended to understand what was happening to her; rather, he expressed his genuine concern and sympathy with a squeeze of the arm or care in the way he spoke. However, his communication did not only extend to the mother. He began playing with Brandon’s toy car, rolling it up and down his stroller while making car sounds bringing Brandon to a smile. The communication the physician expressed both verbal and nonverbal visibly provided the mother and Brandon comfort. Though this decision was up to Brandon’s mother the physician was able to provide all his knowledge and comfort in order for her to make the best decision.
Medicine requires that a compassionate and empathetic individual serve the patient. I started learning from my anatomy students that these core skills stem from open and conducive communication. The power of communication in a physicians’ ability to help patients is unparalleled in other professions. That something as simple as communication or connecting with patients can lead to such great lengths in a diagnostic sense is one of the reasons I am driven towards medicine.