Native American Personal Statement

Being of Native American decent I have a valuable understanding on what it feels like to be underserved medically. Although I have been fortunate enough to grow up in a city that has sufficient healthcare resources and apart of family that has been provided health insurance through an employer, many members of my immediate family have not been as fortunate. As a member of the Choctaw tribe healthcare services are granted to its members, but to seek treatment one must travel to the reservations' medical facilities in Oklahoma. While care is provided, it is not the ideal situation, such as in the case of medical emergencies. Members of my family use the healthcare provided by the tribe because it is cheaper than seeing a physician outside the

These instances combined with a passion for medicine are what has lead me to pursue this unbelievable and fulfilling career. Foremost, like many determined and selfless students I want to attend medical school because of my interest in medicine and the ability to provide care to others through clinics and research. Over the last few years I have been working in a clinic along side numerous physicians, having been fortunate enough to learn from some of the best. In my opinion nothing is more satisfying than evaluating a patient, determining the correct diagnosis, and then communicating a prognosis and plan of treatment to help cure the patient of any disease or ailments. It is the patient interactions that have attracted me to medicine. Having a new patient present to the office with a seemingly unknown world of possible diagnoses only to then hear their story and conduct an exam in order to a assess for a potential diagnosis, is nothing but an exhilarating, self-fulfilling process. I would describe this feeling in terms of practicing all week in preparation to come up in the bottom of the ninth with two outs and knock it out of the

Lastly, being a physician means providing care to the community, but in todays healthcare landscape becoming a physician needs to mean more. Not only does attending medical school mean studying about numerous diagnoses and the treatments of these diagnoses, but it also provides an individual the chance to revolutionize the future of healthcare. This is something I look forward to the most. Healthcare is one of the largest industries in the country, but it has not been able to keep up in design, tech and policy progression compared to other fields. In a world with self driving cars and houses controlled by artificial intelligence medicine needs physicians that are connect to and willing to incorporate these technologies into practice. I believe now more than ever is time for physicians to not only provide medical care, but collaborate with other sectors such as business, policy, tech and design to create a healthcare system that is able to provide efficient and affordable care for the millions of Americans. Something that has been missing from my family, and something through this collaborative effort could be provided to the millions of underserved