Three years ago, my father suffered through his first hepatic coma. I was glad I have been able to care for him, but I also wished I could cure his disease altogether, so I did not have to see him being only cared for symptomatically; I was sure more could be done. This experience piqued my interest in becoming a research physician; I want to help patients, both by caring for them, as well as working to develop novel treatments through laboratory experimentation.
I was enthralled, and realized that I had to learn more about medical research. Over the past three years, I have been engaged as an undergraduate research assistant in a number of research activities. I have developed great interest in reading scientific articles; this added to communicating with experienced researchers have
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Also, I discern that one way to learn about my area of interest is teaching it. Thus, I taught what I have learned from my readings and mentors to my colleagues. This eventually led me to help establishing the Student Research Unit (SRU) at my school, which aims to provide a venue for students to develop and present their research work. The SRU activities resulted in many publications for our undergraduate researchers; through which, my role as co-founder expanded to conjoin duty of the executive director. I have also been involved as a researcher, seminar presenter, and liaison to national research institutions.
In time, I was accepted at the Central Research Laboratory in our school as a research assistant, following a vigorous selection process. I gained substantial hand-on training in lab techniques, including plasmid cloning, gel electrophoresis, DNA extraction, and PCR analysis. Laboratory work further bolstered my goal to become a research physician, which I perceived as an external validation of my ability to achieve