Why I Got Into Medicine I grew up in a research and development campus where my father is a scientist.
Research and curiosity were constantly encouraged and this prompted me to take up medicine as a career, a field that offers tremendous prospects for research and discoveries. Throughout medical school I tried to be involved in research and attempts at trying out new ideas, be it in the lab or working with human subjects. I carried this through my residency and now my fellowship. The idea of studying a topic or issue that has so far not been treaded upon seems to be extremely exciting and challenging. I have always wanted to be a scientist and contribute something to the human cause and what better way to achieve this than by doing medical research? Medical school taught me the art of medicine and the research projects that I undertook taught me the science of medicine. What interests me the most is a path that combines the two, and one way to make that possible is to be an academic physician.
I have always wanted to work in a teaching hospital or academic institution, one that would give me the opportunity to take care of patients, give me the time and resources to carry out trials and present them and to be able to interact with trainees. I hope to develop the career of an academic oncologist and the aspect that has captivated me the most is that of drug development. Any major change in oncology, at least for medical oncologists involves the invention and discoveries of new drugs and every single one of these has to be tested in the setting of a phase I trial. In order to develop a successful career as an academic oncologist, one needs to be able to conduct well-designed clinical trials and to be able to publish reproducible respected genuine papers. I also strongly feel that quality is more important than quantity in terms of final outcome of all the efforts and work.
I hope to be working in this field in the future and be able to carry out my ideas and implement the same and in the process make some contribution in the care of the cancer patient. A major hurdle in this academic career that I hope to have is going to be the lack of expertise in the designing, implementation and evaluation of clinical trials. Medical school, residency and fellowship training are sadly lacking in this aspect. This I believe is not the fault of any particular institution but of the system in general. Although every institution will have people doing very good work, both in the lab and in the clinic, there is no incentive or drive to train or mentor the trainee in this aspect.
I feel highly inadequate in this regard prior to embarking on this career track. The clinical research training program, I feel, has the right topics and curriculum to help me overcome my weakness and lack of knowledge in this aspect. The prospect of having a formal training in this field and one that is so intense and diverse is exciting and I would greatly appreciate the opportunity if given to me. I am very confident that I will find it interesting and a great learning experience and that I will be able to put it to good practical use in my career.
I will have a sense of achievement if I can use what I learn here, while I am taking care of patients, in a clinical trial which I have successfully designed and implemented with the knowledge and expertise gained here. Bibliography There is no bibliography because it a letter to get into a program Medicine Essays.
