My Resolve To Pursuing A Career In The Medical Field

Acting as a translator at my grandmother's GP and hospital appointments to treat her diabetes and disability is what first exposed me to the medical profession. I was intrigued by the efficacy of both the non-invasive techniques used to treat her, as well as social and emotional support given to her by doctors. This led me to consider the potential disparity in health care provision that privatization of the NHS would cause to those of lower socioeconomic backgrounds, like my grandmother. I explored this in a project where I discussed how those with chronic and congenital conditions, such as cystic fibrosis, would also be disadvantaged.

I am also passionate about serving underserved communities and improving public health in countries where disease is rampant and quality of healthcare is poor. I was struck by how the applications of chemistry such as the addition of chlorine in order to sterilize water supplies, could be used to prevent people from drinking contaminated water and thereby developing gastrointestinal problems. Given that medicine is an ethically driven practice, I sought to develop my understanding of medical ethics by participating in a lecture as part of the UCL summer school. I was able to analyze the controversies of ethics in healthcare including euthanasia; it demonstrates the conflict between a doctor's role of beneficence and the patient's right to autonomy. This helped prepare me for my work experience to shadow a GP for a week; it raised my awareness of the significance of caring for the emotional as well as physical needs of patients.

Given that Brent is one of the most diverse areas, I understood that the GP had to have an awareness of religious and cultural beliefs that may impact the patient having an informed decision. One case was when a patient with iron-deficient anaemia was refusing blood transfusion due to his religious beliefs as a Jehovah's Witness. The way in which the GP was able to give both medical and culturally sensitive advice with understanding and clinical skill highlighted the importance of primary care and society's dependence upon these services as the core of the community. After researching more about my grandmother's condition, I was interested in O'Neill's article 'AMPK and Exercise: Glucose Uptake and Insulin Sensitivity' and how, during exercise, AMP-activated protein kinase, a phylogenetically conserved fuel-sensing enzyme, is activated in skeletal muscle increasing the AMP to ATP ratio. Consequently, this switches off ATP consuming pathways such as fatty acid and cholesterol synthesis and switches on ATP generating pathways to regulate metabolic processes. Also, I learnt how intensive exercise regimes have been shown to trigger an increased number of GLUT4 protein transporters found on beta cells and thus decrease blood glucose levels to improve insulin sensitivity. As a result of reading this article, I organized a sports day for the care home that I have been volunteering at weekly for a year to encourage the residents to have fun and to improve their physical and mental health.

My work experience and volunteering has banished all illusions of glamour associated with the profession; it has demonstrated that although extremely gratifying, the medical profession can be grueling at times. Relieving tension is essential - I do this through karate which has improved my discipline and performance under pressure. Also as Head Girl, I plan assemblies and facilitate school council meetings which both involve distributing resources and collaborating with others. I learnt that these skills are invaluable in medicine where the need to apply multiple disciplines to a single clinical problem are emphasized for the effective care of a patient. These reasons serve to increase my enthusiasm and strengthen my resolve to pursuing a career in medicine.