Figurative Birth Personal Statement

My home has been a place where many a newborn have had their first glimpse of the world, both literally and figuratively. In a tiny village on the coast of Southern India, my parents, both surgeons, ran a small surgical and maternity hospital just by our home. My mother joyfully announced the birth of a newborn baby almost every single day of my lovely childhood. The figurative birth in my home was not long ago, when my father, after years of struggling with failed kidneys, finally received his new kidney from my aunt. As he sat up in his hospital bed, his cheeks, which were once puffy and pale, were now pink and his eyes shone bright when he said the words - “It’s like a fog has lifted”.

My typical day would start with greeting the nurse who would come to brief my parents on the progress of patients overnight. I learned the importance and intricacies of patient care while overhearing my parents discussing the prognosis

During my clinical elective rotations, I spent a rewarding month in the University of Alabama at Birmingham’s Division of Nephrology which has the nation’s busiest transplant program and it was the perfect place for me to explore my interests. The most gratifying part for me was the interactions I had with my patients. Behind the countless chief complaints presented to me were real people, each with a story that shaped who they were and how they had come to that point in their lives. My focus was not only to determine what brought these people to the hospital, but also to understand their diverse cultures, perceptions and health beliefs because, more often than not, the two were closely entwined. It fascinated me to see how my inquisitiveness and patience in learning about each patient's background helped me to treat them