March 1999, I would never forget when I went to visit my favorite aunt along with my parents in the hospital. It all started with a bump on her forehead and what she thought was a quick visit to her doctor. However to our shock, we later learned that she had a metastatic lesion and needed chemotherapy soon. I was in eighth grade and I remember sitting in her room, listening to her doctor as he explained her condition and treatment. Even though I didn’t understand much, I noticed the doctor’s patience and the expertise with which he eased her fear. The confidence he imparted to my aunt and explanations done in simple terms made a great impact in my life. That day I started respecting the profession and developed a strong desire to pursue medicine
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I enjoyed in particular, the challenge of utilizing a wide breadth of knowledge and clinical expertise in arriving at a final diagnosis and instituting an individually tailored treatment plan. During this phase, I found family medicine as an exciting and challenging field. The uniqueness of not restricting my practice to any age groups or specialties and the ultimate position to practice preventive medicine made family medicine further interesting. I enjoyed spending time with my patients, educating them regarding their current medical condition and providing preventive care. After completing my medical degree and the mandated residential internship in India, I explored Family medicine; I worked as a Hospitalist in my city, where I was the first responder on a wide variety of medical, surgical and obstetrics conditions. I would check the patients, decide the necessary investigations and create a plan of care for each case. I worked closely with the specialist team in providing further care for my patient and would follow up with them on their visits. Working in Nephrology in a multispecialty hospital gave to further insight into the renal aspects of each disease and improved my practice better. In my practice there, I would look into the small details on each patients monitoring their blood pressure or adjusting their blood sugar medications or giving them health education. I remember a young man who came to me with fever. After treating the acute illness, I talked to him about his borderline blood pressure and explained the impact that was having on his life. I was able to convince him to get started on changing his life style. A few months later I was thrilled to see an improvement in his blood pressure. He thanked me saying he felt more energetic and healthier. This interaction made me appreciate the importance of patient education and that
I enjoyed in particular, the challenge of utilizing a wide breadth of knowledge and clinical expertise in arriving at a final diagnosis and instituting an individually tailored treatment plan. During this phase, I found family medicine as an exciting and challenging field. The uniqueness of not restricting my practice to any age groups or specialties and the ultimate position to practice preventive medicine made family medicine further interesting. I enjoyed spending time with my patients, educating them regarding their current medical condition and providing preventive care. After completing my medical degree and the mandated residential internship in India, I explored Family medicine; I worked as a Hospitalist in my city, where I was the first responder on a wide variety of medical, surgical and obstetrics conditions. I would check the patients, decide the necessary investigations and create a plan of care for each case. I worked closely with the specialist team in providing further care for my patient and would follow up with them on their visits. Working in Nephrology in a multispecialty hospital gave to further insight into the renal aspects of each disease and improved my practice better. In my practice there, I would look into the small details on each patients monitoring their blood pressure or adjusting their blood sugar medications or giving them health education. I remember a young man who came to me with fever. After treating the acute illness, I talked to him about his borderline blood pressure and explained the impact that was having on his life. I was able to convince him to get started on changing his life style. A few months later I was thrilled to see an improvement in his blood pressure. He thanked me saying he felt more energetic and healthier. This interaction made me appreciate the importance of patient education and that