Family medicine

I originally began my pursuit of medicine because of my interest in the sciences. As I explored various fields from psychology to public health, I found myself drawn to working with local hospitals. Following a few months of volunteering at St. John’s Regional Medical Center, my first experience witnessing the birth of a child significantly impacted my decision to pursue medicine. It was a quiet Thursday night, but the Labor and Delivery unit was bright. Working with the nurse to prepare for an…

This Fourth of July, as family and friends celebrate with barbeques and fireworks, I will be working as a scribe in the emergency department—and I could not be happier. I have wanted to be a doctor since I was young. My father, an emergency medicine physician, was a significant role model throughout my life. When I was seven, my mother brought her three sons along to see our father at his workplace in the emergency department. My younger brother decided to test the mechanical advantage of…

As McCarthy Brown (2003) noted, healers “rarely try to compete with scientific medicine” (p.285). In fact, more often the practitioner, once he has appeased the problem with the supernatural, advises the client to consult Western biomedicine to repair the remaining damage from the Vodou spirits former wrath (Freeman, 2007, p.125). In this view Vodou is essentially enlisted to combat the cause and biomedicine to combat the symptoms. Although, as Freeman (2007) notes “in practice, real…

I’ve been asked why I’ve decided to pursue emergency medicine as a specialty too many times to count. Every time, I end up asking some form of the same question: “If you were in a sudden emergency, be it on a playground, in a mall, on a plane, etc., what kind of doctor would you want around you?” Throughout most of my medical school career, I couldn’t decide which specialty I liked the best. I enjoyed internal medicine, surgery, and pediatrics. I loved OB/Gyn. But none of these really called out…

them as you wish they treat you and you should not treat them in ways that you do not like to be treated.” (Taee) Models of health and healing There are three different eras in medicine, however I am going to discuss the first 2 eras and how they relate to what it means to be human. Physical body. In the first era medicine was focused strictly on treating the body. Therefore, if the patient were being treated for a fever the doctor would strictly be treating the fever alone. The patient may…

Ashley X: The moral conflict In the modern world, medicine has made huge scientific progress. Medical procedures that were not even dreamed of in the past are now available today. There is not much that cannot be treated with today’s medical advancements. However, these medical advancements have brought upon dilemmas and moral conflicts within the medical community. There is much discord on what surgeries are considered morally wrong and where to draw the line for medicinal intervention—for…

Western medicine being practiced. There was no allowance for the use of homeopathic remedies while in the hospital and these practices were looked down upon by the medical staff when used outside the hospital. Foua told Fadiman that “If we did a little of [western and eastern] she didn 't get sick as much, but the doctors wouldn 't let us give just a little medicine because they didn 't understand about the soul” (Fadiman 100). The doctors would not listen to the pleas of the Lee family to alter…

Agnodice of Athens as known as Agnodike, was born in the 4th century BCE Athens, Greece. The school she went to was Western philosophy which was founded by Plato in 387 BC. She had a very wealthy family born into an interest of a physician. Agnodice is known for becoming the first gynaecologists in Athens after being the first female physician in Athens. She has now become a symbolic figure for doctors in nowadays. A gynaecologist is a medical practice of the female productive systems including…

In considering my lifetime goals, I have to discuss my past experiences in order for the Admission Committee to have insight into my journey to achieve academic excellence with the ultimate goal of becoming a part of the medical community. As far as I can remember, I always wanted to be part of the medical community; I believe that this quest started from my mother’s womb. The reason for this statement is because my mother experienced two great losses during her pregnancy with me; the loss of…

For Hmong who maintain their traditional beliefs in America, the scientific worldview and Western medicine, have challenged their entire means of understanding the world. Likewise, Hmong beliefs have done the same to Western medical practice. In the story of Lia Lee, her treatment via her doctors seemed to be none the same as her parents’ perception of illness, yet there lies two crucial ideas in common. Foremost, they both wanted to heal Lia. Secondly, each party was forced to understand an…