My anesthesia residency application essay

I found my way to medicine by combining interests I once thought were mutually exclusive, and then to a specialty in anesthesiology by deciding to use my differences from others as strengths. In college, I enjoyed and did well in subjects as varied as sociology, computer science, and literature, but when I graduated I thought it would be unrealistic to try to combine such diverse interests in work. I started what was actually quite a good job in sales, but though I enjoyed much of it I became unhappy: I wanted a more intellectual, more technical environment, and to see societal benefit from my work. I mulled over my situation and tried to define my career ideal: it would, I decided, combine art with technology as well as sociability with intellect, and it would help both individuals and society as a whole. I considered computer science, which was close but not quite right; in hindsight, medicine was clearly the right choice, but I didn't see it until my stepfather, an OB/GYN, suggested it. I started pre-medical studies at night, and in various encounters with physicians who had found unusual niches, I became convinced that in medicine I could make a home for my skills and interests. I entered medical school with an open mind on how or whether I would specialize.

In my pre-clinical years, along with biomedical knowledge I learned something about how I think. My best courses were physiology, pharmacology, public health, and epidemiology; besides classwork, I also enjoyed my work administering and doing programming for our medical library's literature search system and network services. In retrospect, the common thread in my areas of interest is that each emphasizes theory-based knowledge, an approach I didn't see enough of in the fixed curriculum of those years. Like my classmates, I am intelligent, interested in the sciences, and willing to work hard. But I differ in emphasis: I think quantitatively more than qualitatively, and I prefer theories to memorized patterns. I feel most successful when I find the theme in a mass of facts that others simply memorize, and I gravitate to fields that encourage such syntheses.

I have chosen anesthesiology as my specialty largely because it fits my thinking style, but also because in its broad reach into the acute physiology of nearly every other specialty I see great opportunities to combine other specialties' theories with each other. I believe that my facility with permuting data and models -- partly innate, partly learned in medical school, and partly acquired by diagnosing many a network problem -- will help me become a superior anesthesiologist. However, for the same reasons I believe I will make a good specialist I also know that I first need to broaden my understanding of more general clinical issues, both practical and theoretical. That is why I am applying to medicine preliminary year internships, where I will have a broad exposure to disease of all organ systems, learning aspects of both acute and chronic management of interacting medical problems.

I anticipate a fruitful and enjoyable career in medicine, and I am interested in starting my clinical experience with your program. I hope we will meet for an interview soon.