“What lies behind us, and what lies before us, are tiny matters compared to what lies within us”. 
- Ralph Waldo Emerson - 

I was exposed to the medical field at an early age when my mother was diagnosed with a rare condition; a pituitary insufficiency secondary to infection. That illness impacted her life and that of her family in more ways than one.  My father was away most of the time as a result of a job out of state allowing us to keep up with the medical bills. As a consequence, I found myself taking care of her most of the time. While I was not in the medical field yet, a budding physician’s mind started asking all sorts of questions, half-desperate to “do something” and half-curious, “how can her normal body equilibrium be so fragile as to be devastated by this condition?”.  There was no internet back then. So I started visiting the library to look up her condition in medical books. I was holding knowledgeable conversations with her physicians when I was still a teenager. We had to move to a metropolitan area where she could get better medical care. I learned the meaning of the word “responsibility” rather early. 
 
The following years were a balancing act between continuing my medical education and keeping up with my mother's progressive illness. With excellent qualifications, and being ahead of my class in many disciplines, I finally obtained a hard-earned medical degree, with blessings from my parents. That day a proud mother reminded her son of a wise man’s saying: Don't ask for a light load, but rather ask for a strong back. Indeed, my achievements so far had showed me that it was within me to accomplish my dreams despite what seem to be insurmountable obstacles. 

My medical reasoning and insight, as well as my sound approach towards diagnosis did not go unnoticed and I was offered a position as a supporting surgical attending; a rather competitive opportunity in the medical field in my country. My spectrum of exposure to illnesses in the local government hospital setting was a textbook in itself. In addition, I volunteered in off hours at a charity primary care clinic. The cases’ spectrum varied from military tuberculosis to full blown Beta-thalassemia with all the physical findings of extra medullary hematopoesis. 

Soon after my graduation, my mother developed end stage renal disease. My immigration to the United States, was put on hold and I continued to provide support along with my father. However, though my attention was divided, I proceeded towards my US licensing boards. In the same time, I started my own family which brought much longed-for joy and happiness to me and my parents, as well as loving support from a devoted wife and life partner. 

My mother is now no longer with us. She had fought her illness for many years, as did her family by her side. Seeing the ups and downs that patients with a chronic illness and their families have to go through begs the question: what do the patient and the family expect from their doctor? Is it only a successful outcome? Is it identifying the illness and giving it a name? Or is it also the words the doctor chooses to address them with, the smile and compassion showed during visits, and the honesty he/she shows when giving them updates on their illness?. I realized that my profession was not a job for everybody. It was a calling and I felt it was within me to approach it from the perspective of a physician always open to learning, as well as from that of a patient’s family member, so as to keep the emotional need of the patient and the family as an integral part of my practice.

Upon coming to the US, I sought to do hands-on clinical training in different hospitals. Attending rounds, floor work, outpatient follow up and ER admissions were several aspects of my education. My experiences included also procedural medicine such as assisting and observing pleural taps, ABG and placement of central lines. I have also acquired much familiarity with the responsibilities of a resident, and what differentiates an average physician from a good one. Moreover, I worked at a radiology department to attain better understanding of radiographic and imaging studies. I studied conventional radiographs, CT scans and MRI’s in considerable detail.

The rigorous training, tremendous responsibility, and the need to invest substantial time and energy in my profession are just a few of the challenges that lie ahead. In applying for residency training in Family Medicine, I commit to bringing to my position those values, namely, a concern for the individual in the context of the cultural environment of a family, being an active patient advocate, and most importantly providing a competent and conscientious health care. Consequently, I will carefully seek a residency program which will meet the requirements of my passion to learn, my hopes to grow both professionally and personally, and which will appreciate the uniqueness that I have within me, that of my training, education, compassion and life experience.  Indeed, as the wise man said: “Obstacles are those frightful things you see when you take your eyes off your goals”.