[기획특집]“의학으로 진로 정하려면 자신을 믿고 포기 말아야”
아시안 의대생이 바라본 뉴노멀
“나는 현대판 로빈 후드가 될 거야.” 한 의사가 쓴웃음 섞인 농담을 툭 던졌다. 당시 우리는 노숙자를 대상으로 하는 의료 봉사 활동 중 한 여성 노숙자의 손가락을 닦아주었는데, 그는 이 같은 자원봉사 활동이 바로 도움이 필요한 이들에게 자원을 재분배하는 자신만의 방식이라고 설명했다. 비록 농담처럼 던진 말이었지만, 소외된 이들을 돕고자 하는 그의 열망과 『로빈 후드』 같은 이야기 속에서 의미를 찾고자 하는 그의 마음을 느낄 수 있었다. 3년간 의료 서기로 일하면서는 수많은 환자의 이야기를 직접 들을 수 있었다. 그들의 이야기 하나하나가 바로 생물학과 역사학의 교차점들이었고, 의학도의 길에 대한 나의 열정과 그 길을 택한 이유 역시 그 지점에서 비롯한 것이었다.
나는 환자에 대한 전인적인 치료 방식에 관심이 많다. 그래서 전인적 치료를 강조하는 조지타운 의학전문대학원에 진학하게 되었다. 조지타운의 교육과정을 통해 각 진단의 기반이 되는 과학적 원리를 이해하는 방법을 익히는 동시에 여러 과외활동 기회를 통해 다양한 환자를 접하는 소중한 경험을 할 수 있을 것이다.
올해만 하더라도 수업이 대부분 온라인으로 진행되기는 했지만, 직접 난민과 노숙자를 상대로 일할 수 있는 기회가 있었다. 그리고 학년이 올라갈수록 더 많은 기회가 있을 것이다. 하지만 이러한 기회를 얻기까지는 오랜 시간이 걸렸다. 학부 졸업 후에는 3년간 일을 하며 두 번에 걸쳐 의학전문대학원의 문을 두드렸다. 이를 통해 겸손함, 그리고 인내와 끈기의 중요성을 배울 수 있었다. 진로를 의학 분야로 정하려는 이에게는 자기 자신을 믿고 어떠한 방해물이 있더라도 포기하지 않는 마음가짐이 필수다. 또한, 함께 일하며 나의 멘토로서 귀중한 조언을 아끼지 않았던 의사들, 그리고 무조건적인 지지를 보내준 가족이 없었다면 나는 이 자리에 없었을 것이다.
나는 내게 많은 것을 베풀어 준 지역사회, 특히 아시아·태평양계(AAPI) 공동체에 그동안 내가 받았던 것들을 되돌려줄 의무와 이들을 위해 목소리를 낼 의무가 있음을 느낀다. 특히 동양인에 대한 혐오 범죄가 증가하고 있는 현 상황에서, 내가 속한 공동체를 위해 의대생으로서 목소리를 낼 수 있는 기회가 있음을 인지하고 있다. 팬데믹 발생 초기에 응급실 의료 서기로 일하며 코로나19의 위력을 직접 경험했기에, 모두의 안전을 위해 아시아·태평양계(AAPI) 지역사회의 백신 접종을 지지하는 것이 내게는 매우 중요한 일이 되었다.
“I want to be a modern-day Robin Hood,” joked the doctor with a wry smile. We had finished cleaning a homeless woman’s finger as part of medical outreach to the homeless, and the doctor was explaining how this was his way of redistributing resources to those in need. All jokes aside, I understood both his desire to help the underserved as well as his affinity for finding meaning in stories, like Robin Hood. After three years working as a medical scribe, I have heard thousands of patient stories. My passion and reason for pursuing medicine lies at the heart of these stories, where each is the meeting of biology and history.
Two years ago, I saw one of these stories come to life. Late at night in the Emergency Room, I met a man named Tom. As the doctor and I entered the room, I could see Tom was physically uncomfortable, and soon it became clear he was withdrawing from heroin. He wanted help with his addiction, a sad but all too common reality for many Americans. What made his story unique was the cause of his addiction. He lived on a Native American reservation where he had seen opioid addiction cripple many, including his son. In a desperate attempt to understand the power of addiction, he tried heroin. His original intent was to discern the appeal, but he quickly became addicted. Tom now sought to overcome his addiction and serve as a role model to his son and others. Initially, I was shocked by his story, but it also revealed the depth of his desperation to help his son. He had given me a glimpse of the unenviable circumstances that drive people into bad situations. With Tom’s social and medical history in mind, the doctor invested the time and care necessary to set him up for the best possible outcome. In the future, I want to step into this role and provide treatment based on understanding both the social and medical aspects of someone’s story. Medicine is a chance to intervene in the story and improve a life. Although I know not all the stories will have a happy ending like the tale of Robin Hood, I aspire to do justice with each story and for each patient.
It was my interest in treating patients holistically that led me to Georgetown, which emphasizes care for the whole person. Their curriculum will teach me how to understand the science behind each diagnosis, while their extracurricular opportunities will allow me to gain invaluable experience working with a wide variety of patients. Even with this past year mainly being online, I have already had the chance to work with refugees as well as individuals experiencing homelessness, and I know the opportunities will only increase as I enter the clinical years. All this said, it took a long time to get here. I took three years off to work after college and actually applied to medical school twice. It was a humbling experience but taught me the importance of perseverance and resilience. For anyone interested in medicine, it is important to believe in yourself and not give up no matter the setbacks. I also would not be here without my mentors, the doctors I worked with who offered invaluable advice, as well as my family, who offered unconditional support.
To the communities that have given me so much, especially the AAPI community, I feel an obligation to give back and become an advocate. As a medical student, I know this gives me a voice to help speak up for my community, especially with the rise in anti-Asian hate crimes. As an emergency room medical scribe early in the pandemic, I also saw firsthand the effects of COVID-19. It has become all the more important to me to advocate for vaccination in our AAPI community to keep everyone safe.
조지타운의대 2학년 아만다 달(Amanda Dahl)
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
To write comments, please log in to one of the accounts.
Standards Board Policy (0/250자)