Lucy's personal statement

 During an internship in Nepal, I shadowed doctors in six different hospitals. The moment I recall best, though, occurred in the cafeteria, when a collective gasp spread throughout the crowd. The doctors who had just completed three grueling hours of surgery asked me to step aside so they could assist the convulsing woman. I wanted to help, but both the doctors and I recognized that I lacked the knowledge, experience, and expertise to do anything useful. I was forced to confront the fact that, even as a medical intern, I was more helpful as a bystander in this situation.  
This experience motivated me to learn and do more so that I could become a physician and leader in my community who helps people in their most desperate moments. As a result, I applied to become a certified EMT for an on-campus medical emergency organization at Johns Hopkins. My passion for medicine, however, was tested during my first encounter with patient death. A man had been shot while out walking with his sister and was lying lifelessly in front of me on the gurney while a nurse performed CPR. The distinct contrast between the nurse’s professionalism and the sister’s palpable despair struck me painfully as the nurse got up to announce the time of death. Although the man on the gurney died, everyone’s effort resonated with me the same way as the medical team in Nepal. These experiences showed me the universality of empathy and emotionally strengthened me to prepare for what is to come in medical school.
Applying to medical school is challenging for many reasons, including maintaining good grades, finding volunteering, participating in extracurricular activities, and writing hundreds of essays. I learned over time that the key is to be dedicated and focused. It is better to choose one or two volunteer experiences over all four years, rather than ten isolated volunteer experiences. Similarly, maintaining good grades is also a long-term commitment. Setting aside 2-4 hours a day to study everyday is better than 17 hours the day before the exam. Building discipline and proving determination sets students up for success both in the application process and excelling in medical school. Lastly, it’s important to show others how you think and reflect, and how you navigate personal growth, and how these experiences impact you today.  
At a distinguished level, Georgetown University School of Medicine has an exceptionally designed curriculum that is set up for aspiring doctors to expand their skill sets and develop a mindset for lifelong learning. My experiences so far have left me increasingly excited by the fact that everything that I’ve learned in classrooms are directly applied into decision-making in clinical care. Due to the school’s commitment to their students, strong medical contributions, and collaborative learning environment, I had no doubt that it was the best place to pursue my career in medicine as well as my interest in advocacy.
Since the pandemic, I have experienced vaccine hesitancy among my family, fear of contracting COVID and exposing my family members, and fear from recent upsurge of anti-Asian hate crimes. With the combination of all of these experiences, I found that it’s easy to lose our voice as part of the AAPI community. I learned that patients sometimes do not have the voice to speak up to doctors or health care professionals about their needs. Reasons for silence are vast and innumerable, whether it is the lack of trust or fear of being undermined. I learned that this is the basis for why I want to become an advocate for my family, for those who are afraid, for the AAPI community, and for the community that I live in.
 
 

Lucy Zheng